assignment notebook for kindergarten

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Kindergarten Writing Journals: Daily Journal Prompts & Tips

One of the best ways to help your kindergarten students learn the writing process is to use daily kindergarten writing journals. However, there are a few important things to remember to implement them appropriately. Learn how to find the best journals and incorporate them into your daily routines with these supplies, prompts, and tips! 

Kindergarten journals are a great way to build your students' writing skills! When writing becomes a daily habit, it becomes much easier and less stressful. Since kindergarteners cannot all read and may still be developing the fine motor skills to write by hand, it's essential to adapt your routines to be developmentally appropriate.

To start, you might want these free blank writing pages  which you could staple together to create a journal. 

They have wide lines and are colour-coordinated to help your students form their letters properly.  

What are Kindergarten Writing Journals?

There are several different ways to make or use kindergarten writing journals, so let's break it down.

You can either buy or make your own writing journals. This can look like printing out a bunch of the free writing pages above or purchasing pre-made primary notebooks with wide lines.

Best Kindergarten Writing Journals

You can easily make your own journals, but if you prefer something premade and bound, these are some great primary notebooks you can order online:

If you are in Australia...

Student Notebook - these landscape pages have large handwriting lines for students to write on.

Salmon Exercise Books - these landscape pages are blank - perfect for very beginning writers and for drawing pictures. 

My Big Writing Book - this book has both handwriting lines and room to draw pictures!

Ground Grass Sky Exercise Books - these are great for scaffolding handwriting!

If you are in the USA...

Mead Primary Notebook - This journal has colour-coded blue and red lines with plenty of space between them. They're a great basic option, but there is no room for drawing.

Mintra Notebook Bundle - The great thing about these daily writing journals is that the top portion of the journal has space for drawings. This is ideal for students who may not be ready to write full sentences right away and need to rely on images to support their writing.

Oxford Jr Primary Notebooks - These small journals are about the size of half of a regular journal. Since they are smaller and positioned horizontally, they are ideal for younger kids. The spiral also makes it easy to open the notebook to lay completely flat on the desk. Oxford Jr also makes full-sized primary notebooks  which are not spiral-bound.

Free Kindergarten Journal Writing Prompts

I created a list of over 100 journal prompts for kids you can use, and they're all completely free! Add these to your lesson plans, and you'll have over half a year's prompts to use anytime.

How to Use Kindergarten Writing Journals

There are several ways to incorporate journals into your instruction. The best method is to use them daily, starting at the beginning of the year, although it will take time to scaffold your students to independence!

How to Start a Daily Writing Routine

Let's help your students start writing complete sentences every single day, starting at the beginning of kindergarten. Since it's much less cognitively demanding for students to share information about themselves or their lives, this is a natural place to start developing their writing skills. There are several ways to do this, though!

Recount Writing

I'm a big fan of recount writing and have a free guide to help you implement this practice in your classroom.

The basic idea of recount writing is to have students share something that happened to them recently. 

This type of writing can become formulaic, which is a good thing for beginners. The repetition makes it easier for your students to internalise the process, making it faster and easier each time.

By following the same familiar scaffold each week, it reduces the cognitive load for beginning writers. 

I love using this method with The Hive because you can pull up these kindergarten journal prompts and recount sentence starters automatically, saving plenty of time in the morning!

Question of the Day

This option is more open-ended, so it can be more challenging for students who are just learning to write. This is best used as an extension or for the end of the year. It's also great with older elementary grades!

To do this, post a question on the board every day. Ask about their favourite book, their favourite subject in school, their favourite season, what they want to be when they grow up, their favourite food, etc. 

You could also use The Hive 's Sharing Question discussion prompts:

Writing Station

You could also incorporate your Kindergarten writing journals with a Writing Station. 

This will further free up the cognitive load for students, by providing them with loads of sentence stems and writing prompts!

You can download my Kindergarten Writing Station here .

Sentence Worksheets

These sentence writing worksheets can be used in a variety of ways to introduce early sentence writing skills . You could staple the pages together to create a kindergarten writing journal.

1. Read   the simple sentence

2. Cut and paste   the words to build the sentence,

3. Write   the sentence.

Tips for Using Kindergarten Journals

1. give it an authentic purpose..

Your students will work more intentionally when there is a purpose for their work. They will be much more engaged and take responsibility for the work they produce.

How can your students share their writing in a meaningful way? Have them read off their response during the morning meeting, place their student workbook under the document camera, or share their writing with their classmates. 

2. ​Make it a daily routine.

Think of writing as a muscle. If you only flex it every once in a while, the muscle will be weak and get tired quickly. If you flex it every day, it'll become faster, stronger, and more capable.

Find a way to incorporate these writing activities into your classroom routine. They're a great way to help kids settle in each morning, or you can use them as part of your independent writing centers. 

3. Change it up.

Repetition can be powerful, but not if it gets boring. The brain loves things that are new and novel. If you don't want to ask the same questions or use the same writing prompts each day, generate a list of different prompts or questions or incorporate a free writing session to give your students a chance to show off their creative writing.

​4. Have a separate morning journal.

If you incorporate daily journal writing, use two separate journals: one for journaling and one for writing lessons. Add bookmarks to help kids find their place quickly, too!

​5. Set expectations.

Like any assignment, your students need to understand why they're completing a task and how to assess their work. Talk to them honestly about the purpose for writing. Explain that writing is like a muscle, and it gets easier the more you do it. Explain how their hands are changing and developing right now and that they must strengthen those muscles!

To develop metacognition, talk about how to assess the quality of their writing. For recount writing, you're likely looking for just one complete sentence, or perhaps two sentences. In 1st Grade or 2nd Grade, you may start looking for more sentences, as well as more accurate spelling, and more descriptive words.

Here's an example of a Kindergarten writing checklist that you could create and display in The Hive :

Show examples of what high quality writing looks like and help them set goals to improve their writing over time. Let them know they'll be amazed to see their growth over the entire year - is a great goal in itself!

For more writing goal ideas, you might like to take a look at my editable Writing Goals.   

6. Offer writing supports.

If you want your students to be independent writers, they need to know how to write independently. Start by teaching the process explicitly several times. Do the writing exercise together to model the process, and offer various charts or supports for them to use on their own. Break it down by every step! 

Young students won't know how to hold, use, or organise their kindergarten notebook properly, let alone a pencil, a checklist, or an anchor chart. Teach every step of the process and keep your instructions consistent over time. If you need to change an approach or expectation, state it explicitly to avoid confusing them.

Build these supports together or model them:

• A writing checklist (try this free sentence editing checklis t to assess complete sentences, punctuation, and capitalisation)

 You can see this sentence checklist in action here:

Other writing scaffolds or supports could include:

• Letter formation anchor chart (show how to use the lines and make appropriate line spaces)
• Make an interactive writing center to show common spellings
• Clarify the steps or expectations for your routine

The more clearly you can define expectations and offer your students tools to be independent, the more peaceful and productive your kindergarten classroom will be. Students feel good when they know what to do and how to solve a problem. You'll feel good not having to hop from student to student, solving basic issues!

More Writing Resources

• Kindergarten Name Writing Activities
• Imaginary Animal Informative Writing
• Fairy Tales Narrative Writing Activities
• Kindergarten Term 1 Writing Unit
• Handwriting Handout for Parents

Writing needs to become a daily routine if you want to help your students develop their writing abilities. Many older students avoid this task as much as possible, usually because they think they're a bad writer. This usually goes back to not being taught explicitly. They get confused about how to convey their thoughts in writing and also struggle with letter formation, spacing, and even using their materials. 

If you can teach writing incrementally in a developmentally appropriate way, you will demystify this important process for them and develop strong neural pathways and muscle memory that will help them for a very long time. These early writing lessons can make a huge difference!

Ready to take your instruction to the next level?

The Hive's interactive learning tools, videos & resources make it so much easier to explicitly teach writing to your students, without spending hours searching for resources or having to re-invent the wheel yourself.  It's a game-changer!

Sign up for a 7 day free trial of The Hive today!

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Making Learning Fun with Interactive Notebooks: A Guide for Kindergarten Teachers

Kindergarten is a crucial year in a child’s educational journey, laying the foundation for future learning. As a kindergarten teacher, you want to create engaging and interactive learning experiences that foster creativity and curiosity in your students. One fantastic tool to achieve this is the Interactive Notebook. In this blog post, we’ll discuss how to introduce Interactive Notebooks to your kindergarten students, including the materials you’ll need, notebook storage, and practice tips for students on how to place papers into their notebooks.

