What do you think is important when learning foreign languages? “Motivation, a good teacher and free time,” you say. Others will answer: “The main thing is an effective methodology and the best teaching aids!”. But have you ever thought that the organization teaching materials also play an important role? If not, then this article is for you.

Since school, we have been accustomed to keeping a dictionary notebook for writing down foreign words, a grammar notebook, a workbook, a notebook for homework, etc. This whole pile consists of irreplaceable and important elements that are necessary for the educational process. However, you must admit that it is not very convenient to always carry a collection of notebooks with you. Forgetting one of them, you will be left without materials that may be useful in the learning process.

Our advice is to change your habits. Get instead of a common notebook ring blinder(folder on rings), which will become an assistant in the study of foreign languages.

Folder Benefitsring blinder. How to improve the efficiency of classes?

1) Classify information.

To have this notebook means to categorize the material that you have read in the lesson. There is no need to write information linearly here: the notebook has rings on which you can attach not only sheets of the format you need, but also separators. So, you can create several sections: "grammar", "new words", "written work", etc. Thanks to bright separators, you can easily find the section you need, and when moving to another level of study, some sections can be replaced (for example, “practice” or “written work”), and the grammar section can be left: this way you can use the material for years, with who are accustomed to work.

2) Do not spare blank sheets.

Continuing the conversation about the categorization of educational material, I would like to pay attention to the records themselves. Remember the rule: new topic- new page. For example, if you are studying verbs in English, you should write down each topic separately (for example, "tenses", "passive", etc.). Such a system will allow you to supplement the material as you study it.

3) Write down grammar rules.

Choose what is most convenient for you: a table, a diagram, or a linear record of rules. Each grammar rule is best written on its own. First, this is how you memorize the material. Secondly, if you forget something, it is much faster to remember material written down by hand than a rule from a new textbook or the Internet.

4) Add colors.

Use colored pens and markers to help classify the material. For example, highlight the topic in red, the main rule in green, and examples in blue.

5) Always be prepared.

It doesn't matter if you are a student, school student or educational institutions left in the past for you - learning a foreign language often takes place outside the home (with a tutor, in a language center, etc.). Therefore, it is important to have all the materials in one place in order to be able to take a folder and go to class.

For a folder like " ring binder" you can purchase a pencil case, a ruler, a mini hole punch, files, stickers, etc., which can be attached to the rings of the folder itself. This means that all learning materials and tools will be collected in one place, and you will never forget a pen, pencil or your homework.

We hope you find our tips for organizing study materials helpful.

And what is your notebook for learning a foreign language?

Workbook - the second part of the educational complex "English. Intensive course for beginners. It contains lexical and grammatical exercises based on the material of the Book for the student, as well as exercises on the formulas of speech etiquette. Each part of the Workbook contains a grammatical comment that makes it easier for the student to complete the exercises.
The lexical supplement of the Workbook serves to expand the student's basic vocabulary, and all new lexical units in relation to the Student's Book have been translated into Russian.
Exercises recommended for home independent work and provided with answer keys, but can also be done in the classroom with a teacher.

Examples.
When Ethel arrived, Dave asked her a lot of questions. Can you restore his questions putting the correct question words?
When Ethel arrived, Dave asked her a lot of questions. Can you reconstruct his questions by putting the correct question words?

What? When? Where? how? Who? Whose? How many? How much? Why?
1. is your name?
2. are you from?
3. old are you?
4. bag is it? - It's mine.
5. are you? - I "m fine, thanks,
6. languages ​​do you speak? - Two.
7. is your job?
8. are you late?
9. city are you from?
10. are you going to visit Scotland?
11. is that woman over there?

Free download e-book in a convenient format, watch and read:
Download the book English, Intensive course for beginners, Workbook, Book 2, Latysheva T.S., 2000 - fileskachat.com, fast and free download.

• English, Grade 4, Workbook, Vereshchagina I.N., Afanaseva O.V., 2019

The following tutorials and books:

• Forgotten English, Let's start over, Konovalenko Zh.F., 2009 - The manual is intended for a wide range of readers, but it will be especially useful for those who have already begun to learn English. At the base… Books by English language
• Practical English for Law Students, Agabekyan I.P., 2003 - A manual for law students at the first and second stages of study corresponds to the English language program for humanitarian non-linguistic faculties of higher education ... English language books
• Coordination of tenses in English, Oliva Morales T.M., 2017 - In this study guide the coordination of tenses in English is considered in detail using examples and exercises for translating from Russian ... English language books
• How to Learn English, Nim S., 2018 - You are not holding another English textbook or a collection of dry exercises. This is the first detailed guide which is available… English language books

Today, with great pleasure, I will continue to share with you my ideas for using interactive notebooks in teaching English. In my previous articles, I described what interactive notebooks are and the practice of using them at school. I mainly focused on the grammatical side of their use. But now I want to talk about how to teach reading using an interactive notebook.

