Using Interactive Notebooks in Math Class!

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Hi everyone! If you are a new visitor here, feel free to check out my previous blog posts to get to know me a little more! I am Julia Park and I am currently in my senior year as an Early Childhood Education major at Millersville University. I am eager to continue sharing what I learn with everyone! 

In my last post, I discussed the importance of having a growth mindset when learning in school, especially when it comes to the subject of mathematics. Today, I will be discussing the use of interactive notebooks for math instruction! 


What is an “Interactive Notebook?”

I actually hadn’t heard of an interactive notebook until this semester at Millersville! I am really thankful I know about them now because they can be used as a tool to increase student engagement and organize their learning of math.

Interactive notebooks extend children’s learning by offering opportunities for guided notes and practice with skills students learn in class. If they are kept organized, interactive notebooks can greatly benefit mathematics instruction!


Ways to Organize an Interactive Notebook

It is super important that interactive notebooks are kept neat so that their learning can be organized. There are a few ways to organize interactive notebooks to benefit the instruction of math!

Interactive notebooks often have paper cutouts that are glued onto the pages of the book. These cutouts have guided notes, visuals, activities, and games for the children to support their learning in math. Some of the activities and games might have extra pieces that can be stored in bags that can be paper clipped or taped to the notebook!

Along with the cutouts that educators can use, teachers can include a table of contents at the beginning of the notebooks. The children number their pages and record each section in the front of the book to make their work and notes easily accessible. Click the image above to see an example of how teachers can organize their table of contents! Sarah Carter is a high school math teacher in Coweta, Oklahoma, but her example is helpful for younger grades as well! 

Another way to set up the children’s notebooks is by having them assemble their cutouts or contents of the books in the order of units and/or chapters of the units. This method can allow children to revisit each section of skills that they learned to review and build upon them as time goes on.

To make sure content is arranged in the notebooks to support students’ learning, the cutouts or information included can be structured based on standards. Rebecca Rojas does an awesome job at incorporating the standards in each of her interactive notebooks for her fourth graders! Check out her blog to see examples of some of her notebook pages!


The Benefits of Using Interactive Notebooks

For reasons discussed above, the organization involved in implementing interactive notebooks is one major benefit for students studying new mathematical concepts. 

Another benefit of interactive notebooks is that they can provide children with a range of visuals and fun activities to further their understanding of the concepts they are learning in class. 

While implementing interactive notebooks, teachers can provide students with scaffolding to help them practice skills until they are prepared to be independent and work on their own. Teachers can also differentiate learning through the contents of the book by making each notebook individualized based on the students’ needs. 

In relation to the benefit of differentiation, teachers can monitor student work through their use of the notebooks. This is a major benefit for teachers because they can track the progress of the students and can modify their instruction when necessary. 

One more benefit of using interactive notebooks is that they can connect parents to their children’s education. Parents can gain a deeper understanding of what their child is learning in math class by looking at their interactive notebooks. This will build the relationship between the teacher, parent, and student, creating a supportive community for the child. 

All of these benefits increase the engagement of the students when learning math. When students are engaged in class, they are more motivated and focused, which creates memorable learning experiences! 

Check out this blog post to learn even more about the benefits of using interactive notebooks for math instruction! 


Organization is Important!

In order to have a successful experience with interactive notebooks, it is crucial that they are kept organized and are developmentally appropriate for your class. There so many resources out there, including ones that I have not mentioned thus far, that can help you organize your own interactive notebooks!

I want to leave you all with just one example of a great resource I have found to help inspire what I would love to do for my fourth graders in the future. Fabie Lozano does an excellent job of displaying her resources and explaining how she organizes her notebooks. This format can be modified for lower grades as well!

Interactive Math Notebook for 4th Grade

Your 4th graders will love these interactive math notebook resources that address all 4th grade math content. These NO PREP resources make introducing new ma…


Thanks for stopping by!

I hope this blog post and the resources I have shared motivate you to explore the idea of implementing interactive notebooks into your classroom! Thanks again for checking out this post. Stay safe out there! 

-Julia 🙂

 

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Julia Park

Hi! I am Julia Park and I'm a junior at Millersville University. I am currently studying Early Childhood Education. I am so excited to share my journey through my new blog!