Science Notebooks in Student-Centered Classrooms

Book excerpt: "This practical guide shows how notebooks can become a tangible record of students' emerging understanding of and proficiency in science. Students can use their notebooks to pose questions, write down observations, work through puzzling data, or think through new ideas. Teachers can use them to ascertain each student's strengths and challenges in participating in the academic work of science. The book explains how to kick off a notebooking practice and offers ways to help students learn to organize information while also preserving their own voices and choices. The book also discusses lessons, instructional routines, and assessment techniques that pair well with science notebooks"--