How to Journal in the Science Classroom

A notebook works well as the science journal.

A science journal in the classroom asks students to document their observations about the science concepts they learn. The journal helps kids process the scientific concepts. It also serves as an informal assessment to determine what the students understand. Journaling provides a meaningful writing assignment for children, allowing them to improve their writing skills. Structured journal entries give students the most benefit from the activity. Use the journals regularly so the kids grow accustomed to using them.

Things You'll Need

• Notebooks

Instructions

1. Label a notebook or composition book for each child as the science journal. Include a title page with the child's name, grade level and other relevant information such as the science topics covered within the journal. Let the kids decorate the title page and cover with science-related images to make the journal feel more like their own.

2. Decide how often you want the kids to use the science journals. Use them any time you do science experiments as a way to document the steps and outcomes. Daily science journaling allows the kids to document and process what they learn in science class.

3. Set ground rules for writing in the journal. Examples include crossing out information rather than erasing it, which helps track the thinking process, or starting each new entry on a new page.

4. Teach the kids how to set up each journal entry based on the information you want them to include. Include the date, name of the activity, topic and chapter or page number it relates to in the science textbook.

5. Demonstrate an entry in the science journal based on a science lesson or experiment. Show the students how to draw pictures, make notes and write concepts in their own words to gain a better understanding of what they are learning.

6. Write specific information on the board that you want the students to include in that day's entry. For example, have them include vocabulary words or write a question that you want them to answer related to the day's lesson. This allows you to emphasize certain aspects of the lesson.

7. Read the journal entries regularly to check for understanding. Use the science journals as an informal assessment to determine the concepts that the students are having difficulty understanding.

References

• The University of Texas at Dallas: Using Elementary Interactive Science Journals to Encourage Reflection, Learning and Positive Attitudes Toward Science
• Burlington-Edison School District No. 100: Using Science Notebooks in the Classroom