Interactive Notebook Materials You’ll Need

Before you start using Interactive Notebooks in your kindergarten classroom, you’ll need to gather some essential materials. Here’s a list of items to consider:

• Notebooks : You can use composition notebooks or spiral-bound notebooks, but it’s a good idea to choose ones with sturdy covers that can withstand the daily wear and tear of kindergarten. I’m not a huge fan of the spiral ones. If you are using more than one spiral notebook the spines can get twisted together. I usually just load up on composition books at Walmart during back-to-school season when they’re on sale. I get a different color notebook for each subject.
• Glue Sticks or Glue Tubs : I like having both of these options available for my students. The glue tubs often work better than the glue sticks for the smaller interactive notebook pieces.
• Scissors : Child-safe scissors are a must. Ensure they have blunt tips and are suitable for small hands.
• Colored Pencils and Crayons : I prefer to use these instead of markers for the notebooks so no color bleeds through the pages.
• Stickers and Smelly Markers : After a student shows me their work I usually add a smelly marker star to their page. As an extra incentive, I sometimes let the student who finishes first choose the scent I will use for the day. My students LOVE smelly stars. Stickers work great as well.
• Storage Containers : How you store your student notebooks is going to vary widely depending on the teacher. In my classroom, I used flexible seating, so I really liked the IKEA TROFAST storage bins to hold all of their curriculum materials including their interactive notebooks. I’ve also seen people store the notebooks in plastic crates or just in the student’s desk if you have that kind of set-up.

Interactive Notebook Set-Up

Setting up Interactive Notebooks ahead of time is crucial for making these notebooks stress-free for both you and your students. Here are some tips for effective setup:

• Designate a Notebook Station : Wherever you have your notebooks stored you need to have a clear system for working with them. For example, if you are using crate storage I would keep the crate myself and call each student one by one to get their book. I would then have them pick up the page they were going to be adding to their notebook in a different area.
• Label Everything : Label each student’s notebook and materials with their name. Avery name badge labels are what have worked best for me. I print a label with their name on it and the subject and attach it to the front of the notebook. I usually have no problem with these labels lasting all year.
• Consider a Place Keeper Ribbon : If your students are having a hard time finding the next available page you can hot glue a ribbon to the back of your student’s notebook. Make it long enough so that it stretches to become a bookmark. I haven’t had to use this as much with interactive notebooks but I have definitely used this with other curriculum books and it has worked really well!
• Student Responsibility : Teach your kindergarten students the importance of taking care of their materials and returning them to the designated storage area after each use. Also, teach them how to use the next available page in the notebook so they are not wasting pages and the leaning follows a chronological order.

Practice for Students

Introducing Interactive Notebooks to kindergarten students requires patience and practice. Here’s how to help your students learn how to place papers into their notebooks:

• Model the Process : Start by demonstrating how to glue papers into the notebook. Show them how to apply glue to the back of the paper and then press it firmly into the notebook. Show them how to use glue tubs for smaller pieces.
• Practice with Worksheets : Many interactive notebook worksheets have very specific cutting instructions, so practicing those as a whole class at the beginning of the year can be helpful.
• Use Visual Aids : Create step-by-step visual guides with pictures to help students remember the process. Place these guides on the wall near the notebook station.
• Offer Assistance : Be patient and offer assistance as needed. Encourage independence but be ready to step in if a student needs help, especially at the beginning of the year.
• Reinforce Positive Behavior : Praise students for their efforts and neat work. Offer rewards or stickers for well-organized notebooks.

Quick and Easy Grading and Progress Communication

One of the things I like most about interactive notebooks is that I can easily grade them and quickly assess a student’s understanding.

At my school, we had an online grading system that tabulated everything for us. Whenever I gave the students an interactive notebook page to complete I would open a new assignment tab on my computer.

Students would come up to me when they were done and I would give them a smelly star on their page and quickly record their grades into the system. There was no future work for me to do, everything was done on the spot!

Another wonderful thing about the interactive notebooks is that I could easily pull them out during parent conferences to show student’s progress. Also, at the end of the year, I sent the notebooks home which was so easy and convenient and gave families a little memento of their child’s kindergarten learning!

If you’d like to get a look into how I structure my lessons with an interactive notebook check out my sink vs. float post and grab the freebie that comes with it!

Make Your Life Easier With Interactive Notebooks!

Interactive Notebooks can be a valuable tool in a kindergarten classroom, fostering creativity, organization, and a love for learning. By gathering the right materials, setting up an efficient storage system, and providing practice and guidance to your students, you can seamlessly integrate Interactive Notebooks into your daily lessons.

These notebooks will not only enhance the learning experience but also create lasting memories for your kindergarten students as they embark on their educational journey. Take a look at the interactive notebooks I have available in my TPT store:

• Science Notebook for Kindergarten
• Social Studies Notebook for Kindergarten
• Math Notebook for Kindergarten
• Language and Grammar Notebook for Kindergarten

I also have 2 discounted bundles available of my interactive notebooks:

• Kindergarten Science and Social Studies Interactive Notebook Bundle
• Interactive Notebook Bundle – Worksheets for Kindergarten (contains all 4 notebooks)
• Read more about: Classroom Organization

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See what other happy teachers have to say..., browse the blog.

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Sweet for Kindergarten

Teaching resources, freebies, and ideas for the Kindergarten classroom

Interactive Notebooks in Kindergarten

When I first saw interactive notebooks, I knew I wanted to do them in my Kindergarten classroom! They were similar to a worksheet, but 100 times better, because they were engaging, practiced fine motor skills , and I thought my students would love them. However, I was under the impression they would be “too hard” for Kindergarteners. I wish I didn't underestimate my student's ability and tried them years ago!

After using them in my classroom for the past year, my students were the BIGGEST FANS of interactive notebooks! They practically begged me for more! Here's how you can use interactive notebooks in Kindergarten.

Why use interactive notebooks?

Interactive notebooks are an amazing tool for your students because you can pack an entire year's worth of skills into one handy notebook! My students proudly displayed theirs for Open House, and the parents were impressed to see how far their student came in just a few months.

There are so many options on Teachers Pay Teachers, and for every grade level/subject! We did a page in our Phonics notebook every Friday to review our phonics skill of the week. At the end of the year, my students were able to take it home and it had everything they learned for the year in one place.

There are so many benefits to using interactive notebooks in your classroom! All the cutting and gluing helps your students develop their fine motor skills. I have so many students that come into K, not knowing how to hold scissors or glue without drowning their paper in glue. Doing these notebooks allows your students to have lots of practice with cutting.

At first, the notebooks may look like a hot mess, but that's okay because they are practicing these skills and learning along the way. By the end of the year, you will be surprised at how far they've come!

Tips on using interactive notebooks in Kindergarten

Interactive notebooks in Kindergarten can seem daunting at first, so I'm going to share some tips and tricks I learned along the way! This will help you be successful with implementing interactive notebooks in your Kindergarten classroom.

What supplies you need:

To get the most bang for your buck, buy the notebooks when they are on sale during the back-to-school season. I think I got 50 for about $5 at Target!

Another option is to put it on the student supply list if you are able to. Personally, I like the spiral-bound notebooks because they are easy to fold back and flip the pages, but the black and white composition books work too!

Don't want to use notebooks? You can use a piece of construction paper or  Astrobrights paper  instead!

Prep ahead of time

To prep our weekly notebook page, I would pre-cut the edges . I used this handy paper cutter  to do multiple pages at once. This alone saved my students time and only took me about 3 minutes. I would have all the pieces ready to go for more students and their notebooks in our notebook bin. We developed a routine starting the first day and stuck to it for the year.

Use interactive notebooks weekly

Every Friday, at my small group center, we would review our phonics skill of the week using the interactive notebook page. Completing this in a small group setting , really helped my students get the hang of it. It was only a couple of students at a time that I needed to help, and I was right there to help them if/when they needed it.

Doing this activity on a weekly basis helped my students remember the steps and feel confident in doing it independently. After a month or so of doing this once or twice a week in small groups, I would have them do it independently at a center or during our phonics time. They were able to do this with minimal help by mid-October!

They can do it independently!

I try not to “baby” my Kindergarteners, aka do every single task for them. Yes, I prep the pages, but they do the majority of the cutting and gluing! Teach them to do it independently . They CAN do it if you give them the chance. I model how to put it together, step by step, SLOWLY, then help them along.

By the 3rd time you're working on it, you will start to hear students say, “Oh! I know how to do this part! I don't need any help.” Once you hear that, you know you've succeeded!

Keeping it “mess-free”

There can be A LOT of pieces when you are working on your interactive notebooks. We like to keep a “tidy tub” at the table.

A tidy tub is a small bin reserved for scraps of paper. When students cut something out, they put the scraps in the tidy tub. Once the table is finished with the activity, one of the students goes and dumps it in the big trash can. I love using tidy tubs because their workspace stays clear and students don't accidentally lose the little pieces that go with the notebook.

It doesn't take too much time!

Almost all of my students were able to complete a page in about 15 minutes. However, if a student was taking a while to finish, or we had to switch centers, I would just clip their extra pieces with a paperclip to the page that they were working on. They would have to finish it at some point in the day or during our Finish it Friday time.

Want to try it out for free?

Here's a free page for you to try out! All About the Letter Aa Phonics Interactive Notebook Page

Want to try phonics interactive notebooks in your classroom?

