Spanish Notebook Section 2: Class Content
This section is the meat of the notebook. It’s where comprehensible input is recorded/reflected on/interpreted– whatever works best. I love interactive notebooks because they, like CI, are adaptable to what each class needs. The content reflects our interests, and what we do with it depends on the day.
The biggest section of our notebook is the class content section. We reserve some pages at the end for reference (the few vocabulary lists and grammar charts we do), and the rest is filled in chronologically. Most weeks, we have three target structures, and do at least one class story or MovieTalk. If you’d like to see how this works, make sure to watch my TPRS and notebooking video on the main Spanish notebooks page.
As the text and stories get more complex, the students also get a picture of how they are rising in proficiency. My approach can be somewhat spontaneous and a little crazy, so I love that parents and administrators can see all the work we’ve been doing in one place. The connections between the stories, authentic songs, and culture studies make more sense when they’re all together. It’s a good anchor for me, too!
Keep in mind that these are just a few samples. A lot of what we do isn’t necessarily recorded (PQA, Movie Talks, discussions), and we don’t feel pressure to use the INB unless it is helpful.
These free templates make it easy to put a text into a horizontal, front and back format (with or without margins). Just copy, paste, and print.
Sometimes a story just takes a half page, and I glue it directly onto the page. For others, I print front-and-back. By the end of the year, all the class stories are collected in one place.
We keep our songs at the back section of the notebook.
Cornell Notes for Piratas del Caribe
You don’t have to do fancy foldables all the time! It can be as easy as printing strips that guide notes or have questions that the students respond to. (Unfortunately, I don’t have permission to share these files.)
More examples of how I put stories in the notebook. I like to use strips of paper to guide writing or notes (I’m trying to incorporate Cornell note-taking methods), to get them thinking a bit more and not just filling in blanks.
Geography inserts to introduce the basics of Spanish-speaking countries.
I use these geography inserts whenever we spotlight a new country (as part of a song, unit, novel, etc.)
Novels Booklet
When we do a novel study, I anchor and begin our notebook pages with a little booklet with basic info.
This is often the only printable I do for the novel, in the notebook. The following pages we might do smash doodles, story maps, or other work. If everyone seems to get the chapter easily, we might just enjoy and not do notebook work.
Sometimes celebrating holidays feels a little scattered. I use this little booklet to anchor our Día de los muertos activities, and I like that everything from the year is together (not just worksheets that get filled out and thrown away).
