Does setting up writer’s notebooks with your students have you stumped? Have you tried all the ways and still feel like nothing works?

Let’s talk about intentionally setting up writer’s notebooks so it will work for you and your students. 

Choosing the ‘right’ notebook

The seven key considerations will get you thinking about all aspects of the notebook - from portability to structure, ensuring your students' writing space is both productive and inviting. 

Learn more about these considerations in Episode 36: Writer's Notebooks: 7 Powerful Decisions for Success and find tips on setting up writer's notebooks.

To Decorate or Not to Decorate

This is a personal decision, not only for the teacher, but also for the students. Personalization encourages ownership, allowing students to make their notebooks special. From simple touches to wild imaginations, find inspiration and essential supplies for decorating.

Notebook Expectations

Laying the foundation for how, when, and why writer’s notebooks are used will create the path for successful notebook use. Involving students in creating the expectations will develop motivation and ownership in the process. 

Notebook Organization

Organization should be simple - from labeling sections, numbering pages, and creating a table of contents. Discover a two-section approach that works from both ends of the notebook to meet in the middle. And give students the freedom to choose their preferred organizational strategies.

Make Time to Write

Despite the demands on our time, regular opportunities for students to write will build a valuable collection of work and endurance. 

Remember that setting up a writer's notebook is a personal journey tailored to you and your students. 

For additional support and resources, check out 

annotatedela.com/episode38

Follow along on Instagram @annotatedela

Resources 

Tabs - coming soon

Rubric - coming soon

On the Podcast

Episode 36: Writer's Notebooks: 7 Powerful Decisions for Success

On the Blog

7 Key Decisions for Writer's Notebook Success in the Classroom 

How to Set Up a Writer’s Notebook for the School Year Effectively

Melissa Burch 0:00

Hey friends welcome to another episode of annotated ELA I'm so glad you're here. Whether you're a teacher looking to get your classroom writing projects off the ground, or a teacher who's knee deep in those writing projects and want to use a writer's notebook to help keep it going strong how to set up a writer's notebook is essential for getting started. So today, we are going over the basics of what it takes to set up a successful writer's notebook. Before we get into the episode, if you want to use writer's notebooks with intention, and meet your students writing needs, join me in the five day writer's notebook challenge, so you can help your students become proficient writers and meet all levels of students where they are in the five day writer's notebook challenge. We transform how you and your students use writer's notebooks through five emails, you will get an email a day with tips, strategies and tricks to set up those notebooks and get them going with ease and confidence.

Melissa Burch 0:56

Let's talk about finding the right notebook. I did discuss finding the right notebook a little bit in Episode 36. So if you head to annotated ela.com/episode 36 You can listen to that episode to get a deeper dive into the seven considerations but I do want to review them really quickly because choosing the right notebook is important to create a productive and inviting writing space. The seven key considerations will help guide your notebook decision that's best for you and your students. So the seven considerations are

Melissa Burch 1:28

One, are students taking notebooks home? Two, is the notebook easily replaced if it gets filled? Or are you using something that can be replenished and doesn't fill up? Three, to decorate or not decorate? Will the notebooks be personalized? Four, are the notebooks easy to collect and review for you the teacher? Five, how will the notebook be structured? Six, will pages need to be removed or additional pages added? And seven, is the notebook easily managed by students. Listen to Episode 36 at annotated ela.com/episode36 for more detailed information on those seven considerations,

Melissa Burch 2:09

Here's some other considerations that you should make when thinking about how to set up writer's notebook. First of all, look for notebooks with strong bindings so that pages don't fall out. Students can be rough with them, especially if they're transporting them. Make sure there's plenty of blank pages any lines you may need and a sturdy cover. If flexibility is key for you or your classroom, consider spiral bound or pocket notebooks that allow for like additional content to be stuck in alongside the entries. Remember that there is no wrong notebook composition notebooks seem to be the best choice in most classrooms, but do what works for you and your students. And students are very creative and will find ways to make the notebook work for them. So their notebook choice will also determine how to set up the writer's notebook. Really everything hinges on the type of notebook that you're going to use and then how to structure it.

Melissa Burch 3:03

We're going to start off though with how to decorate or not. To decorate or not to decorate as a question, it's a no brainer for me, we decorate however, some students don't want to personalize it. And that's okay too. I do leave it up to my students. But I do provide some time and supplies in the pursuit of making the notebooks their own. It's never a lot of time I might give them 20 minutes or so because students who really want to will do it on their own. But I want them to know that this is a sacred space and should be treated with all the care and love that it deserves. So encouraging them to decorate as a sense of ownership of that physical notebook and what they'll eventually put inside of it. And really, decorating can be as simple as adding their names and pictures of their family, friends or pets or drawing something for the more artistic and crafty students let their imaginations run wild. This is an important part of how to set up writer's notebook because our writers notebooks are special and this makes it special. Some supplies if you're going to decorate notebooks that you might want to consider having is make sure the kids have one or two notebooks depending on how you'll be using them. I do prefer composition notebooks, clear packing tape, or contact paper to protect pictures and covers sharpies permanent markers, so that it will stay tabs to flag sections of the notebook. Sticky notes if that's something that they'll prefer. Glue, pencils, pens, stickers, anything fun. The students can even bring stuff from home if they'd like.