Grab the year-long bundle here !

I hope I helped you feel more confident in branching out and trying new, engaging activities in your Kinder classroom!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my affiliate links. This helps support my blog, Sweet for Kindergarten. I only recommend products that I love. All ideas shared are my own.

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FREE Printable Homeschool Daily Notebook

I’m sure you’ve all heard about printable homeschool daily notebook craze by now. They are the greatest thing to land in the homeschool world since Teaching Textbooks! 😉 What better way to include calendar time, weather, counting and more in your homeschool routine? I typically spend a few hours every summer scouring the internet, looking for the best free notebook pages to include in our notebooks. However, this year, I decided to create my own and offer it to my favorite readers! Simply sign up to receive the Homeschool Hideout weekly newsletter and you can instantly download the printables! The link to our exclusive subscriber library will come in your welcome email and will allow you to download our Netflix Cheat Sheet and all other freebies!

Easy peasy, baby!

First things first:

Laminate it:.

I chose to laminate my pages but in years past, I’ve simply stuck them in protective pages . Either way works great!

My kids use dry erase markers to write on our notebooks and when I check them, I wipe them clean.  In an instant, they’re ready for the next day.   Just a word of warning, though: Some days, you’ll want to snap a photo of their prayer lists, drawings or other more personal pages. You don’t want to forget some of the silly or sweet things they’ll write in this book!

You may not want to use every page included in the download and that’s perfectly fine! The awesome part about printable daily notebooks is that you can customize them to your child’s needs! Simply print the pages you need right now and save the rest for later. You can also arrange the pages however you wish! Some pages go together better but do what works for you.

Okay, let’s jump in!

Here’s everything you need to know about the printable homeschool daily notebook., some of the pages are self-explanatory, so i’ll just touch on them briefly..

UPDATE: The Daily Printable Notebook has been updated! Both are still available to download, so take your choice!

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Name & Personal Info:

Teach younger kiddos their name, address, phone number and who to contact in case of an emergency.

What Day Is Today?:

Write what day of the week it is, circle the correct day and answer the questions.

Today’s Number:

Today is June 4th, so today’s number would be 4. Complete the more than, less than and equal to math problems using the number of the day. In the boxes, create your own math problems using the number of the day. You can choose how you want to do this based on what works best for your kids. Right now, my 2nd grader can create any math problem with today’s number as the answer. She uses addition, subtraction, multiplication or division.

Got the Time?:

Write the current time and draw the correct time on the clock. Be sure to circle AM or PM. Answer the questions in the box. (30 minutes is a hard question for some, so you might have to help them with that!)

What is Today?:

Another page to reinforce days of the week. Simply write the day of the week. Then circle the day, month, date and year, followed by writing the entire date. Tell whether the date is an even or odd number.

Using tally marks, keep track of how many days you’ve had school this year. We’re is summer mode, so there aren’t many marks, but it will fill up fast. We use each box as a month and we started this notebook in May, which is why we started in a weird spot.

Sign Your Name:

This is one page that we couldn’t find in any other printable daily notebook but knew we wanted it! The sign language guide is perfect for learning to sign the alphabet. Start with your name. Once your child has mastered that, he can start signing his spelling words, too! If you need to, circle the letters in their name.

My Prayer List:

It’s always a good idea for kids to be thinking of others and having a grateful heart. This page does just that! Keep a list of prayer requests and a list of blessings.

My Sight Words:

This is the perfect place to keep a list of words you want your child to know by sight. You can either have them add their own words from other curriculum or you can write their list of sight words in one column and have them copy them to the next column.

Today I Feel:

This is Miss Manners’ favorite page. She loves thinking about how she feels and drawing it out. Some days she feels like a princess, other days she feels like a sloth. (I think she must be the comedian in the family!) Today, she was simply “tired” due to an early morning fishing trip with grandpa.

I first saw this idea in the DIY Homeschool Journals and absolutely loved it. Your child will look through a book and find 10 words with X amount of letters. We tend to stay between 4 and 8 but the number of letters is up to you. Once they’ve gotten fairly good at this, you can allow them to simply write words with X amount of numbers, instead of searching for them in a book.

I Want To Learn About:

Kids WANT to learn. It’s a natural drive that they are born with. No one tells them to walk, talk or explore. They simply do it . We sometimes forget that kids want to learn. It’s important to find out what they want to learn more about . Whether it be animals, how to build a house or baseball, your child genuinely wants to learn about something . This page makes it easier to find out what that something is.

Allow kids to doodle, write or draw some things they love. Encourage them to write facts or why they love this topic. As simple as this page is, they’ll likely enjoy it the very most!

The Pledge of Allegiance:

It’s very important to me that my kids be able to recite and understand the Pledge of Allegiance. This page allows them to memorize it by copying. I encourage my kids to use this as a chance to practice their cursive writing.

This simple map is a great way to learn about where you live. The instructions say to color the state you live in and place a star on the capital. If you’ve studied the US, pick a new state everyday and let them locate it. It’s great practice for those who have already studied the US. Switch it up by having them color all of your state’s neighbors or the largest state.

Label the 7 continents and the 4 oceans. This is still pretty new territory to my 2nd grader but she has enjoyed it so far and is already asking questions about different continents. Put a spin on this page by saying things like “Which continent do you think has the most kangaroos?”

S panish Numbers:

Connect the number with the correct Spanish word. This is great for younger children who are leaning the foundations of Spanish.

Spanish Colors:

Draw a line from the English color word to the Spanish color word. This, too, is great for younger kids who  are just beginning Spanish lessons.

Let’s Eat!:

Kids love helping in the kitchen. Allow them to plan the menu, whether real or one they make up. Draw a picture of what you wish to have for dinner, snacks, breakfast or lunch then fill in the squares. We keep this page towards the end of our book so there’s something fun to look forward to!

Monthly Calendars:

We use these calendars to track the weather by simply drawing the day’s forecast but you can use them however you want! Feel free to add your own personal spin on these pages! We’ve included all 12 months so you can add holidays, family birthdays or anything else you wish.

So that’s it, folks! Over 30 printable pages to help reinforce important skills. This notebook can be used everyday or just when you need the kids to work on their own for a few minutes.

Don’t forget, they’re available only to my newsletter subscribers so sign up today, please allow 24-48 hours for delivery of your free printable daily homeschool notebook.

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Ins and Outs of Interactive Notebooks for K

Interactive notebooks are one of my favorite classroom must haves! I decided to call them Kinderactive Notebooks because my kinders are VERY capable of learning through interactive notebooks. If you’re a kindergarten teacher, you CAN use these in your room with ease.

I absolutely LOVE resources that my kids can use over and over again. Within the past two years, I began moving away from things that my students can only use once and they take it home and it’s never seen again. If they can use something two or more times I am thrilled. One time… eh. Not so thrilled. This is where interactive notebooks come into play. These notebooks are yearlong tools . Scratch that. These notebooks are lifelong tools for my students.

What’s up with interactive notebooks

Since interactive notebooks have so much information to take in, I’m breaking down the in’s and out’s into more than just one post. This is the first of a few. You can check out the next portion of this over on my blog. I’ll be putting up another part every few days.

Today, I want to tell you how to get started. By getting started, I want to help you think out all of the little things that need to be done beforehand to prepare you. We’re going to discuss the WHAT an interactive notebook is and HOW you can get started.

Just in case you’ve never heard of interactive notebooks, let’s start there.

For me, my notebooks collect our learning for the year. It is essentially our textbook of learning. We refer back to these over and over again throughout the year even if the skill isn’t being taught or practiced at the moment. These notebooks can either be strictly for one subject or you can combine subjects to make it into a book.

If you’re brand new to interactive notebooks, the first decision that you have to make is what type of interactive notebook you want to focus on. There are many types of interactive notebooks to choose from, but here are a few example.

Types of Interactive Notebooks

My advice to you is to choose ONE. That’s right. Choose one. If you’ve stepped your toes into the world of interactive notebooks before, feel free to add another one. Four years ago, I decided to try notebooking with my students. I wanted to try a reading and a math one. This was the year that I taught first grade. I had a new set of standards, new grade level, new ideas, new classroom. See what all is going on there?

I took it upon myself to make two HUGE new tasks. Reading and Math notebooks. I hadn’t gotten down the management part of keeping up with notebooks and soon both of them went to the wasteside because I couldn’t keep up with them. I was under the impression that my students needed to do something every single day in them. WRONG!

This is why I give the advice to choose ONE type of notebook to do this entire year if it is your first time. There are MANY “teacher choices” that have to be perfected after you begin using them in your class. Are you ready to take notes? Here’s how you’re going to get started and excel with that one chosen notebook this year.

Choose your type of notebook? I’ll give you second to think about it… What’s your favorite subject to teach? Choose that one. If you like that subject a lot, you’ll be more likely to keep up with your notebook.

How to make it work?

