Writers' Notebooks

Notebook Heads!!

We only use spiral notebooks so that kids are able to rip out the drafts for editing and conferencing with teachers. We buy the spiral books at cheap shops (especially at sales time) and go for the ones with bright designs and colours. We've got a heap of boys in the class this year and it was quite hard to find 'manly' designs they'd go for. As usual it was very easy to find floral and 'girly' ones!!

Writers Notebook Tub label (1 pg word doc)

Our Writers' Notebooks have evolved over time. Since I first came back from a Deb Sukana inservice about 5 years ago, I've loved them and loved seeing the kids love using them!!!

Writer's Notebook introduction (powerpoint)

This year, our notebook is divided into two parts: Ideas and Drafts. Each book has two tabs indicating 'Ideas' and 'Drafts' and these are post it-like stickers that you can move which has been handy as the kids fill up the book. Most have run out of drafts room in the 9 weeks of school so far and we've been able to move the drafts tab backward so they've got more room. One student has just about finished her first book (prolific writer) but we've got extra books for them to move on to when these have filled up.

One of the best tips I picked up at that first Writer's Notebook inservice was that as a teacher I should model with my own writer's notebook. I quite enjoyed putting mine together during the holidays about 5 years ago and I still use it every year to model ideas pages. The gallery below has photos of a few pages.