How to Keep a Scientific Journal
By Aurora Lipper, Supercharged Science
Does your child hate writing? Or reading? Or documentation of any kind? And let me guess…
you probably need something of this sort to hand in as proof that you’re homeschooling, right?
Here’s a quick and easy way to handle the documentation issue minimal fuss and hassle. And
this method will even score you points toward your science curriculum requirements along with
setting up a life-long habit, which will serve your child even greater in the future, which is really
what we’re after. There are three simple steps to this process: Grab, Title, and Record:
Step 1: Grab a notebook. You don’t need a
fancy quad-ruled, glossy bound, gold-letterembossed notebook, either. Just find a regular
spiral-bound notebook from the store and
scribble your child’s name across the top. (You
can even staple ten blank pages together and
call it a notebook if you really want to.)
Step 2: Title the top of a fresh page with the
name of the lesson or experiment. For
example, from Unit 1, you’d write: Gravity.
Easy so far, right? Add the date and time to the top corner and number your pages (in case you
need to reference them later on. Trust me – it’s a lot easier to number as you go).
Step 3: Record by describing what you’re doing. If you’re reading about gravity, jot down a few
notes about what you picked up. This is where you want to capture your Ah-HA! moments. If
getting your child to write is harder than changing a car transmission in a snowstorm, then grab
a video camera and record them as they work and talk their way through the experiment. Just
have them describe what they are doing as they do it (you can probe them along with questions
if they get stuck for words). For shyer kids, don’t have them look at the camera – in fact, if you
focus the camera only on their hands as they work through an experiment, their shyness usually
will vanish.
A lot of scientists and engineers carry around a voice recorder, so when they have a GREAT
IDEA, they can quickly capture it with words by hitting the ‘record’ button (even while driving!).
This allows them to quickly capture and talk about the idea without fussing with the slowness
of a pencil and paper. They later play it back and jot down notes and expand it when they have
more time.
If you love to write and draw, simply write down the experiment or reading bullet points and
illustrate with pictures, describing it with real words that make sense to you. Don’t worry about
it not being ‘formal’ or ‘correct’ – this is your journal, not for anyone else.
For example, if you’re launching the potato cannon, and you finally figured out how it worked, we’d rather see you write “I shoved the stick in,
which squashed the air, and POP!” instead of “…as the lowermost potato slug was moved in an
upward direction, the pressure increased as the volume decreased until the structural integrity
of the uppermost potato was breached, at which time the…” Use words that really speak to you
in your own terms. You are not writing a textbook, but rather capturing the essence of the
experience you’re having as you learn science. Get it?
Also, if you have any questions that pop up along the way (especially ones that require more time to search for the answers), write them down here as well. Highlight or *star* each question so you remember to go back and get them answered when you have more time.
If you’re recording your progress on a science experiment, get your picture taken as you are doing the experiment and paste it in the notebook. Add a caption about what you are doing, what you found, etc. Most scientists will also record any data they took for the experiment alongside the picture of their set up so it’s all in one place.
An excellent idea many families have reported using is at the end of the unit, the parents will
become the student and the kids teach the lesson back to the parent until the parent gets it.
This may take a bit of work of the kid’s part, but most of the time, you’ll find kids are determined and creative at getting their point across because they are so excited and passionate about what they have just learned. (Don’t believe us? Try faking ignorance and see what your child comes up with.)
And that’s it! Do you think this is something you can do? If so, you’ve just boosted yourself to
the top 10% of the students worldwide that actually take the time to capture and record their work. If you just hear or read something only one time, you will only remember 12% of it after about a week. However, when you capture and record notes about what you’re doing, the retention after a week shoots up to over 65%. When you take it one step further and teach it to others, you’re now over 85% retention after the first month.
Showing posts with label Journaling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Journaling. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Columbus Day in Review
Monday was Columbus Day. We had school but did a significant part of our lessons around Columbus.
Before I brag on my daughter and her Columbus Day accomplishments, I just had to comment on the whole Columbus controversy.
There were obviously positive and negative consequences from Columbus coming to the western hemisphere. Those can and will be debated, pondered, and felt for years to come.
But to say he didn't discover something just because there were people already here? Really? Just because you may not agree or appreciate what Columbus did, you're going to deny his acheivement?
