Every time I see the commercial from Staples with the dad riding joyfully down the school supply aisle as his children trudge along behind him...I have to laugh! Not sure if it is the connection to the father (I love getting school supplies and the idea of going back to school), the connection to the kids (uh-oh...Sunday nights are going to have a whole new meaning and I am going to have to start packing my lunch), or the music playing in the background (Christmas is my favorite holiday!). All I know is right now school supplies are on sale, it is August, and I need to make a decision about how to set up my reader's notebooks this fall.
Here is what I am thinking right now...
The reader's notebook will have four sections and all four sections will be housed in a three ring binder.
1. Spiral Notebook: The first section will be a spiral notebook that is placed in the binder using the three rings. The purpose of the spiral notebook will be to have a place where students can record their thinking about books before, during, and after their reading. I have chosen a spiral notebook so the students can take it out of the binder and go anywhere in the classroom to jot about their reading. The spiral notebook will also be a place where students can tape/glue their post-its from their reading after they complete a book. I think of this section as "thinking on the go".
2. My Reading: This will be the second section of the binder using a divider. This will be where the students hold their completed book logs and reading graphs. (Refer to the earlier post on Looking closer at independent reading...)
3. My Thinking: This will be the third section of the binder using a divider. This will be where students will hold letters to me about their reading, reflections on how one of their jottings impacted their reading of a book, book club thinking, etc...The purpose of this section is to hold thinking that has been developed through evidence, conversations, background knowledge and strategy lessons.
4. My Thoughts: This will be the fourth section of the binder using a divider. This will be where students hold their reflections about their reading and reading behaviors. It will be focused on their thoughts of themselves as a reader. The students will store book log reflections, book club reflections, and interview answers in this section.
I am excited that at a moment's notice I can grab a binder and have a student's jottings (spiral notebook), their reading log and graph, their more developed thinking, and reflections at my finger tips. This reader's notebook will hold the evidence I need to inform my instruction for each individual reader. Plus...by deciding this now...maybe I can find the spiral notebook for ten cents, the dividers half off, and the binders for under a dollar!!! Happy School Shopping!