I created this “Math About Me” activity as a beginning of the school year and INB set up activity.

In my classroom, I will print this front to back so that it is on one paper. I will have the students complete the questions on the first day of class. They will then use the grid on the back to create a graphic organizer of some of the questions.

One reason I wanted to do this activity is to help set up the Interactive Notebooks. My students will create a “Math About Me” cover and this activity will give them some of the information they need before we begin setting up our notebooks.

You can get this activity in my TPT store HERE.

Enjoy!

This is a LONG post so I have broken it into two sections:

– The Things You Need

– How To Set It Up

How to Set it Up:

Here is how to set it up:

1.) Have the students trace the paper that they will need for the inside and outside of the notebook.  For the top and back and back-inside, I just laid the paper inside of the notebook, lined it with the black edge, and traced around it.  For the front-inside, I traced around the cover and cut it diagonally to make it a pocket.

Front:      Back:       Front Inside:       Back Inside:  

2.) The students will create a “Math About Me” page.  My students will do a front and back side, but I know a lot of people have only done it on the front.  I got the idea from Everybody is a Genius blog.  It is good to have them do this at the beginning, since will be “laminating” the notebooks by covering them with packing tape.

3.) Glue the paper onto the INB.  I glued it along one edge because I didn’t want it to look wrinkled underneath.  If you use the white Elmer’s glue, it will glue fast and stick there really well!  I did this so that it would hold onto the notebook as we begin taping.

4.) Use the packing tape to “laminate” the INB.  You do not need to cover the spine, just the area that you have added the paper.  If you look at the pictures above, I added enough tape to hold the front cover, as well as the inside cover.  I did the same with the back side.  You will notice that the notebook is really sturdy now!

5.) Print out all of the necessary paper that you will need to input into the notebook.  I will go through each of these handouts.

6.) Calendar – I downloaded my calendar from HERE.  I widened the margins and stretched out the calendar to fit the page.  Print out the calendar two to a page.  Fold the pages in half and cut along the line.  Staple all ten calendars together and insert into the pocket in your INB.

7. Table of Contents – Make sure to print on the front and back side.  The back side should be blank when folded.  When gluing, you only need an “anchor” tab so only glue along the edge of the back side.  This will be on Page 1.  I got my current Table of Contents from THIS blog.  I just modified it slightly.  You can download it HERE for free!

To be honest, I am not 100% positive that I will be keeping this Table of Contents.  It is really need and organized, but I don’t like the “left column, right column” thing.

8.) Syllabus & Grading Rubric – Definitely print out a half sheet version of your syllabus.  I wanted my students to be able to keep three pages from the syllabus, so I made it into a pamphlet to glued into their INB.  Also, the students will have a Grading Rubric specifically for their Grading Rubric.  The Syllabus will go on Page 2 and the Grading Rubric will be on Page 3.  Download Grading Rubric HERE.

9.) Table of Contents per Unit – This may seem redundant, but I wanted my students to have a Table of Contents per each unit.  These will be glued to the designated pages, which should be the beginning of each unit.  You can download it HERE.

10.) Glossary – The glossary, which consists of over 100 terms and definitions, will be glued onto the last page of the INB.  It will be folded into a pamphlet and glued in with an anchor tab along the blank page.  You can buy it HERE.

11.) Math Reference Sheet – I printed these out, two per page, on card stock, cut it out, and stapled it across the top.  I know it seems heavy, but if you glue it with Elmer’s glue, it should hold onto the back-inside of your INB.  By doing it this way, the students should be able to flip through the reference pages.  I would not suggest gluing these pages onto a regular paper.  It is too heavy and may not hold well.  Read about it HERE.

12.) Tabs – I LOVE my tabs!  I printed them out on card stock, cut them out, and glued them onto the designated pages.  I put glue on each side of the tab and glued it to the front and back side of the paper.  WARNING: Let the glue dry before closing the book or it might get stuck to other pages.  The template for the tabs is HERE.

Wow!  I know that it seems like a lot, but it is worth it!

Please let me know if you have any questions…Thanks!

My goal is to have my students set up their entire INB during the first week of school.  In this way, they (and I) will be organized once we begin taking notes in class.

This is a LONG post so I have broken it into two sections:

– The Things You Need

– How To Set It Up

Here are the things that you will need:

1.) A composition notebook.  It is easier if students get composition notebooks with a hard cover and, if possible, get a notebook that is college ruled, rather than wide ruled.  College ruled allows you SO much more writing space, but they are very difficult to find.

2.) Colored paper – Paper will be used to cover the inside and outside cover of the notebook.  You could use white paper, but colored is so much more fun!  Construction paper is easy probably the easiest.  Each student would need 4 pieces of paper, however, I am also contemplating taking large strips of paper from the teacher workroom and just putting them in the groups.

