Happy Little Kindergarten: Journey's Kindergarten Interactive Notebook

Incase you've never seen my Teachers Pay Teacher's store, I use the Journey's Reading Program in my classroom. My store is FILLED with tons of activities aligned with the Kindergarten Journey's program. Although the skills are most likely similar to those taught through other programs, I find it useful to have everything in sequential order to make planning and preparing for each week MUCH easier.

Interactive notebooks are such a great way for me to easily maintain accurate records of my student's abilities without having to file on a daily basis (or be organized, which I'm terrible at). I'm able to go back an refer to the interactive notebook to show progress throughout the school year. It can also be used as a reference tool for my students if they need to go back and review information.

My favorite aspect about interactive notebooks is that my students are able to go back and look at the amazing progress they've made throughout the year. There is nothing more encouraging to a struggling child than to look back at their September activities in their notebook. I remind my students that even if the current task seems difficult at the moment, they will ultimately master the given skill as they did many other skills in the past.

Parents love interactive notebooks, too! They enjoy seeing their child's work at back-to-school night or conferences. It is a great way to show parents what their child has been working on in school without overcrowding their take-home folders with worksheets!

Below, I added just a few of the activities included in my Journey's Kindergarten Interactive Notebook. Each lesson is given a 3 focus skills. 1. Letter/Sound identification 2. Sight Word Activities and 3. Phonemic Awareness. I've seen these activities used as morning work or during literacy centers. Either way, it's a great way to reinforce important skills taught throughout the Journey's Reading Program.