I’ve used interactive notebooks in my middle school math classroom for years. When you teach the same topics year after year, you tend to add new things. As I reflected on all of my experiences with interactive notebooks, I realized that there are 5 components that are staples in my interactive math notebook. Each of these 5 components serves a different purpose and they all are very supportive of learning. I can’t imagine my math interactive notebooks without all five of these pieces.
So what does a math unit in an interactive notebook entail? Today I’ll share with you more about each of these components and how they work together to make a comprehensive unit in my students’ notebooks.
Using interactive notebooks in math class serves a few purposes. For me, the biggest purpose is for the notebook to be a reference for students. I want them to be able to thumb through their notebook and find support when they work on problems. That support can come in different ways. Sometimes it’s a vocabulary word they can’t remember and other times they need to see a problem worked out.
I want students to own their notebooks as their personal reference that they can always count on. (All of the components featured here are also included in my comprehensive 8th Grade Math Year-Long Interactive Notebook Bundle. Here’s the 7th Grade version as well) 
I Can Statements and Reflection
Ever since I started teaching, I’ve heard how important it is to write the objective on the board. So, most days in my teaching career I’ve dutifully had an objective on the board.
The problem has been that I forget to use them explicitly with students. I know that it’s important for kids to know what they are learning about, but I have so much to teach that I forget to highlight it.
So, the question I kept coming back to was- How can I have students really understand our learning objectives so that they know what we’re learning and why?
Last year I realized that I could use I Can Statements as my students friendly objectives and keep them in my students’ interactive notebooks. This has worked like a charm because once we put them in the notebook we can refer to them when needed.
This is now the first page in the notebook for each unit. Then, for each day of the unit we refer back to them. Sometimes we look at them at the beginning of the lesson, and sometimes at the end.
For each math topic we put a half sheet in the notebook that has all of the I Can Statements pre-printed on it. When I first started (and occasionally when I forget to make copies) I had students just write them in the notebook. The important part is that every students has a reference that they can go to to know what they are learning. With this approach students interact with the learning objectives far more directly than just reading them off the front board.
As we’ve evolved with this page in the notebook, so has what we do with it. As you can see above, students actually annotate the I Can statements when we introduce them.
I also started putting check boxes next to each I Can Statement. As we go through the unit students check off the objectives they have mastered. This gives kids a lot of chance to self-reflect and self-evaluate their progress. They need to evaluate whether or not they really own each individual I Can statement.
I also added a space at the bottom of the I Can statements for students to reflect on their learning at the end of the unit. (I dive more into using I Can statements in this post).
Vocabulary and Background Building
We all know how important vocabulary is for learning. Sometimes it seems like we don’t have enough time to devote to vocabulary. That’s why I’ve included a vocabulary page in the interactive notebook for each unit. I like having a place where kids can get an interaction with the vocab words and then they have a reference to go back to.
We don’t just copy a definition, but I make sure to include some of the best practices for vocabulary learning. We’ll use a variety of short activities that introduce or reinforce the vocabulary words and build background for students. I want students to interact with this academic vocabulary as much as possible.
For some units, there’s little true vocabulary to talk about. For those topics this page becomes more of a building background page. This page reviews a prerequisite skill for the topic or introduces a simplified version of the concept. This vocabulary page/building background page is a great way to warm students up for the new topic being introduced.
Foldable Notes
I remember the first time I saw foldables in an interactive notebook. It made me jealous that I’d never used them before because they were awesome three-dimensional graphic organizers, and my brain just works in graphic organizer mode. I instantly fell in love with foldables.
Foldable notes work great for student note taking because it organizes the information for them. It’s easier for students to remember steps, characteristics, or patterns if they have a picture of it in their mind.
There are many kinds of foldables and they can all serve different purposes. In math we have a lot of concepts that have a series of steps to remember and foldables work great for that.
Also, we have many topics where students need to remember characteristics. That’s when we use a table or a t-chart.
Overall, foldables give students an organized set of notes that they can refer to when they are completing their practice work.
Working Problems Together
You’ve probably heard of the technique I Do, We Do, You Do. Well, I think it’s important to walk students through sample problems and then release some of the control and let students do the practice.
So, the fourth thing we complete in the notebook is the I Do and the We Do worked problems. Just like the other parts of the notebook, this gives students something to refer to. They can refer back to it during the unit, when we review for the test, or during a cyclical review activity.
I find that students will remember what they practice better if they’ve looked at a worked problem and figure it out instead of me just telling them what to do.
When choosing the problems that should go in the section you have to have a variety of problem types. You might not be able to get every type of problem students will see, but you can make sure they have variety to look at. When we work through these problems I make sure to stop and talk to their partner about what they’re doing while solving. As a teacher, you really don’t want to be the only one talking the entire time. Giving students a chance to process the work during this step is so powerful.
Cheat Sheets/Anchor Charts
The fifth type of resource in the interactive notebook is a cheat sheet or anchor chart. When you use the term “cheat sheet”, students think that it’s rebellious. This is really a personal anchor chart for students. A cheat sheet/anchor chart works as a collection of little hints and things to remember for students. It serves as a form of scaffolding that students can refer to as they work on practice problems.
