Why ISN's? Because they are FUN!
As my son and his girlfriend have watched me put together this notebook, I have heard comments like, "That looks awesome Mom." "Why didn't I ever have a teacher that taught like this?" "Sure seems like a lot of work, but it's so cool." They are right, they do look awesome. I'm not sure why they never had a teacher that taught this way (after all, this will be my first year attempting the art of the ISN). It most definitely is a lot of work, but it is worth it.
I think I am most motivated by the potential these tools possess. So many students are visual learners. Coloring and highlighting their foldables and notes will help them to recall and find the information they are looking for. Identifying important information is a great habit to learn.
Remember, ISN's are more than just drawing, coloring, cutting and gluing. We tape, we glue and we create graphic organizers that help us understand and retain information. We will cut and fold things because this allows us to investigate while creating our own frame of reference. The ISN's also make it so things don't get lost.
I'm pretty proud of my current creation and I'm confident my students will have the same sense of pride in what they create.
The Cover: Numbers and Me!
The cover should make a personal connection to the subject; in this case Math. The students come up with all kinds of numbers that relate to them personally and create a graphic. They are encouraged to decorate their notebook in a way that tells the world all the connections they can make with math. Having the covers personalized is crucial to having them take pride in their ISN.
Inside Front Cover: Types of Effort
The transition from primary grades to upper elementary can be challenging, especially when my students realize that effort has a direct impact on output. This page is computer generated and will be used to help them understand levels of effort, not only in math, but other subjects as well.
Page 1: Utah Common Core Standards
This page is also computer generated, with them creating the heading. I feel it is imperative that they understand the standards they will be learning this year.
Page 2-5: Math ISN Expectations and Policies
As a class we will discuss What goes in the ISN and Why. This discussion will include using bullets and identifying key information in notetaking. This information, like all notes, will be placed on the left side. On the right side they will create their own graphic based on responses to the prompt: On the page below, give some predictions you have for your MATH ISN this year.
These two pages act as reference for students to remember what information goes on what side of the notebook. INPUT (teacher or text origin) pages are on the left. OUTPUT (practice and investigation) is on the right side.
Pages 6-9: Table of Contents (TOC)
All entries are expected to have page numbers and titles. This will provide strong organizational skills. Content area's will be separated by color.
Pages 10-15: Words Worth Knowing (WWK) Vocabulary
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Math, like most subjects has unique vocabulary. As an unfamiliar word is presented, students will record and define them in this section of the ISN. This example comes from the first mathematical process.
Pages 16-17: Mathematical Process #1
Left side is computer generated and goes along with the lecture. As they begin to see "how to take lecture notes" these will be more student generated based on note taking techniques and skills learned. Right side is the student interpretation and example of understanding.
This completes the first week of school and the Math ISN plan of attack.
**Special acknowledgement to http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com
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