It so happened that this summer a child came to me who had finished the second grade and could not read English at all. At the same time, the assessment for the year is 4. Interesting objectivity of the teacher 🙄

This year I planned to recruit a group of second-graders who have problems with reading. But there were negligible responses to my ads, and summer, as you know, is the time for rest (maybe something will work out in August, but there will be little time left). Learning to read is not 4 or 6 meeting sessions.

Unfortunately, tutoring, which I loved so much, has become, due to my employment, receding into the background. I'm afraid that when I go to work, I'll have to completely forget about him and, to be honest, I feel sad at this thought. In the meantime, summer, you can create and develop on what we have.

So, back to our second grader. The case was not easy. Here the form of group lessons would not fit in any way, but only the only option is individual ones. Reason for everything: psychological features child. With such children, you need to work using completely different forms of training. But there are methods. Who seeks will always find.

I decided to add to our classes the use of an interactive notebook, which I successfully used on one group of second graders. The child turned out to be executive and carried all the accessories with him as expected. The idea of ​​an interactive notebook aroused great interest. Here is our complete set:

The presence of a folder is the first requirement that I put forward if they intend to go to me seriously. In it, children store handouts and reference material. In this case, we have included alphabetical copybooks, pages with drills, extra worksheets from Macmillan's manual, as well as some copies from E. Rusinova's "Reading Trainer" textbook. We have enough materials.

In addition, I have to refer to Biboletova's textbook and make copies of some of the texts, because it is for him that the child will have to learn further and to move away from him is also not an option. Plus, I've added the use of my vocabulary booklet, which can get is free any, subscribed to my blog.

Interactive notebook

Now I present to your review our interactive notebook.

It looks like an ordinary notebook, but with secrets 🙂 I decided to teach reading with the help of phonics. They memorized the alphabet and sounds beforehand (although there are gaps in memorizing letters, each lesson requires repetition).

Now let's see what's inside:
How it works? The main phonics here are at. We add a consonant and read the word, and in addition, we see the picture behind this word. The following options:

Now let's look at the video:

The most important thing is your imagination and the child. We use all kinds of daisies, accordions, stars and the object is ready 😉

Thanks to this method, I noticed one important fact - memorization of vocabulary goes with a bang! And plus everything included in the process fine motor skills and visual memory.

At each lesson, we add one or two elements to the notebook, and at home the child needs to finish the work (find pictures, stick them or draw).

I hope you liked my idea. In the near future I am going to hold a webinar on this topic and I will be glad to see you, dear readers, as viewers and listeners. But more on that later 😉

Hello dear colleagues and readers of my blog!

This creative direction in teaching English did not pass me by either. It may have happened before, it's just not as common.

In general, I decided to deal with this issue. At first, I tried to find any information on keeping interactive notebooks on my own. Basically, it came across not that or very scarce information. And I am such a person - I need to study the issue thoroughly, then to be a confident user of this system (Interactive Notebooks).

First meeting

And so, as it usually happens, I accidentally stumbled upon a group in the contact of one girl Anastasia Rykova Super Family English , studied it and got stuck, somehow did not dare to delve into this topic(sometimes there is such a feeling of insecurity before something new)

Then I watched Anastasia's video, how she teaches her daughter, what materials she uses for her students, and I got fired up ... In addition, this year I have only younger students. In general, I decided to diversify my already boring life.

What are interactive notebooks?

Interactive notebooks are such notebooks that include interactive elements such as pockets with cards, various booklets with windows, accordion books, some retractable elements, pictures, and so on.

Such notebooks are very interesting, beautiful and individual, as children can express themselves in this way.

How are they different from regular notebooks?

Usually I started a 48-sheet notebook with the kids and we wrote, drew and glued in it. But then I decided that it would be better if there were two notebooks: one notebook would be interactive (we will stick different grammar rules and lexical topics there, more creative), and in the other written exercises and some tasks (more formal).

• Interactive elements in notebooks help save space in regular notebooks, thereby fitting more information.
• Children learn to organize and systematize information, this should also be taught, so that it would be easier for them later in life.
• Grammar theory is visualized and this makes it easier to understand the material. In addition, motor skills are also involved (the elements are constantly touched, moved, pulled out)

• Children show their individuality and imagination. They are involved in the process, their creative abilities are developing.
• A constant interest in notebooks is maintained, motivation for learning English is increased.
• Interactive notebooks encourage constant review and repetition.

Interactive backpack from the theme "School and school supplies" (from Arina's notebook)

Obviously, interactive notebooks have huge advantages over regular notebooks. And where was this information before, when I worked at school? Children now would be happy to keep notebooks and not forget them at home.

But nothing! I have plenty of time to catch up. Now I actively use such interactive notebooks with my individual students from grades 1 to 5. I will tell you how I use them and what elements I use in my work.

Interactive elements in notebooks by example

EMC Shishkova "English for junior schoolchildren"

I decided to apply my knowledge in private tutoring, using the example of my favorite EMC Shishkova "English for Junior Schoolchildren". Who has not yet read a review on it, then get acquainted. Oddly enough, it caused a huge response on my blog, which, of course, I was surprised and happy about.

So, what I came up with and how I organized everything?

