Interactive Notebook Resources for Teachers

What is an Interactive Notebook or IAN?

The interactive notebook was created by Addison Wesley back in the 1970s. It was popularized by the Teacher Curriculum Institute   (TCI) program History Alive. Since its creation, many teachers and students have expanded, deleted, and tweaked the idea to meet their students' needs. There is no one right way to do the notebook.

 

 Websites

 

 Rubrics

 

 Assignments

 

 FAQ

 

 

 

 

Websites 

Interactive Notebook Wiki

 "The purpose of this page is to give teachers a starting point for setting up their own notebooks with their classes . . ."

Interactive Notebook Overview

This is a pdf file with a great explanation of interactive notebooks. It stresses the left side and student processing and the right side as teacher input, but I flip those. It makes more sense to me.

 Social Studies Research and Practice Article

from the abstract:  "The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the notebooks as an instructional tool, discuss the variety of ways that interactive notebooks can be assessed, and illustrate the benefits middle school students and teachers can reap from their use in the social studies classroom. "

Mr. Saunders Social Studies Website

A chance to see notebook use "in action" as Mr. Saunders uses this strategy with his students.

Roughton's Class 2.0

Mr. Roughton does not use the notebook, but he has a fabulous list of assignments and instructions that are readily adaptable.

A Presentation to the Sultan

Ok, don't let this convince you that the notebook is too much work. This is obviously a "super deluxe" lesson, but if you're having trouble visualizing this walks you through a two page spread.

Mr. Greer's Interactive Notebook

A history teacher who uses the notebook in grades six, seven, and eight. Assignments for three different courses are linked, including rubrics.

Rubrics

 Interactive Notebook Rubric 08-09

 This is my proposed rubric for the coming year. It is modifed from a Cornell Notes rubric I found on the Internet. Cornell notes and question notes are going to play a bigger part in my notebook this year, hence the change. It is for grading a left and right side set.

 Interactive Notebook Rubric 07-08

This is a weekly rubric - designed to grade all the pages from a week. It is loosely based on the categories of the Middle Years Programme rubric. I liked this quite a lot - unfortunately, it didn't work for my children they had a hard time figuring out the grading system.

Peer Assessment Rubric (Mrs. Moore)

This is a student to student grading rubric courtesy of my best notebook buddy.

Unit Portfolio Notebook Rubric

This is designed as an end-of-unit assessment, I'm considering using it this year, possibly at the end of each quarter.

Interactive Notebook Rubric 07-08, modified

This is the 07-08 rubric, modified to grade just a two-page spread.

The Check Rubric 06-07

An oldie but a goodie. I and my notebook buddy used this rubric or some form of it for years. It is pretty generic.