Now that you know what you’re going to work with. Let me tell you HOW it works in my classroom for me.

We used science notebooks ALL the time last year. I also had math interactive notebooks. We dibbled and dabbled in some reading areas, but not much. The reading area was more about me finding out what I did and did not like. I was able to do this because I’ve already gotten down the basic of notebooking in my classroom from years of practicing.

Fine motor practice while they learn

Create your own notebook

The last thing that you need to think about BEFORE you actually get started is how will your students refer back to these pages AFTER they’ve finished? I will say that every page will not be useful to refer back to. However, a large majority of what you do in the notebooks will be. I like to see their notebooks as their little kindergarten textbooks. They are making science, math, reading, and any other kind of books as you add new content.

Ready to try out notebooks?

Thanks so much for checking out this post! Here’s a very small freebie to get you started with some editable science notebook covers.

The next post discusses all of the supplies you’ll need to get start. Find it here.

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How I’m Using Spiral Notebooks to Simplify Homeschooling

January 5, 2015

By Sarah Mackenzie

Filed Under: Homeschooling

Back to the homeschooling grindstone already?  Ay yi yi! Doesn’t it feel too soon? I’m not feeling quite as fly-by-the-seat as I often do after a break, though, because I’ve got a new system for keeping track of school assignments, and it’s rocking my world.

I love finding ways to simplify homeschooling, and this method really takes the cake.

I’ll tell you all about it, and then you have every right to say, “Of course, Sarah. Why haven’t you done this all along?” like I said to myself when my friend first showed me how it’s done.

Here’s what happened

Early in December, I was at church, trying to keep my mind focused- it kept drifting off to schoolwork.

In my head, I was finagling how we could possibly combine subjects or weed something out and do less in order to make the school day work.

The days were difficult.

Even though I had pared back and simplified as much as possible , we were still struggling to hit those most important subjects.

Twin toddlers change everything! Add a 2-year-old to the mix and things can get downright disastrous by 10 am, let me tell you. Our school day was feeling it.

After church, I moseyed out to the foyer and gave my friend Sheila a big hug. “How’s it going?” she asked with a smile. Sheila homeschooled her three kids into adulthood and they are just some of the most fantastic kids you’ll ever meet.

She’s not so far removed that she forgets just how hard it was, but she’s got this end-of-the-homeschooling-road wisdom and insight that I just crave to learn from. I absolutely adore her.

She asked that simple question, and I started to fall apart. I can’t do this! There’s too much to get to! Maybe what I’m trying to do here IS actually impossible?

Sheila listened (like she always does), and then she said, “Well, how much of their schoolwork are they doing on their own?” I stopped to think.

She followed up, “And how are you giving them assignments?”

Right. That.

I write them on a white board each morning when I finally get around to it-which is usually in between grabbing a twin off the dining room table and the other one out of the kitchen garbage and washing Posy’s jelly face and changing a diaper and scolding someone for forgetting to shut the door to the basement where a toddler nearly plummeted to his demise.

It’s not a good system.

Sheila came over the next day. She told me I would need a simple 10 cent spiral notebook for each kid, and she would show me what to do.

And she did.

Here’s the groundbreaking system. Are your ready for this?:

Each evening, I write the kids’ assignments down for the next day in their own assignment book.

What? You thought I was going to say something grand and amazing, and you’re a little let down?

I know. I was skeptical at first, too, but I have been floored at the change this simple method has made in our homeschool.

You aren’t alone if you feel like this method sounds too good to be true. But a couple years after sharing this article for the first time, I re-shared it, and this is just a little peek at the responses to it:

See, after I employed this notebook system, we began to consistently get to pretty much everything I assigned for each day by early in the afternoon .

For the first time, I wasn’t having to rack my brain to remember what we were supposed to do when.

Each morning after breakfast, the big kids do their one morning chore, dress and brush their teeth, and then they set to work on their school notebooks.

Instead of feeling pulled between teaching a lesson, caring for toddlers, and setting on soup for dinner, I go about my business with the little ones and the kids go about theirs.

When they have a question or need help with an assignment, they bring their materials to me wherever I am, and I help them on the spot.

If someone else is getting help at the moment, they work on something else in their notebook until I’m free.

I know what you’re thinking (I was thinking the same thing). Something like this, right?:

“I don’t have time to write down assignments each night.”

The truth is, it takes 10-15 minutes. I spent a little time making a master spreadsheet of assignments and how frequently I want each thing tackled, and I use that as a quick reference. It literally takes me ten minutes (max) to look at the spreadsheet and write down the assignments for all three of my school-agers.

If I really can’t carve out ten minutes to do this, I skip sweeping the floor, folding the laundry, or checking Facebook, and I do this instead. It’s worth it.

“Why should I write it out when I could just print out a checklist?”

Because something about the act of writing it out by hand triggers the brain to engage. When I’m writing my 13-year-old’s assignments out, I can tell that I’m giving her too much work when it’s taking me a while to write or the paper is filling up.

It’s so easy to just pop in one more assignment on a spreadsheet on your computer. It’s harder to make the space when you’re writing it out by hand.

Also, writing it out means I’m constantly in touch with where each child is in each of his or her subjects. Instead of just giving an assignment that says “do the next math assignment,” it says “do lesson 14.”

See that box before the math assignment? That’s what this child checks off when she’s done. The box after the assignment means that I need to check it off for her to really be “done” for the day.

If she made a lot of errors, the next day’s assignment will likely be “Watch lesson 14 one more time and make corrections to yesterday’s assignment.”

Writing each assignment out by hand means that I’m staying connected with where she is in every subject.

I can tell if a Latin assignment is taking her longer than usual, or if she’s flying through it in her sleep. In fact, I can more easily keep my finger on the pulse of where each of my kids are in their different subjects.

Some tips that help to make this work:

• Resist the urge to make this more complicated than it needs to be. I use colored pens, but it’s just for fun- not for color coding. You want to remove as many barriers as possible to making this tool do the thing it’s supposed to do. Simple is always better.
• Keep them handy. These spiral notebooks go in a basket on our kitchen counter. The kids take them out, use them, and put them back. They don’t disappear into the school bins or backpacks or any such nonsense. They need to be handy, visible, and always in the same place.
• Use the last 10 pages or so for a booklist. Have you been meaning to print out a booklist form for your kids to record their personal reading on this year? Me too. Why I can’t ever manage to keep enough of those around (or keep track of them when I do) is beyond me, but it’s always the case.

I put a post it flag marking the last ten pages or so of the spiral notebook, and the kids have been instructed to write the book title, author, and # pages of each book they read on their own. At the end of the year, I’ll make transcribing this onto the computer a keyboarding assignment for one of my young typists.

Give it a try!

(Want to see these spiral notebooks in action? I did Here’s a video where I show what they look like in our homeschool .)

So if you’re feeling a bit over-your-head as you hit the books once again, grab a spiral notebook and see if this super-simple system might see you through the dark winter months.

It has been transformative for us- really helping me to teach from rest and restoring my peace in our schooling. The kids love it, too, and have thanked me multiple times for organizing their school day this way.

P.S. Using spiral notebooks was a game-changer for us in simplifying our homeschool. Here are my best tips on how to simplify the homeschool curriculum and how to simplify the homeschool schedule .

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Social Studies Interactive Notebooks in Any Classroom

Social Studies Interactive Notebooks are a great tool to reinforce learning in any classroom. Give your students a forever resource this year by creating a student-led interactive notebook. I have incorporated a free template for grades K – 5 for you to have. You can purchase any of these notebooks by clicking on their product photograph.

Get started using Social Studies Interactive Notebooks today.

Get started using social studies interactive notebooks today.

Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Kindergarten social studies interactive notebooks.

Teaching social studies to Kindergarteners is something I have always enjoyed. My kindergarteners are always so eager to learn about our country’s history, calendar time, national holidays, and so much more. Linking these important terms to the Georgia Social Studies Standards has really helped us conquer more content. Simultaneously, students are working to master sorting in their math centers in Kindergarten. Because of this, I combined both of those tasks in this free template on maps vs. globes. Students will color and cut a combination of maps and globes and be asked to sort the pieces under the coordinating flap. You can download the free template here.

Grab the Kindergarten Social Studies Interactive Notebook here.

Social Studies Interactive Notebook Kindergarten

1st Grade Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Even though I really enjoy teaching Kindergarten social studies, my heart has always belonged to 1st grade. I taught 1st grade for a year before moving to Kindergarten for the next year, and teaching historical figures is hands-down the most fun I’ve ever had in the classroom. As a matter of fact, some of my favorites are: Benjamin Franklin; Thomas Jefferson; Lewis and Clark; Harriet Tubman; Theodore Roosevelt; and George Washington Carver. All of these are available here in my 1st grade Social Studies Interactive Notebook. For your free template, I want to share with you John Henry and Paul Bunyan! You can print off this template here and then check out a great interactive notebook book to compliment your lesson here.