Also, when you go back to review old concepts students have a place to get reminded of what they’ve learned.
Sometimes cheat sheet are pre-printed and students don’t have to write anything on them. Other times students have to complete them by writing in some words or arrows. The main thing is that students can understand them easily and can use them when they forget something. It gives them a place to go before they ask the teacher for help. I love that they teach students to rely on their own notes.
These five components take students from the first introduction of a math topic to the final reminders. They walk students through the learning process until they’re ready for independent practice. Then, during practice and review these notes support students in their practice by providing a complete reference to go back to.
Once these five basic notebook components are incorporated, here are some more things to consider to really get the most out of students’ interactive notebooks:
Are you looking for more tips & tricks on implementing interactive notebooks and foldables in your classroom?
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Tips for using Math Interactive Notebooks
Put all of the inserts into the notebook at once
Rather than copying as you go, take the time up front to make all the copies of the inserts and have them ready one day 1 of the unit. If students set up everything at once, it takes about 10-15 minutes to get everything in the notebook. Then you don’t have to keep getting the glue sticks and scissors out. In the end you’ll save time.
Also, you can have all of the inserts ready for the students who were absent in one place. Interactive notebooks run so much more smoothly when I’m prepared ahead of time. (Here’s all my favorite inserts in the Math Interactive Notebook Toolkit)
Use some of the notes as anticipatory sets or closure
Don’t think that because you put all of the pages into the notebook that means you have to complete all of the notes. You can use the vocabulary page and the cheat sheet as anticipatory sets to start a couple of the class days. You can use the I Can Statements or the reflection pages as closure. Basically, the notebook becomes the anchor of the classroom.
Exit Tickets and Reflection
At the end of lesson you’ll want to collect information from students about how the lesson went. One way to do that is through exit tickets and another way is through reflection. Depending on what you want to do with the closure activity you can have students pass it in or you can have them complete it in their notebook. I find that I use a combination of both methods. My students turn in some exit tickets and other times they put them in their notebooks.
As far as exit tickets go they usually have problems similar to the practice we already completed in class. Students have 1-4 questions depending on the difficulty of the questions and they should be easy for the teacher to check. They work as a dipstick for the teacher to see where the students are and to help with the path forward. As students complete the exit tickets you can walk around the room and see how the students are doing.
My favorite way to complete a reflection closure activity involves using the following prompts (which students add to their notebook as a resource. We use them throughout the year & you can find them in the Math Interactive Notebook Toolkit). I find that they get students to think and can help them show their thinking. From the teacher’s perspective you can see what students get and what they struggle with. Of course, some students are better at expressing themselves that others, but it is good to see how they see themselves as math students.
Be aware that some students need more support than others
As often as I can I have a complete notes option for students that can’t copy notes. For a variety of reasons some students just can’t get it all together. Even in my advanced classes there are students who struggle with executive function and organization. It’s important to find a way to make sure that every kid has a good set of notes in their notebook.
Model how to use the notes when you forget how to do something
I’ve learned that you can’t assume that students will just know how to look back at their notes. Near the beginning of the year and whenever it seems like they need a refresher, I model the thinking process for using notes.
When I do this I’m very explicit. I work through it with a problem and pretend like I don’t remember what to do. I then find my notes on that topic and then figure out which page would be the most useful in this situation. It can feel borderline ridiculous, but this kind of modelling is just super important.
Before you help students working independently, send them to their notes
Don’t be a crutch for students. When kids don’t remember how to do something and the first thing they do ask you, send them to their notes. They can learn to solve their own problems and then they’re the ones doing the thinking, not you. I’ve learned to be super vigilant and consistent with this.
Print on white paper to turn some into doodle notes
I love to print the cheat sheets on white paper and then use them like doodle notes. I give students a few extra minutes to color some things in. There’s research that suggests that when students doodle and color in their notes that they remember them better. It’s also an easy brain break to add and most kids really appreciate it.
Remember that notes are not an assignment. They are notes.
Notes should support student learning and not make them anxious. I’ve seen many teachers treat notes as an assignment and not as something that’s there to support learning. I think that’s a mistake. I do complete notebook checks once or twice a quarter to hold students accountable, but I don’t look as notes as an assignment. Instead, I think it’s essential we help students see that the notes they take are there to support them and help them.
Putting it all together
Interactive notebooks will change the way that you teach math if you’re new to them. If you’ve been using them for a while, it’s always good to review how it’s going and try out new approaches. I truly believe that interactive notebooks can make students’ note taking experience engaging and give them a resource they can return to whenever they need to.
The 7th Grade and 8th Grade Math Year-Long Interactive Notebook bundles have all the notes and inserts I use in students’ interactive notebooks. That includes all the I Can statements, vocabulary activities, foldable graphic organizers, worked problems, and cheat sheets for all 7th and 8th grade math concepts. Plus, they’ve been updated to include digital versions of notes too. So, no matter how you’re having students take notes, these have got you covered!
Thanks so much for reading. Until next time.
