I'm about to start using the Comprehension Toolkit, and one question is really bugging me. Toolkit is all about having the kids track their thinking on Post-Its, which although expensive, should be very exciting for them. But then, what do the teachers or kids do with all these little notes after each lesson? Should I collect them? Maybe the kids can stick them to a sheet of notebook paper and turn them in. It just seems like the kids will stop working if they think the stickies just get thrown out at the end of the lesson, even if I go around and monitor their work before the end of the lesson. What do you all do?
I have seen a teacher do something similar. The students had a laminated folder where they would put the sticky notes while they were reading. At the end of the reading time they would put the folder back with the sticky notes still in the folder. The next time they would get it out, they put the sticky notes in a spiral notebook and start over on the folder. I don't know what the comprehension toolkit is but this might be similar.
Somehow, coolness notwithstanding, I feel like life would be much neater if we could go back to basics... whatever happened to taking notes in notebooks?
Yeah, I hear you. The theory is that the students will be more involved if they can jot down their thoughts, then stick them right next to the paragraph that inspired their comments. And if, for example, they jot down a question, they can move that Post-It to the part of the story that answered the question. I'll let you all know how it works out.
I just realized that you're a 4th grade teacher, so your kids are probably reading long books and staying with one book for a few days. So that does make sense, now. I was thinking in terms of what I've seen... I work with LD kids, and they are reading picture books, and the notes get really silly. They put post-its all over, show it/discuss it afterwards, and never look at them again. In that case, I think it's more effective to just write straight into a journal. For example, title of book, two predictions (with page number) and how they turned out.
Can someone show a picture or a website about these? I want to see if what you're referring to is similar to what I was introduced to last summer with post-its.
I use the toolkit by Stephanie Harvey in my room during reading workshop. Depending on the lesson, I have the students create maybe a T-chart or just write the title for the lesson in their reader's response notebooks. That way they can refer back to it the next day when we recap or they need to remember the strategy or skill for an independent lesson later on. Or, sometimes, if it's a more interactive lesson, we make an anchor chart of our post-its. This helps as a visual in the room.
I have my students put their Post-Its on computer paper, then slip the paper into a page protector. The Post-Its don't peel off, and you can do this inexpensively. They turn in their Post-Its in this way, then they can be put into their reading binders (or folders with prongs)
By the way, I have found that in general, the super-sticky post-its really do stick MUCH stronger. So if you're having messy issues with papers falling out, it might be worth the investment.
Most of the time I have my students put their post its on a sheet of paper and I collect it. Some of the girls like to glue their post its on the paper so they won't fall off.
