Interactive Notebooks and English Language Learners: How to Scaffold Content for Academic Success

by Jeannine D Richison, Jeannine D. Richison, Anita C. Hernandez

These student-created, teacher-directed notebooks are effective with all students. But as places to record learning and develop proficiency with academic English, they are ideally suited to the needs of English learners. With Interactive Notebooks and English Language Learners youll see how easy the Notebook is to implement and why it makes such a difference to English learners. The Interactive Notebook works so well with English learners because it scaffolds content and gives students the space to develop school-based ways of thinkingto go from English language learners to academic language learners. With youll see how the Notebook becomes a classroom text for rigorous instruction as you use it Interactive Notebooks and English Language Learners gives you straightforward instructions for launching the Notebook. Youll find plenty of student examples as well as nitty-gritty teaching advice such as suggestions for instructional sequencing and planning. In short, everything you need to get going and be successful in supporting English learners acquisition of academic English. Why are Interactive Notebooks becoming so popular? Because they work. Read Interactive Notebooks and English Language Learners and see how to make them work for you and your English learners.

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2009

Reviews

[Susanne Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent professional learning book. Very practical. Made me want to run out and start doing interactive notebooks in my classroom ASAP. It's designed for ELL education, but these strategies should work for any student. Highly recommend.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really an eye-opening book for me to read. The premise is that if the students have a place where they can put all their materials and show how they're thinking, they will value the resource, see how they've grown, and learn more deeply. Having SDAIE students this year for the first time, and being wholly unprepared for just how unprepared they are, I was constantly overestimating their abilities, even after I'd thought I'd scaffolded things fairly well.

The premise behind the book is: each student has a notebook that is interactive. On the left, they have the "input," which is normally presented and marked on in a Cornell notes format. On the right, they have the "output," their thoughts, reflections, questions, etc.

The authors were really helpful about the nitty-gritty, too: how to set them up step by step, where to get the funding for notebooks for all students, where/how to store them, how to grade them, and all those other little things that tend to be a nightmare when we teachers espouse a new concept/routine in our classrooms.

Overall, it was a quick read, making me reflect a great deal on what I have and have not done in my classroom this year long after I'd read the last page. My only complaint is that there was too much about SDAIE teaching in general and not enough examples of ways to use interactive notebooks. I'm sure, given the time and creativity, I'll develop that myself, though.