You know, I discovered a great new coffee house last week AND there were people there already!
DISCOVER (Merriam-Webster.com)
1a : to make known or visible : expose
2a : to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time
Columbus did obtain knowledge for the first time about the western hemisphere AND it did make it known to Europe at that time. That sounds like he discovered it by the definition. (Yes, Erickson did it earlier, but that wasn't known to the Europeans of 1492.)
OK, I'll get off my soapbox and brag on mija now.
After our lessons, I had a worksheet I wanted her to do which would have her write about Columbus. He had a word bank which I thought was helpful and a small picture to color.
It's not the first time nor will it be the last in which I have her do an activity like this. This time, however, she asked to do it differently. She said, "Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote it like I was Columbus?" Hmmm. First person narrative. Her own creative idea. You betcha!
So this was the outcome.
In case you can't read it, she wrote, "Hi my name is Columbus. You are going to hear about me. I sailed across the ocean and found America."
I know he didn't actually discover the American continent, but it was one of the choices in the word bank. The picture was cut out of the other worksheet and glued to her notebook and colored.
I think Columbus' line, "You are going to hear about me." is a hoot!
Before I brag on my daughter and her Columbus Day accomplishments, I just had to comment on the whole Columbus controversy.
But to say he didn't discover something just because there were people already here? Really? Just because you may not agree or appreciate what Columbus did, you're going to deny his acheivement?
You know, I discovered a great new coffee house last week AND there were people there already!
DISCOVER (Merriam-Webster.com)
1a : to make known or visible : expose
2a : to obtain sight or knowledge of for the first time
Columbus did obtain knowledge for the first time about the western hemisphere AND it did make it known to Europe at that time. That sounds like he discovered it by the definition. (Yes, Erickson did it earlier, but that wasn't known to the Europeans of 1492.)
OK, I'll get off my soapbox and brag on mija now.
After our lessons, I had a worksheet I wanted her to do which would have her write about Columbus. He had a word bank which I thought was helpful and a small picture to color.
It's not the first time nor will it be the last in which I have her do an activity like this. This time, however, she asked to do it differently. She said, "Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote it like I was Columbus?" Hmmm. First person narrative. Her own creative idea. You betcha!
So this was the outcome.
I know he didn't actually discover the American continent, but it was one of the choices in the word bank. The picture was cut out of the other worksheet and glued to her notebook and colored.
I think Columbus' line, "You are going to hear about me." is a hoot!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Toss It or Treasure It?
Recieved this from Currclick.com. Another good point about journaling/notebooking!
As the end of the school year draws near, are you swimming through mounds of worksheets, quizzes, tests, and half-finished workbooks wondering what to do with it all? What to keep? Where to keep it? How much to, dare I say, throw away? As you tackle this heap, recall the many hours that went into creating this heaping collection. Remember the great ambitions with which you started the school year (and perhaps the good intentions that fell to the wayside in order to “finish” this massive pile of paperwork). Finally, ask yourself -- if most, if not all, of your children’s work is going to get tucked away somewhere never to be seen again, how much value does it hold . . . to me? . . . to my children?
Notebooking our studies keeps us from creating these questionable mounds of paper each year. There is nothing left to sort. There is nothing left to pack away. There is nothing to throw away! Instead, another volume (or two or three or more) of our children’s prized work gets added to their personal library at the end of each year. No more busywork to throw away! No more second-guessing if our time has been well spent. Notebooking has literally transformed the way I approach my children’s education and has set afire a love of learning within each of them. Spend your precious hours exploring, discovering, and capturing the knowledge that awaits you and your children each day. Make learning a journey instead of a list to be checked off at the end of the day and a pile to be sorted at the end of the year. How do you do this?
Start simple. Grab the essential supplies: binders, paper, arts and crafts supplies, and a selection of writing utensils. You may also want to invest in some notebooking pages. Notebooking pages have been designed with a variety of preprinted lines, frames, borders, and clipart providing a quick start alternative to the notebooking process.
Start with one topic/subject for each child or for the whole family. Our favorite notebooks to do as a family are history and nature study. Ask your children to give a narration of what they learned during their study time. What did they find to be most important or interesting? An easy way to get started is to ask the 5Ws & 1H. If you have younger children, write their narrations down for them until they are more proficient with the physical skill of writing. For children who are accustomed to short fill-in-the-blank type questions, narration will take some practice to develop. However, narration is an invaluable skill that will lead to success in their future writings and investigations. It cements the material to their memory.
