How to Organize an Interactive Social Studies Notebook

Using a Social Studies notebook or having a 3-ring binder is essential to keep you and your students organized. It’s a place where students can keep all the information they have learned throughout the year.

Why Keep Notebooks in the First Place?

Keeping a notebook allows your students to have a collection of what they learned throughout the school year. When you talk about a subject that you have taught in the past, your students may (will LOL) have a vague memory of it. However, when you have a notebook, your students have something to refer to.

Notebooks give students the opportunity to read over their notes before a test. Also, when my students answer Write the Room questions, they refer to them to look up answers.

Teacher holding a Social Studies composition notebook with divider tabs for organization

When is the Best Time to Set Up Your Notebooks?

The beginning of the school year is the best time to set up notebooks. I am fortunate that my school buys students notebooks.

If your school does not offer them to students for free, DO NOT purchase them yourself. We teachers purchase more than enough for our classrooms!

Ask parents to buy them and make notebooks a requirement. I personally like composition books because the spiral wire in spiral notebooks sometimes will come undone throughout the year.

I precut the pages for my students because it takes a ridiculous amount of time for them to do this. If you don’t have your own personal cutting board in your classroom, get it on your shopping or wish list ASAP.

During the first or second week of school, my students color a Social Studies notebook cover. They write their name in large letters, and they just tape it on. You can ask parents to donate package tape, but standard tape will work too, just not as good.

Another option is to ask students to take their notebooks home to tape, which won’t take away instructional time. Of course, keep some tape handy for your students who don’t get it done at home.

If you can laminate student notebook covers, that’s even better. Make sure to make extra copies for new students who arrive later in the year or for kids whose covers get damaged.

How to keep students organized with a Social Studies composition notebook with divider tabs

Subject Covers and Dividers Look Good!

Having a subject cover and dividers elevates a student notebook so that it looks good. I even have students take them out during Open House so that parents can look through it and get an idea of what students are learning.

Speaking of student notebooks looking good, if you are limited on desk space, collect the notebooks after your Social Studies block. Things just seem to get ruined in desks, especially if you are using the divider tabs.

If your students don’t have much space in their desks, keep the notebooks on shelves or in large plastic bins. Stacking them up on a corner table works too! I keep mine organized based on the number of rows or desks in groups.

For example, I have six groups in my classroom and each group has four desks pushed together. So I would have six team captains who would collect and pass out the notebooks.

Assign the same student from each row or groups to collect and pass them out and have that same student do that job for the entire month. If students change jobs too frequently, it’s hard to remember who is responsible for what job.

How to Keep Notebooks Organized

Dividing your notebook into sections will allow your students to easily find the information they are looking for. It also is a great way to make the transition from one topic to another.

When I introduce a new topic, I hand out the divider sheet and allow my students 5 minutes or so to color them and paste them in their notebook. Sometimes I will play a song and I’ll challenge them to finish before the song ends.

DO NOT give your students these subject dividers all at once. When you first introduce the subject you are teaching, give them the divider to add (or glue) to their notebook. Any notes or PDFs you print out that you want them to have as reference get added behind the subject divider.

PIC OF SUBJECT DIVIDERS

When I give my students their subject dividers, I also give them the tab that goes with it. I print these all out at the beginning of the school year. Actually, I recommend printing them at the end of the school year if possible so that when you start in the fall, it’s one less thing you don’t have to do.

Picture of causes of the American Revolution notebook divider with divider tabs. Picture of construction paper that that was cut down to 8.5 x 11 and printed on a copy machine

I print the tabs on different color sheets of construction paper because it’s way too expensive to buy different color packages of card stock. If you decide to print the tabs on construction paper, make sure that you are precise when you cut it into 8.5 x 11 sheets.

If they don’t measure 8.5 x 11, the printer will jam. Once your construction paper is cut up, load it to a normal printer as you would do with any reams of paper that you run off. The construction paper is more sturdy than normal printing paper and I highly recommend it if you want the tabs to last throughout the school year.

Should Students Have a Table of Contents Page?

Keeping a table of contents page is difficult and your students will spend a ridiculous amount of time on this. Many students may not number their pages correctly or skip a few pages, when they should just be adding information to the very next page. It can get confusing!

I don’t think it is a good use of instructional time to number pages either. When you have dividers that are colored, it makes it easy for students to find the section that they are looking for, especially if you color code your divider pages or use different color divider tabs.

Social Studies 3 ring binder notebook with divider images to help keep students organized

What Goes Inside a Social Studies Notebook?

Vocabulary Words that are domain specific. For example, during our American Revolution Unit my students will include words like: delegates, petition, boycott, etc. These are words that they will hear when learning about the American Revolution.

Guided notes that go along with my presentations. There is no way upper elementary students are going to take notes while you are presenting lessons at the same time. It’s information overload for their brains!

I give my students cloze notes that they glue in their notebook when I am teaching. The notes are an exact copy of what is being presented on screen. Students fill-in-the-blank so that I hold them accountable for listening to my presentations. My students enjoy taking notes with my guided notes in my TPT shop for the Causes of the American Revolution and for the Early Colonies.

Student Quick Write. Sometimes I’ll ask students to summarize in their own words what they learned. Or I’ll ask them for their opinion about something. Instead of passing out paper, they will complete their writing in their notebooks.

Adding vocabulary words, guided notes, and quick writes to a Social Studies notebook are plenty.

Since I teach 5th grade, I have all the major subjects that my students are taught throughout the year in my notebook. Depending on your grade and the state that you teach in, your subjects will be different. The subjects that are in our Social Studies Notebook are as follows:

Geography

Native Americans or Indigenous Peoples

Cooperation and Conflict Between Native Americans and Settlers

13 Colonies

Causes of the American Revolution

The Revolutionary War

United States Constitution

Bill of Rights

Westward Expansion

Luis and Clark Expedition

50 States and Capitals

American Civil War

Branches of Government

Western Trails

If you are looking for a Social Studies notebook cover with dividers, I have one that I created that is geared for upper elementary. I hope I gave you some ideas about how to keep your students’ notebooks organized. You got this!

-Giselle