Melissa Burch 4:35

So now let's get to number three. This is really important it is discussing writing and expectations with your class. So after all of the students have gathered their materials, I introduce the notebook and discuss how it can help them in their writing, discussing why they will benefit from keeping these notebooks and what they should use them for, really hooks them in and motivates them and gives them a reason for Having these notebooks reinforcing the importance of maintaining a neat and organized notebook by explaining that will make it easier for them to find their notes, ideas or writing drafts needed for accomplishing our classroom tasks. Listen, middle schoolers need some organizational help. It's a skill, am I right? So this is a time and a place where we can teach that skill, helping them keep everything neat and organized, which that sometimes is a reason to not do notebooks because it does take some effort and some time to teach them to keep it organized and neat, and it's something that needs to be maintained. The expectations of the notebook are important when considering how it's going to be set up. So before students can dive right into their writer's notebooks, it's important to discuss what ideas and expectations with the class talking about why writing is important for grasping concepts, and how the notebook will help them do this. And this is the most important part, it is beneficial to come up with expectations and norms as a class, it will give students a voice and improve internal motivation. If students know they were part of creating the rules for the notebooks. Of course, as the teacher you always have the final word and, and you can facilitate successful decision making by doing it as a class. If you're looking for some ideas on expectations, visit episode annotated ela.com/episode38. And I have a graphic with some of the expectations that have been used with classes.

Melissa Burch 6:33

Number four is the writer's notebook organization. All right, so here's that tricky part of helping our students stay organized. The easiest way is just to label each section of the notebook, numbering the pages and creating a table of contents for the Table of Contents has to be maintained, and it is highly unlikely that students will do that on their own. They definitely need reminders until it becomes a habit, I have found that simple organization is the best organization for how to set up writer's notebook. And we start with two sections, a Toolbox section and a writing section, I leave three to four pages at the front for a table of contents, we do make sure that we have our pages numbered because that way they can say which page number the information is on. Then we flag the first page after the table of contents with a tab. And I flag it as writing. This is page one, I numbered pages front to back so that a composition book with 100 pages ends up with 200 pages, minus those three or four pages for the table of contents. Next, we turn to the last page of the notebook and flag it toolbox with a tab. We work from the outside and and it works well. The tricky part is is keeping that table of contents organized. Some students will continue to use tabs and sticky notes to flag pages. And I encourage them to do what works. And this is when they can choose how to set up writers notebooks. But they all have to have a table of contents. This is a great opportunity, though for ownership and finding strategies for them. I mean, what great metacognition for them to start to experiment with what works for them organizationally.

Melissa Burch 8:13

So my toolbox works from the back to the middle, and the writing works from the front to the middle. That way we meet in the middle when the notebook is full, we've met in the middle, the students have pretty much that first half of the notebook to do writing that we do or to create any drafts. And the back is for any lessons, many lessons ideas, authors craft that I teach or that I want them to be able to reference, I had thought about keeping a table of contents in the back just for the toolkit, and a table of contents in the front just for the writing. And I think I'm going to stick with that because having one table of contents for the whole notebook can get a little tricky. Some students really have a hard time saying page one, and then a page 200 on the entry, it confuses them. So having two separate table of contents might work. Either way, it's tricky because you have to keep on it with them. So be willing to make that commitment. Number five, to schedule time for writing and reflection within the notebook. So now that we have figured out a way to set it up, and let me go back to that it's a science experiment, just try something and see how it goes. But once we have the notebook setup, we have to use it. So now that we've provided all of our students with the guidelines and expectations of their writer's notebook, plan for regular opportunities for them to write.

Melissa Burch 9:36

It sounds like such a simple thing. But it really is the most important and can often feel impossible because we're trying to cover so much with all of the demands on teachers and ELA teachers and trying to teach all the things. Taking time to just write might feel like a waste of precious class time I get it, but having students build a collection of writing and building endurance for writing will be well worth it. When it comes time to teach the reading the writing, the speaking the listening and the language standards, they have built a muscle that's going to help them to dig in. And they'll have a why for why they need to learn it. Hopefully most of your students will have fallen in love with writing, or at least have an endurance to bear it long enough to get it done. Right. I mean, let's be real, all of our kids aren't going to love it. And that's okay. I often tell my students, it's okay to not like what we do. I totally get it. There's things I don't like to do. But understand your Why Why don't you like it, and then figure out how you can make it so that you can get it done. We have to build that muscle in our brain that perseveres and helps us do hard things. And that's just a daily discussion in my classroom because we all know the growing apathy, we're all in it together, and we know it's hard, help your students build that muscle and give them time to write. They'll thank you for it. It's just like getting them time to read.

So how to set up a writer's notebook will be personal for you and your students. My hope is that these tips for success will help you get started, or at least take your notebooks to the next level. Happy writing friends.

And if you want more support with writer's notebooks, you can check out my writer's notebook resources in the show notes at annotated ela.com/episode38. I have some done for you tabs and a rubric to help you quickly check and grade notebooks. Until next time friends remember, the magic is in the process.