Still Setting Up the Science Interactive Notebook

Sorry to post so late!  I am still getting the hang of this blogging thing.  Tonight's post will be short and sweet as we are still working on the inside of your journal.  There are three things we need to glue into the journal for students.  After gluing in the rubric on the front cover and the first page, you will need to have to the students turn the to the next page.  This is where their Puzzle Partner sheet will be glued in.  So, let me explain the Puzzle Partner sheet.  When I need to group students quickly for an activity, I do like to use the Puzzle Partner sheet. I give them a blank copy, like is shown below, and students go around and pick a partner for that piece of the puzzle. For example,  Tom wants Sally to be his partner.  He will put is name in the first puzzle piece in Sally's Journal and Sally will put her name in the first puzzle piece in Tom's journal.  After the students have completed their Puzzle Partner sheet, they return to their seat and I give them the colors I want them to color each piece.  Every Puzzle Partner sheet will have the same colored puzzle piece.  When I want to do an activity that requires group work, I simply say "Please get with your red puzzle partner."  There are twelve puzzle pieces in order for students to get mixed up with different partners during the year.  It also helps ease students into making new friends within the classroom.  A copy of the worksheet ( FREEBIE)  can be found at my TpT Store. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Puzzle-Partners-2596571

 

 The next thing we glue in is this Plickers symbol.  If you have not discovered Plickers for quick assessments,  I strongly recommend this app.  It gives you real time feed back.  It is great for tickets out the door.  The kids pick a multiple choice answer by turning their plicker.  If you look closely, you will see that each side of the plicker has a letter.  You can create custom questions on their website and put them in the queue for later use.  I have used it for test review too.  There is  video on there website that shows you everything you need to know about them.  Did I mention this was FREE?  Yes, IT IS FREE!  Gotta love great stuff that is free!  You can print out the cards and assign each kid a number.  It even prints out the assessment results.  You can see right off which kids got it and which gets need more instruction.The best part is all of the symbols are different so students cannot cheat by looking at another student's plicker.  Here is their website: https://plickers.com/.

The last thing we will be gluing in today is the State Standards.  I feel that it is very important to let kids know up front what we will be studying for the year.  I give them a copy of the State standards for their grade and we cut them out and paste them in order in which we study them.  I do not follow them in order.  I have learned from past experience my order works better for me.  Some principals do not like teachers straying from the pacing guide.  However, my principal has been open to the idea and my test scores are great.  The standards will take up several pages in the journal but kids need a road map of what is expected for them to learn for the year.

I think I will stop here for tonight.  Good Night and thanks for stopping by and come back tomorrow to finish the set-up.  Make sure to follow me so you don't miss anything!