ABSTRACT
Over recent years, many standards-based curricula (i.e., STC, FOSS) have begun recommending the use of science notebooks as a strategy for elementary teachers to use in developing students’ science understanding. Research (Glynn & Muth, 1994; Hand, Prain, & Yore, 2001; Rivard, 1994) has shown that writing-to-learn in science has enhanced students’ learning when teachers attend to curricular goals, learners’ metacognitive knowledge, and the instructional environment. Therefore, if students are encouraged to communicate their understanding of concepts in science notebook writings, these notebooks can be an effective strategy to help students learn science (Audet, Hickman, & Dobrynina, 1996; Fellows, 1994; Shepardson & Britsch, 1997). Science notebooks also allow teachers to “assess students’ understanding and provide the feedback students need for improving their performance” (Ruiz-Primo, Li, & Shavelson, 2002, p. 24).
