Interactive Notebook

Well, we’ve reached the end of the line – this is my last interactive notebook unit to share. I hope that you’ve found them helpful. Don’t worry – I’m not done sharing about my interactive notebooking journey because for me, it truly is a journey.

We’re coming close to the end of our Interactive Notebooking journey – this is my second to last unit – Acids and Bases. As a continuing theme from earlier, I am moving to focus more on particle view diagrams in combination with symbolic representations and macroscopic observations.

This is a relatively short unit in my course and as a result, I only use two spreads for it. I have two fully developed spreads to share, with optional bonus material you could add on to the first and an alternative layout for the second that includes colligative properties.

Do we all have a unit at the end of the semester that seems to change in depth every year, based on how the rest of the semester has shaken out? In my course progression, that unit is Reactions.

Hang on to your hats, folks! We are about to enter my longest notebook unit of the year: Bonding. This unit is massive with 6 two page spreads. Read on to see my discussion of pros and cons of splitting it into two units versus keeping it as one big unit.

After an introduction to atomic structure, the next unit in my interactive notebook is on the Periodic Table. We explore the vocabulary and patterns on the periodic table, and examine how electrons tie into those patterns.

By the time we get into the atomic structure portion of my class, things are well under way. The students know me and my expectations, I have learned their names, and we have our classroom dance well-choreographed. This unit is short in terms of the notebook – just a two page spread. But these two pages contain a lot of information.

Once the school year has gotten into full swing, and procedures in lab and with interactive notebooks (INBs) have been established, I begin the chemistry content in my class with learning about matter and how we describe it.

I had a great time leading a ChemEd X Talk this past week on using interactive notebooks in the chemistry classroom. I always love discussing ways to share content with my peers.