TIPS FROM JENNIFER – COLORING TIME, SUPPLY ORGANIZATION, AND MORE…
I have been interested in doodle type notes for a while since I started using interactive science notebooks a few years ago. We do some sketching of diagrams already in the notebooks, but some students don’t enjoy drawing.
Many students also struggle with traditional note-taking so I have been looking for a way to incorporate information with visual reinforcement to really help cement some of the science concepts that can be really challenging.
I have only used Doodle Notes a few times, but the students definitely seem to like them. I am by no means an expert. I would say that the doodle notes pages shouldn’t come right at the start of the unit, but somewhere in the middle to help synthesize the information or towards the end as reinforcement/review.
I just started the Doodle Note Club a couple of weeks ago as I was looking for something on TPT to help reinforce Gravitational Forces and I couldn’t find anything that I liked. I had heard about the Doodle Note Club earlier in the year, but I didn’t sign up then as I didn’t think that I would have the time to utilize it as we have a brand new science curriculum this year that is aligned with NGSS. I have made 2 sets of notes and I feel like I am getting the hang of it, but I don’t have many tips or tricks yet as I haven’t watched many of the videos yet or tried many advanced things.
I do have 2 separate templates set up, one for landscape and one for portrait style notes. I am trying to learn how to take a “less is more” approach and try not to clutter up the page too much and allow students room to add extra details or ideas that they might want to add.
I like the Intro to Matter page that I just made the other day as I feel it is pretty simple and straightforward, but it also contains clear and concise information that is easy to understand.
I have noted that some of the kids’ faces do become a bit more animated when we use doodle notes and many like to make them “pretty” or make them their own. Since I already do interactive notebooks, I have bins with supplies like scissors, tape, colored pencils, and hand sharpeners on the tables so that the supplies are readily available and students aren’t wandering around to get what they need, I think this is very important.
I have table groups with 4 students per table. I also don’t give the whole class period to color. We start the coloring in class, I show an example of a completed page on the board, and then I tell students to finish the coloring as homework. I also encourage them to underline, outline, or highlight key pieces of information to really make them stand out.
I really love teaching science and I am always looking for ways to help my students understand it and love it too! I think that adding the Doodle Notes pages to my list of tools will be a great addition! I really look forward to watching the rest of the video lessons and really getting creative over the summer break – last day of school is June 21st.