2nd Grade Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Equally as important as 1st grade’s historical figures are more of my favorites whom we learn about in 2nd grade: Tomochichi; Mary Musgrove; Sequoyah; Jackie Robinson…the list could go on and on. Since in 2nd grade we are introducing some significant Native Americans to our students, I’ve decided that this template should be all about Native Americans around the United States. You can download that template here.

What’s even better is that you can grab the K-2 bundle at a super low price here.

Free templates to use in your classroom for social studies interactive notebooks in 2nd grade.

3rd Grade Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Truly, there is something magical about third grade social studies. Ever since I’ve uploaded this resource, it has been a fan favorite. Much like the first and second grade interactive notebook, one of the main topics is historical people, but as we all know, content becomes increasingly more difficult for our third graders. Teaching government in the past seemed like a chore, but these fun foldables help my students really master the content and enjoy it! Grab your free government template here.

Grab these social studies interactive

Social Studies Interactive Notebook 3rd Grade

4th Grade Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Undoubtedly, learning about Native Americans as a child was such a vivid memory. Every year we would have a huge Native American celebration at my school and spend an entire week preparing for Native American Day. Because of this, creating fourth grade foldables for social studies was a breeze. The broad range of topics in 4th grade SS can be a bit tiring. Grab an easy way to teach about Native Americans, Colonization, Westward Expansion and more here. Begin your constitutional journey with this free template detailing the preamble.

If you’re wanting a larger, more detailed INB bundle for grades 3-5, you can check that out here.

Use the free preamble template above for your social studies interactive notebooks.

Teach your students about different Native American Tribes around the United States.

Social Studies Interactive Notebook 4th Grade

5th Grade Social Studies Interactive Notebooks

Finally, we get to our 5th grade Social Studies Interactive Notebook. Luckily, this thing is jam-packed with valuable information and charts about some of our country’s most innovative inventors, WWI, all the way to the New Deal.  Finish this notebook up with an an entire extra notebook about the Civil War. I just couldn’t get it all into one notebook!  Grab a free template on the stock market crash here.

Civil War Social Studies Interactive Notebook

Last but not least, creating this historical notebook really helped me learn about our nation's history. I know it will help your students understand it as well. This interactive notebook is all about the Civil War’s big events from the starting conflicts, to the war’s turning point, and right through the end. Grab your template on Sherman’s March to the Sea here.

Social Studies Interactive Notebook Civil War

After all, if you're interested in learning more,  check out the links below to start using Social Studies Interactive Notebooks in your classroom today.  Finally, read more about interactive notebooks in reading , writing , grammar , or how to get started . 

3-5 Bundle (Civl War INB Included)

Social Studies Interactive Notebook Bundle

Kindergarten Social Studies

1st Grade Social Studies

2nd Grade Social Studies

3rd Grade Social Studies

4th Grade Social Studies

5th Grade Social Studies

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Weekly Lesson Notebooks

(This post contains affiliate links.)

Better lesson organization is one of my main goals for the upcoming school year.  Having a high school student, middle school student and a kindergartener, I have no choice but to be more organized – or feel flustered and fall behind too often like I did last year when I was less prepared.

I have a newly organized planning notebook for myself and both of the big kids have their own weekly binder.  Besides organization, the binders are going to help the kiddos work towards more work independence and responsibility.  I’m so excited about these weekly lesson notebooks!

Middle and High School Binders

Basic Supplies

The pocket pouch holds a highlighter, pencils, erasers and a pencil sharpener.  Only the necessities for those times when they take school somewhere other than the school room.

Left: Weekly Chore Chart and Typical Daily Schedule

Right: Weekly Assignment Sheet

These pages will be the main stop daily.  The kids will make sure their daily chores have been completed and then move on to the lessons assigned.  Using the typical weekly schedule in my notebook (below), I will jot down daily assignments a week at a time.  Any reproducibles or worksheets that apply to particular lessons will be placed in the appropriate day’s pocket (again, below.)  As an assignment is completed, the kids will highlight it on the lesson plan sheet and place completed work in a pocket at the back of the binder.  At the end of the day (or week), I will grade what needs to be graded and file away the completed work.

Reading Log

We read a lot around here, but the necessary, assigned books don’t always get the attention they deserve.  The kids either lose interest and don’t finish the books, or they drag on way too long.  The reading log will help solve that problem.  Not only will the kids jot down books they read for fun, but this chart allows us to set a due date and plan out how many pages or chapters will need to be read daily to meet the due date.

Service Project Log

The  service project log won’t be in the middle school binder.  I wanted Mahayla, the high schooler, to have a place to keep records of all the community service she does for the purpose of completing a transcript or portfolio as she plans for college in the next couple of years.

Grade Recording Sheet

I haven’t always kept grades, and I’m not promising I’ll go overboard this year.  However, for better accountability, I’m planning to be better about keeping a grade book.  I found this grade sheet from PrintableHomeschool.com .

Left: High School Transcript (Obviously, this won’t be in the middle school journal either.)

Right: College-Bound High School Requirements

The high school transcript and requirements sheets are simply there to keep Mahayla completely “in the know” about what she needs to accomplish and what she has already accomplished for a college-bound education.

I use Homeschool Transcript , an online transcript generator that automatically calculates GPA credits, GPA points and cumulative GPA – including weighted averages for honors or AP courses.  You can get a 30-day free trial, but at only $16.00 – $12 for HSLDA members – it’s worth purchasing!

Daily Assignment Pockets

There are six pocket dividers in the back of the book.  One for each day of the week, and one for completed work.  As I make lessons plans for the week ahead, I’ll put in any pull-out worksheets or reproducibles that I’m able and place them in the appropriate day’s pocket.  For lessons that can’t be placed in the pockets, I’ll jot down page numbers for the kids so everyone knows exactly what work to do.  Beside their desks , each of them have a crate that houses all their textbooks and workbooks, so they will always know where to find their work.

The things we do together – like Bible, for instance – we typically do at the very beginning of school or the very end.  That way the individual work can be completed as independently as possible.  That’s the goal this year for one of my sweet children… need mom less .  I’m just sure these binders are going to help with independence (as well as organization.)

Kindergarten Accountability

Eli won’t have a binder, but we will implement a chore board and workbox for him to begin teaching him some independence and responsibility.

His chore board is simply a set of preschool chore cards ( from Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations ) pinned to a small cork board.   I will move the day’s particular chores to the top of the board and he will move them to the bottom once completed.

His workbox is just a big ol’ crate where I will place the supplies for his school day.   We’ll explore the crate together to decide what he can do by himself and what we will work on together.  As activities are completed, papers will be put in a special Eli spot and other supplies will be put away.

Mom’s Planning Binder

Mom’s Supplies

My pocket pouch holds a few pencils and a pencil sharpener so I don’t have to search the house for supplies when it’s time to plan.

Having an up-to-date calendar in my planning binder is of utmost importance!  It helps me know how to schedule the coming days as I take into consideration things like appointments and field trips.

Left: Official Documents

Right: Curriculum Lists

The pocket divider on the left holds official documents – a copy of my letter to the board of education and anything else I deem important.  Page protectors hold lists of each child’s curriculum ( copied from my blog post .)  I use the curriculum lists as reference for myself when planning and then file them away in end-of-the-year portfolios as a record of what curriculum was used.

Chemistry Plans

Mahayla will be taking a chemistry lab on Mondays at co-op and trying to fit bookwork into T-W-Th.  To make sure we cover everything, I jotted down pages that needed to be covered daily.  We likely won’t stick to this year-at-a-glance plan perfectly, but having the lessons broken down into manageable bites will keep us on track to completion by the end of the year.

Friday Idea Lists

Fridays will be a little different than the rest of the week.  On the first Friday of the month, we’ll go somewhere for a nature walk.  The second Friday we’ll go on a field trip.  The third Friday we’ll dedicate the day to art and artist study.  And the fourth Friday we’ll head out for service projects.  So that I’m not scrambling each Friday to figure out where we’re going or what we’re doing, I’ve created some idea lists for service projects (with contact numbers/emails), field trips and nature walks.

Left: Mahayla’s Typical Weekly Assignment Plan

Right: A Stack of Mahayla’s Lesson Plan Sheets to Fill Out Weekly and Place in Her Binder

Left: Caleb’s Typical Weekly Assignment Plan

Right: A Stack of Caleb’s Lesson Plan Sheets to Fill Out Weekly and Place in His Binder

Left: Eli’s Typical Weekly Assignment Plan

Right: A Stack of Eli’s Lesson Plan Sheets to Fill Out Weekly   (I will keep this in my binder for my reference only and use it to fill up his workbox daily.)

Some of you have asked for a copy of my weekly lesson forms .  I have included one of them as a Word doc that you can edit.  It’s really nothing more than creating a table in Word and changing fonts and colors to make it pretty.

Behind the tabs, I have a section of:

Things I’ve collected about homeschooling high school in KY

Living literature book lists

Paper for jotting down notes

It feels SO good to be organized!!

