Shoes+Ships+SealingWax Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Have any of you done notebooking for upper-elementary math? If so, how often did you use it & how was it organised? At the K-2 level the topics were so basic and flew by so quickly that it didn’t seem worthwhile. Now we are approaching more complex topics, and I’m wondering if it would be useful. I’m thinking a section each for anchor charts and worked examples, vocabulary, and reinforcement games “as needed” - I suspect primarily for topics related to geometry & measurement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 No. And yes. I don't like the idea of math notebooking because it almost always ends up a disorganized mess. DS8 has a graphing notebook that is set somewhat larger than normal - centimeters, not 1/4in squares. He uses that to work through any and all extra math he does so it's a clear progression over the past 2.5 years. The inside of the front cover is where he keeps formulas that he has used: slope, finding the sum or last number of an addition sequence, etc, along with a small bit of vocabulary (angles, sets, so forth). Most elementary math is reinforced through practice so sufficiently that the extra writing and trying to keep track is just annoying for children. I think when it's something the kids need to refer to often they'll just naturally want to write it on their own and they should have a place for it, but it shouldn't be forced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Both of my older kiddo's have a math notebook. Recording a tough lesson with examples helps them to retain it better. I let them choose which things they want to include and how they want to organize it. I don't know that they really reference them a lot, but they both put entries in on a regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letsplaymath Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I wrote a blog post recently with lots of links for math journaling. You may find it useful. Math Journals for Elementary and Middle School [The post starts with a very short description of my self-published journals, since I wrote it to announce when those first came out, but you can skip down to the activity ideas.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenaInTexas Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Yes. Mine has sections for: daily work, reference sheets, journal/notes, assessments, problem-solving, and projects. The journal section is an entry that ds makes after he has completed a lesson. He writes (briefly) about what he learned in his own words. He uses vocabulary words from the lesson. He typically includes an example with notes that can help him. This has helped him internalize the things he has learned and it helps him have something to refer back to when needed. As he improves in summarizing what he has learned, I am going to have him add some reflective thoughts as well - while keeping the task to <7 minutes. The problem-solving section is where I place problems that will take him 10+ minutes to solve. We work those periodically through the week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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