Todd Williamson NCMSA 2011

Interactive Notebooks Strategies/Rationale Challenges Project Based Learning Sample PBL Activity Podcasting Activity Pringles Challenge Middle School Portal

A method for organizing student work Help generate creative understanding of classroom topics Allow for student choice Allow students to make connections Help maintain a portfolio of yearly work A student-created textbook personalized to learning styles

Notebook activities are completed on a two page spread One side is teacher material, the other side is student processing Students are given a list of processing activities to start the year Self-selected processing

Notebook – can be a binder or a 3 to 5 subject notebook Colored Pencils – markers bleed through Glue – handouts are glued in so they can’t “fall out”, glue sticks or bottles Highlighters – to encourage review of notes Activities List

Teacher/Book Notes…bullet, Cornell, concept map, etc Title Pages Pre-reading activities Articles for summarization/extension

These are the typical activities you would use throughout the year Rather than being assigned a particular activity, students select from a list of 20 to 30 Early on, assigning can help build a collection of examples

Comic Strips/Illustrated Timelines Current Event summaries Illustrations Mnemonic Devices Haiku Song Lyrics Advertisements/Magazine Covers Hero/Wanted Posters Sensory Figures Concept Maps Charts/Graphs Lab Write-ups Verbal, Visual, Vocabulary Section Review Questions

Set-up – overcome with time and planning Choice – students often don’t know how to choose “right” activity Absent students – easiest challenge New Students…second biggest challenge Grading – biggest challenge

Major Topic Which are more dangerous: hurricanes or tornadoes?

REQUIRED How is your group defining “dangerous”? How is each type of storm classified? What is the frequency of each type of storm in the US? What type of damage is associated with each storm? What are considered the historical “worst” storms of each type? What conditions are necessary for each storm to form? What areas/states in the US are threatened by each type of storm? What precautions are necessary for preparing for each type of storm? What differences are there in forecasting each storms approach? How much time is there between formation and impact? What is the relative economic impact of each type of storm on the US each year? What fallacies, myths, or legends are there about each type of severe weather?

Note cards with final project activities Group leader comes and picks a card Group can either keep it, or put it back If they put it back, they choose another one, and are stuck with it

PowerPoint Glogster Skit: Old folk sitting around talking about the weather Skit: Meteorologist presenting to a school class Jeopardy Game Board Children’s Book

When you have way more to cover…and your kids have way too many questions…