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21 Comments

Wow. You are so organized. You did a great job and the pictures and descriptions are great!

Thanks, Ruthie! I’m not always this organized. ;o)

i am LOVING this!! loving!! i love your friday idea…i think i’m gonna have to use that one. great tips, cindy 🙂

Would be willing to share the forms you used in creating these assignment notebooks? I know they won’t be exact for everyone’s needs,but I’m just curious:)

Oh… also, will YOU be the one filling in the kiddos weekly lesson forms, or will you write them on the board and allow them to copy them… or, maybe dictate to them their assignments for the week?

I shared my reading log, service project log, and a editable Word doc of one of my lesson plan sheets. :o)

I will be filling in the weekly lesson plan page (to make sure there are NO questions about assignments. LOL)

Gotcha. That’s what I thought:) And… next time I’m in KY, I’m lookin’ you up. Maybe a cup o joe? o, and one last thing… Can I get a closer look at Caleb’s weelky assignment plan, and possibly the one with the chores (only Caleb’s)? He is close in age with my kiddo. Hope I’m not creepin’ too much!

This is the kind of organized I would like to be! Last year, I made a gorgeous planner along these same lines…and then I accepted a part-time job out of the house….and we misplaced the gorgeous planner the second week and only found it in May. Sigh.

This year I hope to do better than planning the weekend before. The gorgeous planner had no dates, so with any luck I can make better use of it. 🙂

Candice, I posted Caleb’s weekly school schedule at https://ourjourneywestward.com/2012/07/2012-13-curriculum-and-schedule/ . I’ll send a copy of his chore schedule to your email. And, yes, please look me up next time you’re in KY!!

• Pingback: 2012-13 Curriculum and Schedule | Our Journey Westward

visiting from “print-a-palooza”. great organizing!! By the way, I have a Caleb, an Eli, and a Michaela! lol!

• Pingback: Back to Homeschool Help from Curriculum Choice Authors

Cindy, You Rock! Thanks so much for sharing so much stuff on your website! This will be my 2nd year homeschooling. Last year (my first year hs) was pretty easy because we were traveling the US for a year. We did a lot of field trips and history! 🙂 I have 5 girls and organization will be key to keeping us all on track and happy. Thanks again!

Aw, you are VERY welcome! 😮 What a fun year last year must have been!!

Oh my gosh this looks awesome. It appears to be a lot of work to set up initially. However, it seems very specific to each child. The learning pockets are also a great space saver. I use workboxes but also have a weekly planner for each kid that they use to guide their day.

Cindy, you are my new best friend! I just finished reading your book “Homeschooling Gifted and Advanced Learners”. Now, I feel like a stalker because I want to know all about how you homeschool! (I promise I’m harmless.) I am preparing to teach my gifted 6th-grader at home this next year, and this is my first time to homeschool. While searching online for helpful info, I somehow came across your book. I downloaded the sample exerpt on my nook, read it, and immediately bought the book. I had no intention of reading a whole book right now because, let’s be honest, I have LOTS of work to do toward preparing to homeschool. But, I’m SO glad I read it! THANK YOU for leaving out all the “fluff” info, too. You got me down to basics and the nitty-gritty I need. All the references you listed are going to be total life-savers for me!

In this post, I love how you created these folders to keep things organized and on-track! I love to be organized, but most of the time….well…you know. I’m going to stalk your blog some more and find all your other great ideas. I was pretty much terrified before I found your book, but you actually have me excited about this upcoming school year!

Thanks a bazillion!!! Andi

Andi, you’re sweet words just made my day! 🙂

Thank you for this post. I am using it to tweak our old system. We were using a clipboard and this idea will be easier. The worksheets kept gettin mixed up and misplaced. 😉

We are going to keep the clipboard to pull one day of work when it needs to travel with us for an appointment as I hope to maintain the old sheets in the book.

Mary, I’m so glad you found something helpful! I find myself forever tweaking, but this system has been VERY good for us all.

I hope you feel that imitation is the sincerest of flattery. I had already gotten mine on a similar notebook but I like the finer points of your (including one for me) that will help me keep this year on track. (we start a new school year as soon as pubic school ends for our county)

Have a GREAT new school year, Holli!

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How to pick and use an assignment notebook

Katie Azevedo September 8, 2017 executive function , homework , organization , productivity , routines , time management

You’re here because you want to know how to pick and use an assignment notebook. But I’m going to start by giving you the best assignment notebook tip ever: write it down.

Write down assignments. Write down due dates. Write down appointments. Write it all down.  You could have the BEST assignment notebook in the universe, and it will still be horrible if you don’t use it .

Why you need an assignment notebook

Our brains were made for way cooler things than storing boring information like what pages we’re supposed to read for homework and what day we are going to the dentist.

Our brains were made for thinking. And creating. And day dreaming, or whatever.

So when we try to use our brains to store “shallow” information like homework assignments, guess what we end up doing? Yup, having less brain energy to think and create.

How does that affect us in school? We will have difficulty paying attention, learning, remembering, studying, reading, etc. — all because we are using up our background brain energy (our mental bandwidth!) trying to subconsciously remember when the heck our project is due.

What’s the solution?

Write it all down. Everything. Every time.

Here’s where having an assignment notebook or student agenda comes into play. You need one. And you need one that works for you .

Just as we all think and learn differently, we are all going to have unique preferences for what this system looks like and how we use it. But no matter your unique tastes and preferences, the whole point of using an assignment notebook or agenda is to have a place to deposit the information that sucks up our brain power. We all need a place to write down what we can’t forget but don’t need to store.

Why you think you don’t need an assignment notebook

The biggest resistance I hear from students about keeping an assignment notebook is this: “I can remember everything myself.”

Ugh. Please. Just because we CAN do something doesn’t mean we SHOULD. And just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean it’s GOOD for us.

Even if you CAN remember all your assignments and due dates and tasks and appointments, you must also remember this: trying to store this information in our heads uses up brain energy that we should be using for other things!

I recommend that every student use an assignment notebook that has at least two basic components. After that, the rest is up to you. All assignment notebooks should have at least:

• a monthly calendar view
• a daily calendar view with space

The monthly calendar view

This is an essential component to any proper task management / assignment notebook system. A calendar view allows us to see, at a glance, what we have going on for the month. This is where we write down and keep track of anything that is time-sensitive, like appointments, due dates, work hours, practices, games, etc. Basically anything that requires us to BE at a certain place at a certain time goes in this section. We can also use this monthly calendar to mark important dates such as birthdays.

A quick glance at your monthly calendar should essentially alert you to what you’ve got going on in the next week, as well as any due dates that are lurking around the corner.

The daily calendar view

This is the second essential component to any good assignment notebook or student agenda. In the daily view, we write down what we have to do on that particular day . This information isn’t usually time sensitive, other than it needs to get done that day. (Unlike a doctor’s appointment, at 3:00, which you would put on your monthly view.) Here, we write down homework assignments (all of them! Every time! Even if it’s small!), tasks and to-dos. This stuff can be school related, life-related, job related, or personal. It’s important that this section have enough space for you to feel comfortable writing in. If it’s too small, you will probably end up leaving some items off, and that’s very much not the point!

Optional assignment notebook components

Although this part isn’t totally necessary for everyone, I think that most people would benefit from a simple list-like section in the front of their notebook to write down things that pop up and need to be addressed, but that aren’t necessarily tasks or appointments.

This is where you could jot down ideas you have, random things you want to remember for a later time, and projects you want to get to at some point. This could also be where you do your brain dumps .

If you came to this post looking for assignment notebook recommendations, I’m hesitant to offer any because anything I link here will eventually become outdated (you should always have a dated assignment notebook). But if you need a reference point, this is a good one.

Assignment notebook extras

Apart from having an assignment notebook or calendar with a monthly and daily view, you can play with any other components you want. I have a ton of different lives (mom, teacher at one school, teacher at another school, business owner, graduate student, etc. times infinity!!) so I have a lot of other sections in my own personal task management system. But that’s all the fun stuff that you get to play around with and figure out over time.

My last assignment notebook tip is based on the same principle for everything I teach: keep it simple. Start with the basics and only add sections if you need to.

Once you know how to pick and use an assignment notebook, here are my best tips for how to keep track of homework . Seriously helpful.

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25 Fun Kindergarten Writing & Storytelling Prompts (Free Printable!)

To help you get them writing from the get-go.

Most kindergartners are just learning how to put letters and words together, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be writers. What they lack in technical ability, they more than make up for with creativity and imagination. Plus, kindergartners usually have lots to say! Kindergarten writing prompts, often called story starters, help young writers focus on a single topic as they develop writing skills. Topics should be broad enough that every child can easily think of something to write about and interesting enough that they stay engaged. Developing a daily writing routine helps kindergartners develop confidence as they learn to articulate their thoughts in a structured way.

The following writing prompts are designed to spark your kindergartners’ imaginations and get them writing! And they are perfect for in-person or virtual learning.

