If you are trying to reach all learning styles then Interactive Notebooks are a great place to start. Interactive notebooks are effective in organizing information and a source that students can refer back to. Keeping the notebooks organized is key to having success with them. Students need to "own" their notebooks and take pride in them. When you first introduce INBs allow students to decorate the cover with pictures, words, etc. that are associated with the subject and interest them. This serves two purposes. It allows students to have ownership and allows the you to see the students' interests. All notebooks should have a table of contents and pages numbered. Below are some of the notebooks I have created.
In June I led professional development for our district and the following is an example of an effective model of teaching math that we introduced to our teachers:
Start with a brief 5-10 minute whole group introducing the topic of the day.
Then move into small group rotation.
Group 1: Meet with teacher for small group instruction
Group 2: Interactive Notebook that focuses on the same standard as being taught at small group or the standard that was taught the day before.
Group 3: IXL, Scootpad, etc. that focuses on the same standard being taught in small group or the standard that was taught the day before.
Group 4: Math game/center focusing on the same standard being taught in small group or the standard that was taught the day before.
