UPDATE: I now offer these resources for purchase on my TPT store. Thank you to all who expressed interest in my products! The link as at the end of the post.
What are student data notebooks?
A student data notebook is, basically, exactly what it sounds like: a notebook where students keep data. There are so many different variations of student data notebooks. One of the wonderful things about being an educator is the freedom to create and choose what you use in your classroom. When creating student data notebooks you can create templates for tracking goals and assessments for the Common Core, spelling tests, Everyday Math assessments, or any other assessments used throughout the year. I understand this is all pretty broad information so let me tell you what we're doing in my class!
Last year our first grade students experienced a great deal of
success in their state mandated reading assessment, reading level growth, and
math skills. After discussing this success with my team, we decided
one of the greatest factors was setting and discussing goals. For
example, for the FAST (reading) assessment, we told the students, "Our goal
is to be able to read 41 words in a minute! Let's see if we can do it!"
We would then set the timer and they would give it their all.
Knowing their goal was motivating and it made them want to do better.
If they reached their goals, they all felt very accomplished. If they
didn't reach their goal, they eventually learned how to deal with that, accept
it, and just work hard to get there the next time. It was amazing how
just setting and communicating those goals with the students made them so much
more intrinsically motivated.
One other example I'd like to share is the students' guided reading
levels. At the beginning of the year we determine our students' guided
reading level through Pioneer Valley and through running
records. We then tell each student their level and give them "good
fit" books to practice reading. After each week we conduct a running
record to determine their instructional reading level. If a student reads
at the independent level, they are bumped up to the next level. We work
with each student to set a goal for the following week. We also work with
the student to set a goal for their reading level at the end of each month or
quarter. Simply setting these goals has motivated our students
tremendously.
FINALLY to the student data notebook...
You might be asking: Where do I keep that data? Where do we
write the goals? How do I have time to do all this?
If you read my "Classroom Tour" post from last week, you
might have noticed the piles of white notebooks on the shelf.
These are my students' student data notebooks. The front
cover is a piece of red construction paper with their name on it. This
gives the students the opportunity to decorate their cover and personalize each
notebook.
Inside we have made a student graph for each common core
"power standard". These are the standards that will appear on
our report cards. We know that we can't realistically report on
every single first grade standard and discuss them with parents.
Therefore, we decided on which standards are the "power
standards" and these are the ones we have chosen to report and put in our
data notebooks. Those look like this:
We have designed an assessment to measure each of these
power standards. At the top of each assessment you will see a similar
rubric.
After the student takes the assessment and it is graded, I circle
which level of the rubric he or she has accomplished. Then all we need to
do is pass out the assessment and the student data notebook and record their
results. As you can see from the bottom of the data notebook pages, we
plan to assess each standard multiple times. When the students record
their results, they write the assessment date on the bottom part of the graph, then
they color up to the level of the rubric that they accomplished on that
particular assessment.
As the year goes on, students will be able to physically see their
growth. This is incredibly important and powerful.
The best part is, it doesn't have to end there! You can also
use this method to track reading level, fluency, spelling tests, sight word
assessments, etc. We use charts like this to chart their success in
other areas.
Each week during guided reading, after a running record is
conducted, the student will grab their student data notebook and write which
level book he or she read, how many words he or she read in a minute and then
color up to that number on the graph. We always make these data sheets in
the form of a graph because then students can continually see their growth
throughout the year!
This may seem like a lot of leg work up front, but I think it is worth
it! I am excited to implement these notebooks this year and see the
growth of my students. Sometimes, as teachers, it is very rewarding and
just as motivating for us as it is for the students to see that growth. I plan to share more blog posts about
student data notebooks as the year goes on so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week! :)
and an editable version here
The assessments we use to measure these standards are available for purchase here.
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