(Want this entire set in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here, so you’ll always have the challenges available!)

1. Tell about your favorite stuffy.

2. Make a list of 3 things you like and 3 things you don’t like.

3. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?

4. I’m really good at …

5. If I could fly …

6. Describe an interesting place you’ve visited.

7. Something I like to do that makes me happy is …

8. Do you prefer to play inside or outside? What do you do there?

9. What is your favorite season and why?

10. The best part of being in kindergarten is …

11. If I were a superhero my superpower would be …

12. When I am 100 years old …

13. When I was a baby …

14. My favorite part of the school day is …

15. Tell about a time you were a good helper.

16. What is one activity you like to do with your family?

17. Tell about your best friend.

18. My mom (or dad) always …

19. My favorite animal is _____ because …

20. Once upon a time …

21. If you made dinner for your family what would you make?

22. What is your favorite color? Name 3 things that are that color.

23. If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?

24. What makes you giggle?

25. Tell me about your favorite book.

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“MyStudyLife is a great study planner app that makes it simple for students to add assignments, classes, and tests to a standard weekly schedule.”

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Spiral Notebooks: A Time-Saving Homeschool Tool You Need to Try

Using spiral notebooks in your homeschool as assignment books for your children will save you time and help foster independence.

You sleepily meander into your homeschool room, stifling a yawn as the familiar scent of coffee wafts from your cup. Your children are writing vigorously in their science notebooks. You glance at the clock, pondering how long you were asleep, to see it’s only 8:30 AM.

Does this sound like a dream? There’s no way your kids would be starting their school day before you beckoned them 12 times, right?

Your kids absolutely can begin their school day without you needing to inform them what to do and when. You won’t even need a magic wand, genie, or a drill sergeant!

All you need is a 25 cent spiral notebook.

I know what you’re thinking. A 25 cent spiral notebook will have my kids working on their schoolwork before I’ve even had my first sip of coffee? That’s crazy talk! Have you met my kids?!

It’s true, though. Now, of course, it’s not the notebook itself that makes the difference, but what you do with it.

How can spiral notebooks in your homeschool foster independence?

A spiral notebook cultivates independence in your children when used as an assignment book . The concept is simple. In the evening, you write down each child’s assignments for the following day in their notebook. Then in the morning, the child will read through the list and start their work.

I’ve read about this idea on various blogs for a few years now, first hearing about it by Sarah MacKenzie over at Read Aloud Revival , and everyone puts their own little tweak on the concept. Some moms will add chores along with assignments. Others make their assignment notebooks into more of a bullet journal.

I use our assignment notebooks a little differently:

• I write the date at the top of the page.
• Then I write all of the assignments down the page.
• I add a star to the assignments that the child can do on their own, and leave the ones they need to do with me without a star.

The star is the most important element of the notebook. It encourages independence , allowing the child to see everything they have to do for the day.

Seeing how much starred work they have helps my kids determine how early they want to start their school day. If they have a lot to do independently, they often choose to begin their work before we begin our Group Time. Otherwise, they’ll wait until our group work is done.

Occasionally I’ll also use the notebooks to write notes to my boys at the bottom of the page. I’ll remind them if we have anything special going on that day or if there’s a test coming up they’ll want to start studying for. I also use the notebooks to praise good effort I’ve noticed, or to remind them of laziness in work I’ve seen.

Where do the assignments come from?

I use a teacher planner for myself when I plan out my homeschool year . With the week’s plan completed, it’s very easy to simply transfer the information to each child’s assignment notebook every evening. It takes me just a few minutes per child.

Will writing down the assignments everyday take a lot of time?

Using the spiral notebooks consistently will actually save you time and your kids will get more done .

I remember before I started using this technique, some days we wouldn’t get started until mid-morning because I was busy with something. My kids would need to wait until I was free to get our day going, which usually ended up wasting even more time as I redirected them into school mode.

In addition, how many times are you working with one child while another one sits and waits because they are done with their work? But they can’t start anything else because they don’t know what to do.

My kids can easily see what to move onto next by checking their assignment notebook, especially since I put a star next to the individual work. They also know if all of their starred work is done, they can read quietly or play with their younger brother until I’m ready to work with them.

Less learning time is wasted waiting around for mom with the use of assignment notebooks.

Why use spiral notebooks in your homeschool?

You may be wondering if there is something special about the spiral notebook itself. How is using a spiral notebook different than writing the assignments on the computer or on a dry erase board?

Some who use this method choose the spiral notebook because it helps them better remember what they’ve assigned. In addition, others write it down as a good visual for exactly how much work they are assigning.

However, I like using the spiral notebooks because of cost. I buy a lot of spiral notebooks in the late summer when they are around 25 cents. I can’t print off assignment sheets cheaper than that. Plus, a notebook keeps all of the papers together, not on the floor where they would inevitably end up. I don’t have enough space on our dry erase board for all of the kids’ assignments. And right now my kids don’t have computers for their use, so leaving it on a computer isn’t an option.

Additional strategies to make the notebooks more effective.

• Write down the next day’s assignments as soon as the work for the current day is checked. I’ve forgotten many times to write down the assignments until I was heading to bed. I am more likely to remember to write the assignments down when I am still in school mode, not after the dinner rush and relaxing in the evening.
• Use each child’s pen color from your color coding to write the assignments. By doing this, you can easily see at a glance who the book belongs to when it’s open.
• Make sure the notebooks go in the same place everyday. This helps your homeschool materials stay organized . Your child will be able to go to the same place every morning and get started on their assignments. What’s the point of fostering independence with the notebooks if your child has to constantly ask you where they are?!
• Give the notebooks double duty. For example, my boys write their answers to the day’s Life of Fred problems in their assignment book. You could also let them use the back of the page as scrap paper for their math problems.

Using spiral notebooks in your homeschool as assignment books is such a simple, yet effective tool to save time , foster independence , and help keep your homeschool organized . Plus you can finish that cup of coffee knowing that your homeschool is moving right along. Even without a drill sergeant. What a great value for a quarter!

4 thoughts on “Spiral Notebooks: A Time-Saving Homeschool Tool You Need to Try”

I love that you mentioned how using a spiral notebook can help your child remember more what tasks they’ve been assigned by writing down notes, while also being cost-effective. My daughter is homeschooled, and coincidentally, I was just thinking of buying a plastic coil binder to make notebooks out of our stocked recycled paper. I will keep this information in mind while I look for good quality equipment.

Thanks for your comment, Anna! What a great idea to make your own spiral notebooks!

Love this idea -especially the stars. Going to try this with my girls!

Thank you for your comment. I hope it works well for you!

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Free Printable Assignment Trackers for Students

by Sarah | Printables | 0 comments

Need to stay more organized at school? Keep track of all of your assignments with these free printable assignment trackers! They are perfect for students, parents, and teachers to use to help kids ( or adults!) stay on top of their assignments and never forget to turn something in!

Whether you have a middle school, high school, or college student these assignment tracker templates can help them stay organized and get better grades!

** This website contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please click here for more information about cookies collected and our privacy policy **.

They can  be used to track general homework assignments, reports, quizzes, exams, and more. They are also perfect for tracking the grades received on assignments to make sure you are on track for the grade you want in a specific class. 

How to Print and Use the Assignment Trackers

These assignment tracker templates help you stay on track of all assignments, reports, tests, and homework throughout a class or school year. 

Each tracker has columns  to list the assignment, the due date, and if the assignment has been completed. 

Some of the trackers also have a place to prioritize  the assignments and record the grade received.

These homework trackers deserve a place in any student’s school notebook or binder to help them keep their grades up! 

You might also like these organizational tools to help keep your school days organized:

Printable To Do List Templates

Printable Daily Planners

Weekly To Do List Templates

 Printable Attendance Sheets

Free Printable Calendars

Download the Printable Assignment Trackers Now

There are lots of different assignment tracker templates to choose from- so pick on that works best for you!

To download, simply click on the image of the tracker you want and a new window will open for you to download to your device. 

These trackers are free for personal or classroom use only. 

Assignment Tracker Template #1

Download the Assignment Tracker Now

Assignment Tracker Template #2

Assignment Tracker Template #3

Assignment Tracker Template #4

Assignment Tracker Template #5

Assignment Tracker Template #6

Assignment Tracker Template #7

You are free to use these printable homework trackers for personal use at home or in the classroom. Please don’t share the file, but if you’d like to share the trackers with friends, please forward this page to them so that they can download the file themselves. These downloads may not be used in any commercial fashion.

You may also like these educational resources:

Free Printable Divisibility Rules Charts for Math

Free Printable Reading Logs for Kids and Adults

Free Printable Fraction Strips

Free Printable Place Value Charts

Free Printable Odd and Even Numbers Charts

Free Printable Number Lines

Free Printable Addition Charts and Worksheets

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Using Notebooking with My {Gasp!} Kindergartner

The concept of Notebooking is very new to me this school year.  While I had heard of the method, I had my doubts that it would be a good fit for our homeschool.  My son detests the physical act of writing, so why in the world would I torture the poor boy with even more of it?!

