Five Steps to Seting Up Writing Notebooks

1. Decide what size/type of composition book to use. I live in Brazil so we have small sized composition notebooks which are perfect for both reading and writing notebooks. If you live in the U.S. you can also decide if you want to use a full-size composition notebook or other notebook.

2. Make sections catered to your goals for teaching. This year I really want my students to use their notebooks as a resource and be proud of their writing. Their notebooks will include:

• The Mighty Writing Process Handout
• Writing Goals Tab
• Writing Ideas Tab
• Rough Drafts Tab
• Class Notes Tab
• Proofreading Marks- Inside Back Cover

To make the sections, I searched online for ideas for each of the sections and then compiled what I wanted into photoshop.  This could also easily be done using Microsoft Word or Google Docs. You can download my notebook on TPT by clicking the picture below!

3. Print out and compile your notebook!- I then printed out and compiled a notebook of my own to see how much space to leave between each of the sections. Because my composition notebook is smaller, I printed out two pages per sheet of paper. I left the majority of space for  rough drafts and class notes.

4. Make tabs. I used simple colored paper to mark the tabs so students can get to each section quickly. Each of the students has the same colored tabs.

5. Decorate.  This part will be left to the students when school starts. I am planning for students to decorate with magazines, pictures, and stickers.

I hope this helped you! If you have any other ideas or versions comment below!