As your children continue to dig deeper, add new material to the notebook one page after another filling it up with information from their topic(s):
narrations from material studied or experienced
quotes
photos and information from field trips
maps
timeline of events
their drawings/sketches
collections of tangible items such as leaves, pressed flowers, and seeds
photos of hands-on activities or experiments
copywork selections
anything and everything they want to add to their notebooks
As your children dig deeper, the richness of their learning becomes evident as their notebooks fill to the brim with stories, pictures, and lessons learned from people, places, and events encountered. It’s a joy to sit down with them as they confidently share all they have learned through their notebooks.
Each year, as the volumes of notebooks increases upon your shelves, you’ll see that notebooking captures a “living” record of their learning journey. Instead of tossing the year’s work in a taped up box, you’ll find ways to add more bookshelves to house these treasures!
Debra Wooley
NotebookingPages.com
As the end of the school year draws near, are you swimming through mounds of worksheets, quizzes, tests, and half-finished workbooks wondering what to do with it all? What to keep? Where to keep it? How much to, dare I say, throw away? As you tackle this heap, recall the many hours that went into creating this heaping collection. Remember the great ambitions with which you started the school year (and perhaps the good intentions that fell to the wayside in order to “finish” this massive pile of paperwork). Finally, ask yourself -- if most, if not all, of your children’s work is going to get tucked away somewhere never to be seen again, how much value does it hold . . . to me? . . . to my children?
Notebooking our studies keeps us from creating these questionable mounds of paper each year. There is nothing left to sort. There is nothing left to pack away. There is nothing to throw away! Instead, another volume (or two or three or more) of our children’s prized work gets added to their personal library at the end of each year. No more busywork to throw away! No more second-guessing if our time has been well spent. Notebooking has literally transformed the way I approach my children’s education and has set afire a love of learning within each of them. Spend your precious hours exploring, discovering, and capturing the knowledge that awaits you and your children each day. Make learning a journey instead of a list to be checked off at the end of the day and a pile to be sorted at the end of the year. How do you do this?
Start simple. Grab the essential supplies: binders, paper, arts and crafts supplies, and a selection of writing utensils. You may also want to invest in some notebooking pages. Notebooking pages have been designed with a variety of preprinted lines, frames, borders, and clipart providing a quick start alternative to the notebooking process.
Start with one topic/subject for each child or for the whole family. Our favorite notebooks to do as a family are history and nature study. Ask your children to give a narration of what they learned during their study time. What did they find to be most important or interesting? An easy way to get started is to ask the 5Ws & 1H. If you have younger children, write their narrations down for them until they are more proficient with the physical skill of writing. For children who are accustomed to short fill-in-the-blank type questions, narration will take some practice to develop. However, narration is an invaluable skill that will lead to success in their future writings and investigations. It cements the material to their memory.
As your children continue to dig deeper, add new material to the notebook one page after another filling it up with information from their topic(s):
narrations from material studied or experienced
quotes
photos and information from field trips
maps
timeline of events
their drawings/sketches
collections of tangible items such as leaves, pressed flowers, and seeds
photos of hands-on activities or experiments
copywork selections
anything and everything they want to add to their notebooks
As your children dig deeper, the richness of their learning becomes evident as their notebooks fill to the brim with stories, pictures, and lessons learned from people, places, and events encountered. It’s a joy to sit down with them as they confidently share all they have learned through their notebooks.
Each year, as the volumes of notebooks increases upon your shelves, you’ll see that notebooking captures a “living” record of their learning journey. Instead of tossing the year’s work in a taped up box, you’ll find ways to add more bookshelves to house these treasures!
Debra Wooley
NotebookingPages.com
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Great Journaling Resource
I knew we were going to journal with Micki since we were following a Classical education and I found this great resource.I found this at Wal-Mart. I think I remember that it was about $4.
As you can see, it's really awesome because each page a a space to write and illustrate. Right now, Micki just dictates and then illustrates. Eventually,
she'll do all the writing for herself. The journal is for K-2nd grade and I would agree with that. I just think it's really cool and wanted it to share.
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