Interactive Notebook Must Haves

4 the Love of Math
Aug 22, 2018
4 min read

Everyone loves interactive notebooks (am I right?). They are fun to do and keep students engaged more than note taking by itself.

There are many different tools that can be used but these are my Interactive Notebook Faves!

{Please note this post does include clickable links in case you want to purchase some of these great items. These are not affiliate links though - as I have no idea how to create affiliate links - they are just links because I think these things are AMAZING and want to make it easy for you to shop if you so choose to!}

1) A Good Sturdy Notebook

There are so many different kinds of notebooks. I prefer Graph Ruled Composition Books. They hold up well and stay together for a significant amount of time. That being said I think each student should have 2 books per course. One per semester gives students enough room to neatly organize their book.

2) Colored Pencils

When I first started interactive notebooks I printed on colored paper and thought it was totally awesome! Over time though I found that colored paper took away from the notes a little bit. It looked awesome (hello astobright lovers!) but could be a little overwhelming. It was also an issue with colorblind students. To get a similar effect of awesomeness I tried out a few coloring utensils and ended with colored pencils. Colored pencils are great because they add personalization to the note pages without covering up important information (the notes!). Here is an example of a portion of a page on literal equations. Colored pencils were used to enhance the section without covering the material!

3) Highlighters

In my opinion highlighters are ESSENTIAL to note taking. There is no better way to bring attention to important details than to highlight it. None. Overuse of highlighters is bad, but using them the right way is sooooo helpful. Highlighted information catches the readers eye right away.

Here is an example of highlighters used the RIGHT way. Reminding students to flip an inequality sign with dividing or multiplying by a negative number is KEY to correctly working inequality problems - so that info gets highlighted!

4) Flair Pens

So I really do feel everything on this list is a must-have but good pens are super important too. Notes are important. Reading those notes is even more important. Flair pens are the most dependable writing utensils I have found. They work great for adding little side notes in an INB or for inputting key information to the note pages. They are simply the best! {The color variety is fun too!}. Flair pens can be expensive but you can buy a few packs, label them (with something embarrassing to keep students from keeping them!) and keep them in your classroom. They last for-ev-errrrrr! Or you can ask students just to purchase one or two at the beginning of the year to use. They work really well - money well spent!

5) Elmer's Glue

The notes, foldable pages, flip books, etc that are put into the notebook have GOT TO stay! The notebook is no use to anyone (especially not the struggling student!) if pieces are falling out left and right. Glue sticks are clean (I know!) but actual wet glue sticks the best (in my experience). You want everything to STICK and wet glue is how you get that adhesiveness!

6) Awesome Cutting Utensil(s)

One of the biggest complaints I hear when it comes to interactive notebooks is the time it takes students to assemble the pages. In order to combat that I make it a point to include as many straight edges as possible in the INB pages I create and sell. This makes it so a few cuts can be made ahead of time (great job for a student assistant!) using those hard core paper cutters hidden in every teachers lounge. It also makes it so personalized paper trimmers can be used to cut down on time students spend cutting. I like to have all of the straight edge cutting completed before handing pages out in order to save time. When that is not possible though having mostly straight cuts makes it so students can cut their pages easily with scissors too.

*****BONUS MUST HAVE*****

Divider Sticky Notes

If you are anything like me you find yourself remembering things you want students to add to their pages ALL the time. These divider sticky notes are fantastic for those moments when you are teaching 4th period about something and remember you forgot to have your 2nd period students include it in their books. Seriously, teachers BFF right here. They hold a ton of information and can be stuck anywhere to help you remember what you previously forgot. Love love love these dividers!