Science Notebooks: Writing About Inquiry

The bestselling first edition of Science Notebooks inspired thousands of teachers to use science notebooks as a powerful way to help students reveal and develop their thinking about scientific concepts, engage in the work of scientists and engineers, and exercise language skills. Lori Fulton and Brian Campbell make the Second Edition even more valuable by showing how science notebooks support implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as the Common Core State Standards for ELA.  The authors have also added new material to every chapter, including:

• strategies to scaffold science notebook instruction
• how science notebooks help students develop explanations and arguments based on evidence
• strategies for collecting and analyzing science notebooks for formative assessment
• new interviews with scientists and engineers that spotlight the use of science notebooks in their work.

 Student samples and classroom vignettes from a variety of settings illustrate the transformative effect of science notebooks on students’ scientific thinking as well as their literacy skills.

Download a sample chapter!

Lori Fulton is an Assistant Professor of teacher education at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. A former elementary teacher, she has been involved in the process of teacher change and professional development in the area of science for over 15 years.

Brian Campbell is a curriculum developer at the University of California, Berkeley where he focuses on creating instructional materials and professional development opportunities for science in elementary schools.  He works with teachers and districts to refine the use of science notebooks in classrooms focusing on formative assessment and the connections to language arts.  He enjoys learning especially from his two daughters.