Science Notebooks in Middle School 9
Developing Notebook Skills
Students will initially need more guidance from you. You will need
to describe what and when to record, and to model organizational
techniques. As the year advances, the notebook work will become
increasingly student centered. As the body of work in the notebook
grows, students will have more and more examples of useful techniques
for reference. This self-suffi ciency reduces the amount of guidance
you need to provide, and reinforces students’ appreciation of their own
record of learning.
This gradual shift toward student-centered use of the notebook applies
to any number of notebook skills, including developing headers for
each page (day, time, date, title, etc.); using space effi ciently on the
page; preparing graphs, graphic organizers, and labeled illustrations;
and attaching artifacts (sand samples, dried fl owers, photographs, etc.).
For instance, when students fi rst display their data in a two-coordinate
graph, the graph might be completely set up for them, so that they
simply plot the data. As the year progresses, they will be expected
to produce graphs with less and less support, until they are doing so
without any assistance from you.