Social studies interactive notebooks are a unique but simple tool for organizing everyday activities in a creative, colorful, and meaningful way. Interactive notebooks help to meet the needs of middle school students by providing opportunities for teacher directed input and student-centered output that covers curricular content while taking advantage of the variety of ways that students learn. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the notebooks as an instructional tool, discuss the variety of ways that interactive notebooks can be assessed, and illustrate the benefits middle school students and teachers can reap from their use in the social studies classroom.

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Jason Endacott is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kansas as well as an 8th grade social studies teacher at New Mark Middle School in the North Kansas City School District. His research interests include historical thinking and technology in middle school social studies classrooms. Contact information: jendacot@nkcsd.k12.mo.us