3.) Packing Tape – Packing tap will be needed to cover the interactive notebook.  Something like THIS.

4.) Glue – Okay, this is a biggie.  DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT buy stick glue.  It is not worth your time.  Buy the white Elmer’s glue (that we all hate) but sticks really well.  I used stick glue for the first half of the year and my student’s foldables and notes were falling out by February.

5.) Scissors – You’re students will need scissors to cut out many, many things.  If you are beginning to use INB’s, purchase a class set of scissors.  It’s worth it!  Check THESE out.

6.) Table of Contents – I got my current Table of Contents from THIS blog.  I just modified it slightly.  You can download it HERE for free!

7.) Calendar – I downloaded my calendar from HERE.  I widened the margins and stretched out the calendar to fit the page.  When I printed it, I printed it two per page to use less paper and to allow it to fit in the notebook.

8.) Syllabus – I am printing off an extra copy of the first three pages of my syllabus.  The students tend to lose the one I give them, but they can’t if it is glued into their notebook! (I hope!)

9.) INB Grading Rubric – I got the INB Grading Rubric from the same blog as the Table of Contents.  However, I modified it a bit to fit my students and myself.  You can download it HERE.

10.) Table of Contents – Per Unit – I decided to create a Table of Contents per Unit.  The students will log the assignments in their Table of Contents, but also on the Table of Contents that appears at the beginning of each unit.  You can download it HERE.

11.) Glossary – This year, I decided to create a pre-made glossary for my students.  The only thing that they have to do is add in the corresponding page numbers.  You can buy it HERE.

12.) Math Reference Pages – This is something I am so excited about!  Mostly because it is so pretty.  Read about it HERE.

13.) Tabs – Tabs!  Do I seem to excited about that?  They just look so nice in the notebook.  The template for the tabs is HERE.  I printed them out on cardstock, cut them out, and glued them onto the beginning of each section.

Phew!  That is a lot of stuff, right?  If you want to read about putting it together, go How to Set it Up to get all of the details!

The insert contains the word and definition with a blank space in the middle. At the beginning of class, I gave these to the students and had them try draw a picture representation of the word and definition. My students did well at this because, by 7th grade, they have seen many of these terms.

In addition, I also printed these out two to a page. Many times, I print this out this way because it will fit in the INB.

The terms included are:

Point – Line – Plane – Line Segment – Ray – Intersecting Lines – Parallel Lines – Perpendicular Lines – Right Angle – Acute Angle – Obtuse Angle – Straight Angle – Vertex – Transversal – Congruent Angles – Adjacent Angles – Corresponding Angles – Vertical Angles – Complementary Angles – Supplementary Angles – Triangle – Acute Triangle – Obtuse Triangle – Right Triangle – Equilateral

Here is a FREEBIE but the entire item is available on TPT HERE.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Below are some pictures of a Score Tracker I developed.  It is to be put inside the student’s Interactive Notebook and will allow them to keep track of their progress in my class.  Often times, the students are unaware of their progress, so I am hoping that this will help them!

Below is the first pages, which should be printed back to back.

Below are the second pages, which should be printed back to back.

I know this looks really confusing, but I promise it is really easy to use!  These pages should be printed back to back.  While holding the first page, the title “Score Tracker” should be facing down, with the “How Am I Doing?” facing upwards.  You will then lay the next page face down, with the “Quarter 2/Quarter 3” page facing upwards, and the “Quarter 1/Quarter 4” page facing down.

If you would like a copy of the score tracker pages, they can be found here:

Score Tracker – Page 1

Score Tracker – Page 2

Although we are finishing up the first quarter at my school, we are going to start “true” interactive notebooks this week.  The reason I say “true” interactive notebooks is because we have been creating interactive notebooks but not in a composition notebook, which seems to be the most popular method.  So, in a sense, my students are comfortable with creating graphic organizers and foldables but not within their composition books.

The reason I am switching from the “paper” method to the composition notebooks is in the hope that the students will not throw these away after we finish a unit.  Currently, once we finish a unit, the students ask, “Can I throw it away now?”  But, I want them to keep it for future reference on the things they have learn.  Plus, the foldables are so cute that I want them to keep it!

Below I have found some resources for setting up an interactive notebook.

I have 5 notebooks: Master Copy and 4 notebooks for my four blocks of math that I teach.  Inside, I have inserted a “Table of Contents” page and a “Vocabulary” page.

The “Table of Contents” insert comes from StatTeacher.  It looks like this:

The vocabulary pages  that I modified look like this:

The links for the vocabulary can be found HERE.

I hope you can find some of this information and resources helpful!