Interactive Notebooks: Resources for your Classroom (and a freebie!)

One of the big struggles I had when first setting up Interactive Notebooks in my classroom was finding appropriate resources.  When I first started a few years ago, there were very few resources available, and gathering them was a constant struggle.  I felt like I was constantly having to hunt out and prep different resources, and desperately needed some sort of system for organizing everything.

Since then, with teachers discovering how effective Interactive Notebooks can be, the market for resources has exploded.  I have had mixed success with the resources I have purchased... some have been incredible, and some not so good.  Because of this, I decided to put my knowledge and experience with using Interactive Notebooks to good use, and create my own resources.

Next year I will be teaching a Reading Intervention class for the first time, so I have been really working hard on creating resources to use with my students.  I plan to focus a good chunk of my instruction on targeting specific reading comprehension strategies - I want to get the kids summarizing, asking questions, visualizing, inferring, determining importance, and making connections.

A few years ago, our administrator purchased each Humanities teacher a variety of novel sets.  Each set has 5 books, and I have about 10 different sets.  The best part was that I got to choose the novels for each set; I am a big fan of young adult lit, so picking out the books was super fun for me.  Yes, I am a huge nerd.  Anyways, next year I plan on dividing the kids into groups based on reading level, giving each group a novel, and then having the kids work on different Interactive Notebook activities revolving around the targeted reading comprehension strategies.  Because of this, I created this resource:

The package of resources is common core aligned for grades 1-4, but I am actually planning on using it with a group of grade 7 struggling readers. The great thing about the resources is that they can be used with ANY text - this makes it super easy to differentiate instruction with your students.   You can see some of the resources included in the package in the picture.  For more detailed information about what exactly is included, you can click on the picture and it will take you directly to my Teachers Pay Teachers store :)

If you are interested in checking the package out a bit further, I have created a free sample package.  It includes a few resources to go along with each of the different reading comprehension strategies, and is a great starting point :)  If you click on the image, it will take you directly to my Teachers Pay Teachers store, where you can download it for free :)  Don't you just love free stuff?!

If you like these resources, you may want to check these out as well :).  All of the units are specifically designed for use in Interactive Notebooks, and include foldables, detailed instructions, handouts, and worksheets.  As before, clicking on the image will take you directly to the product in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store :)

Are you planning on using Interactive Notebooks in your classroom next year?  I would love to hear about how you plan on getting started!  Leave me a comment in the space below :)