And using notebooking for my 5-year-old Kindergartner?  I would have thought that was the most ludicrous thing ever.

Oh, but I was so misinformed.

I didn’t realize that notebooking  could be about writing, but that it could also be about drawing. I didn’t understand that it’s an excellent way for my children to re-tell what they’ve learned.

If your child can repeat back to you – or draw a picture as the case may be – they have retained that information.  I was an inexperienced homeschool mother (and still am!) and didn’t get that this concept of  narration – verbal, written, or drawn – was sufficient in proving they understood a particular subject.

Using Notebooking with My Kindergartner

If I could put myself back like the mother/teacher I was a year ago, I would have literally laughed at my current self for attempting to use notebooking with my Kindergartner.

But it’s been a hit!  She loves it!

We use Horizons Phonics to teach letter sounds and reading and it is very heavily worksheet-based.  Since my daughter isn’t reading at all yet, we go through her entire day’s lesson together, line-by-line.  She loves her daily phonics worksheets and literally cannot wait until it’s her one-on-one time during school.

Despite her love for her current Kindergarten routine, my daughter jumped at the idea of using Alphabet Notebooking Pages .

Interestingly enough, she didn’t perceive the notebooking pages to be school-like at all.  She thought it was a new craft I was introducing and anything of the crafty sort is right up her alley.

I purchased a large grab bag of letter tiles from a sale bin at Michael’s.  Her “assignment” was to sort through the letters and find all of the h’s.  Then she had to glue them on the letters on her notebooking page.  You’ll see her version of that assignment in the top photo.

Her other assignment was to draw a picture of any animal she could think of that started with the /h/ sound.  I helped her spell it on the lines below.

And this little folding book was her favorite.  She likes little things and this was the perfect fit for one of her many bags of random items that she totes around the house.  Not to mention the fact that she could “read” her H book all by herself.  She was to draw several things that started with the /h/ sound on the left side of her page.  She chose hearts, a house, and herself (our last name is ‘Hill’ – I thought that was clever!).  She then wrote the word ‘hat’ a couple of times on the right page.

Of course these aren’t the only options.  She could have colored her h’s, glitter glued them, pasted on ‘h’ pictures…the possibilities are endless with notebooking, even in the little grades.

Being Open to New-to-Me Methods

What new-to-you methods are you trying with your children this year?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. The opinions are 100% my own.  I love NoteboookingPages.com and whole-heartedly endorse it!

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Reader Interactions

August 4, 2012 at 8:20 pm

Kindergarten?! That just can not be right! Brinley will be following her next year! Oh it is so bittersweet to have our little ones grow up. 🙂

August 5, 2012 at 11:38 pm

I know! It’s so bittersweet, isn’t it?! Miss you! xoxo

August 28, 2012 at 7:56 pm

We’re starting kindergarten this month, and I plan to notebook with my son just like I did with his sister. We have some great memories to look at from that time, and she was so proud of them!

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We offer 14 Student Planner and Agenda products for 2024-2025 that promote time management and organization in your classroom. Each of our Student Planners undergoes thorough research and design processes to provide the planning and communication features you love and depend on, as well as S T E A M content that is in sync with your curriculum. To help you decide which planner meets your needs, use the filters below to choose the best planner based on grade level, planner size, and features. Still not sure which student planner to order? Watch our video

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Assignment Sheet for Students – Free Printables

This post may contain affiliate or advertiser links. Read my full disclosure policy .

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One thing that we have been focusing on with our middle school boy is a little more independence in his school work. One big help for him has been a new assignment sheet for him (or me) to record the assignments for each subject and day of the week.

Translated, that means he needs a hands-on look at what he is expected to accomplish that week and a handy way to check off his assignments as he progresses without mom constantly hovering over him to make sure everything is done. In short, taking responsibility for his schoolwork and owning up when it isn’t done. (cough) But I’m sure that is only my child, right?

While I realize that a piece of paper doesn’t actually GET the schoolwork done, this has been a good help because he can see page numbers down to how many chapters of a book he is expected to read. At the end of each day (or week depending on his focus), we review what was accomplished and make adjustments as needed for the following days.

And if you are looking for some colorful (and erasable pens) – grab a pack of these (aff link). They are my FAVORITE and well loved in our house!

Each sheet has room to track 11 subjects for five days as well as a space for recording personal goals for the week. Along the top of each sheet there is space to record the week’s date as well.

There are also two clip art styles to choose from – one using rainbow washi tape or a fun rainbow sneaker design. Download one or both, editable or non-editable – your choice!

These print off four to a page if you choose to print double sided (two half-sized on each side). For those of you that would like to save a little time, there is also an editable version for the subject area. When the file is opened, simply type the subject area names in the blue squares and then print.

Fill them out with your new favorite pens (aff link) – and you are ready to go!

Additional Planning Resources for Students

If you’d prefer a larger assignment sheet to use with your children, you can download these Daily Assignment Sheets .

This student planner is one we’ve been using with our older two girls and absolutely LOVE it. Find out more here .

Download the Assignment Sheet for Students

Ready to download and use? Click the file name below and it will open the pdf file for you.

• Assignment Sheet – Rainbow washi
• Assignment Sheet – Rainbow sneakers
• Assignment Sheet – Rainbow washi editable

Clip art credit: Rainbow Sneakers from DigitalFunFactory and Rainbow Digital Washi from ClickPaperCo .

thanks so much for these!

Thank you so much.

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Hello! My name is Jolanthe {pronounced Yo-lawn-the}. On my site, you will find a listing of  free educational printables , helpful  tips and resources  for families,  encouragement for your homeschool journey , and a  homeschool planner to help you get organized . Feel free to  contact me  with questions!

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Free Directed Drawing Worksheets

Directed Drawing

Directed drawing worksheets provide your students the opportunity to practice following directions, as well as build fine motor control, visual/spatial understanding, and of course….confidence! Directed drawing activities are always a HIT in the classroom, so we’ve combined this exciting art element with a writing exercise! If you have reluctant writers, this is a fantastic opportunity to sneak in some extra writing without the battle. In fact, to help students get their thoughts on the page, we’ve included 8 different vocabulary words to inspire your kiddos to not only write MORE on the page, but to work independently on their project.

Directed Drawing For Kids

40 Directed Drawing Activities for K-2 Students ! These Draw & Write activity pages are perfect for beginning writers. Each sheet includes a 5-step guided drawing activity for students to copy in the blank space provided. Suggested vocabulary words are given in the word bank to inspire students to write 2-3 sentences about their drawing.

This bundle set includes four of our popular Draw & Write activity packs so that you’ll have resources for each season! And just in case you are wondering WHY these are some of our best-selling resources, we wanted to let you try them out for yourself! Here are four free directed drawing worksheets, one for each of the four seasons:

Draw & Write Worksheets

Directed Draw & Write Butterfly

Kids learn to draw a butterfly with this free directed drawing worksheet. Vocabulary words are provided in the word bank and room is provided to draw and write about butterflies.

Directed Draw & Write Ice Cream Cone

Kids learn to draw an ice cream cone with this free directed drawing worksheet. Vocabulary words are provided in the word bank and room is provided to draw and write about ice cream.

Directed Draw & Write Pumpkin

Kids learn to draw a pumpkin with this free directed drawing worksheet. Vocabulary words are provided in the word bank and room is provided to draw and write about pumpkins.

Directed Draw & Write Snowman

Kids learn to draw a snowman with this free directed drawing worksheet. Vocabulary words are provided in the word bank and room is provided to draw and write about snowman.

Directed Drawing for Sprin g

• Caterpillar

Directed Drawing for Summer

• Sand Dollar
• Ice Cream Cone

Directed Drawing for Fall

Directed Drawing for Winter

• Snow Shovel

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Your site always has something I can use and the worksheets are so cute.

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Assignment Notebook 2021-2022: assignment book middle school | assignment book high school assignment notebook 2021-2022 | boys and girls assignment notebook 2021-2022 elementary Paperback – August 18, 2021

Assignment notebook 2021-2022.

• This Notebook Perfect For school, college ,university and kindergarten Student.# 2021-2022 yearly overview.
• Important dates page, to keep track of exams.
• Daily, weekly and yearly homework projects and exams organizer.
• Semester Planner.
• Weekly Class Timetable.
• Weekly Planner.
• Study Planner.
• Assignment Tracker.
• Grade Tracker.
• 120 pages of tracking your horse race.
• Perfect size: 8.5 x 11 INCHES.
• Print length 121 pages
• Language English
• Publication date August 18, 2021
• Dimensions 8.5 x 0.28 x 11 inches
• ISBN-13 979-8458969895
• See all details

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09CRNQDQQ
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (August 18, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 121 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8458969895
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.4 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.5 x 0.28 x 11 inches
• #53,889 in Education Theory (Books)

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