Angela Shares Her

NotebookDesigning a Cover and Creating Each

Section

Designing a Meaningful Notebook CoverA meaningful notebook cover is a collage of photos and words that reflect:

Images that inspire the writer’s ideas

Lines from the writer’s favorite poems or songs

Favorite quotes

Beloved words

Sketches of characters, settings, potential subjects or themes

Pictures of people, places, and things that a writer loves

The Cover of My Current Notebook

FRONT BACK pROTECTED WITH PACKING TAPE

One Great Purpose and Four Powerful Sections

Purpose:

A writer’s notebook is a place where writers generate, experiment with, and reflect upon their ideas using the strategies we teach them and those they develop independently or through their work with others.

Our Notebooks are divided into these four sections, and we use colored paper to mark the start of each inside the notebook:

Ideas: 10 Pages Tinkering: 30 Pages

Notes: 20 Pages Reflection: 20 Pages

The Ideas SectionThis section begins on the second page.

Use a sheet of colored paper to create a dividerthat is similar to the one in the photo.

Staple it across the bottom and up the left side, creating a pocket (if you wish).

Label it MY IDEAS

The Ideas Section: PurposeHere, writers will test the specific strategies that you teach them for idea generation. Examples might include any of these ideas as well as others that we will explore in future modules:

Mapping

Listing

Freewriting

Creating timelines

Writing from images, videos, or other prompts

Gathering ideas from observations, interviews, or other research

The Notes SectionThis section begins on or around page 12.

Use a sheet of colored paper to create a dividerthat is similar to the one in the photo.

Staple it across the bottom and up the left side, creating a pocket (if you wish).

Label it MY NOTES

The Notes Section: PurposeHere, writers will make notes from the lessons you teach, the conferences you conduct with them, and their own independent learning and work.

Writers should be encouraged to use this section interactively, and for that reason, I often take photos of our classroom charts, copy them, and distribute copies to writers so that they may staple them into this section of their notebooks. Writers can return to them as needed, using sticky notes to experiment with each new piece of writing. The 2x2 sized notes work best here.

The Tinkering SectionThis section begins on or around page 32.

Use a sheet of colored paper to create a dividerthat is similar to the one in the photo.

Staple it across the bottom and up the left side, creating a pocket (if you wish).

Label it TINKERING

The Tinkering Section: PurposeWriters do not draft in their notebooks, but they do tinker in them.

Tinkering happens when writers lift a small slice out of their drafts, place it in this section of their notebook, and play around with it. This kind of experimentation enables them to practice a specific craft move with one small bit of text. It also allows them to use the move in varied ways without exhausting themselves. Once they determine which revisions they like best, they can weave them back into the whole of their drafts.

Examples: After exploring four different ways to craft a narrative lead, middle school writers tinker with lead in their notebooks, trying each approach at least once. Then, they choose the one they like best and drop it into their drafts.

Primary writers draw pictures of their main characters on primary paper. After the teacher shows them how to use shapes to create better bodies and eyebrows to reveal a character’s emotions, they use the tinkering section of their notebooks to experiment with different body structures and facial expressions. Once they’ve perfected their approaches, they can use them to draw their stories.

The Reflection SectionThis section begins on or around page 62.

Use a sheet of colored paper to create a dividerthat is similar to the one in the photo.

Staple it across the bottom and up the left side, creating a pocket (if you wish).

Label it REFLECTION

The Reflection Section: Purpose

Session three will introduce you to reflective practice and provide you with a number of tools that will help you support its use inside of your classroom.

Writers reflect daily, and sometimes, multiple times each day.

This section of the notebook provides them the space to complete written reflections. It also serves as an archive that they can return to as they prepare to share their thinking with you during conferences.

A FEW OTHER THOUGHTS....Our composition books typically have 100 pages in them. If you use a larger book, you will be able to devote more pages to each section.

The packing tape protects covers from spills and tears. Layer it on strip by strip and wrap the tape over the top and bottom edge of each cover, securing it to the inside.

Remember to design sections that align to the learning and work that is most critical to the writers you serve. The writers I support make notes in the notes section during mini-lessons, they tinker during independent writing time, and they reflect at least once in each session. It makes sense to use our notebook to support their experiences. Yours may be very different.