My kids, who have already started studying this course with me, have ordinary thick notebooks in which we paste various interactive elements on grammatical topics. The plans are to use lexical elements and lapbooks, but more on that later.

Below is a list of topics that are found in the UMK Shishkova. I wrote them out, indicating the numbers of the lessons where it was possible to do this.

Then I already planned the topics themselves, or rather I selected different elements and templates for notebooks. Here are sample templates that you can download for free and use in your classes. These are the templates "Daisy" (for pronouns, for example) and Book with flaps (numbers from 1 to 10).

These topics are the most common and can be applied to any of your teaching materials.

• Cardinal Numbers (1 to 10) - Lesson 22
• Ordinal numbers (from 1 to 10)
• Articles a/an, the - Lesson 9

• Plural Nouns - Lesson 4

If you want to learn how to make such a book with windows, I suggest watching Anastasia's master class on video.

• Pronouns - Lesson 4.5

• Colors
• Have got - Lesson 16,18,19

• To be - Lesson 6,12,13,15,23

• Can - Lesson 8,21,22

• Present Simple - Lesson 7,10,24
• Present Contiunious - Lesson 28

• This/That - Lesson 9
• These/Those - Lesson 25
• Prepositions - Lesson 15

• There is... There are ... - Lesson 27
• Question words

And now I suggest you look into the notebooks of my students and see everything with your own eyes, how interactive elements work.

I must say right away that I did not invent the wheel! I myself would not have had the strength or time (two children require my increased attention) to look for all the information in interactive notebooks, so everything I know and can do is thanks to the training of Anastasia Rykova.

A few words about the training "Interactive methods in notebooks"

I have no regrets about passing it. I purchased the three-day training already in the recording, as it is convenient for me to listen and work in the late evening, when everyone has already fallen asleep. The recording of the training itself lasts about 13 hours. So far, I have mastered only the "Interactive Notebooks" module, since there is a lot of information, it is well organized and should fit in my head.

In addition, I began to practice and apply already on my students. And I see that it was not in vain that I started all this. I have never had anyone with such pleasure. Kids constantly touch the elements and remember the information on them very well. Parents are also happy that their children enjoy learning English grammar. For you, all this is also very beneficial, since you differ in this from other tutors.

Who cares where you can find information about this, I leave a link so that you can familiarize yourself with the training Interactive notebooks

By the way, whoever has more time and is also interested in a similar topic, for more inspiration, I recommend the famous Pinterest (Pinterest) - a kind of social Internet service or photo hosting, where users can add various inspiring and motivational images online, place them in thematic collections and share with others.

I found out about this service relatively recently and it absorbs you so much ... it's real, someone with a tight fantasy or creativity has subsided, run to Pinterest! Enter the desired topic and a huge number of motivating pictures will come out to help you. For example, on our topic, you can enter Interactive English Notebook.

P.S. To introduce interactive notebooks, you need not only white and colored paper, scissors and pencils, but also an interesting element for attaching rotating elements - brads. I bought them very cheap on aliexpress.

Colleagues, do you use the method of interactive notebooks in your practice? If so, please share a photo of your students' notebooks in the comments. It will be interesting to me and my readers.

41 Comments

Thank you so much for this post! You just inspired me!

Leah, very interesting! thanks for detailed overview methods. I also used some things with my student. Just at Anastasia's I saw a hand with question words, also convenient and interesting. Please tell me which textbook you followed with six-year-old children.

Leah, thank you so much.

I am very grateful for this posting. I immediately caught fire to use all this for teaching younger schoolchildren - first-graders who will just begin preparing for school in the summer.

Awesome! Thank you very much for this article. I often see these interesting things on the Internet, but I'm afraid to use them because I don't know how. But now I'm not so scared anymore)) Although academic year ends, until the next one you can collect material and digest information)

Thank you for the article! interesting and informative! I met the term "interactive notebooks" for the first time, although I came up with some elements myself for my students! Thanks for the ideas, let's go deeper and explore further!

Leah, thanks for the great article! I was very interested and inspired! Let's put it into practice!

Leah, thank you very much! As I understand it, together we got excited about the idea of ​​interactive notebooks after the course of Katerina Stashevskaya. Together they came up with an idea for Present Continuous. But you are already far ahead of me, young lady! I lack something, either perseverance, or time. You inspire me to great deeds. Keep it up. Submitting your article to my group.

But about the intensive course by A. Rykova, I had some doubts. I watched one of her webinars. and material

It was good, but it's kind of hard to watch.

Leah, thank you so much for your post! I am very interested in the technical side of working with lapbooks. How do you prepare it: do you cut everything yourself or give it to students? after all, registration takes a lot of time. And if everything is given to the house in advance, will the child lose interest?

I can also give you a link to the blog of one enthusiastic mother to work with lapbooks, where there are examples of lapbooks http://www.tavika.ru/p/blog-page_5.html

Leah, thank you so much for another post. I read it with interest, but, unlike your other readers, I don’t share the enthusiasm :) Children won’t make these notebooks themselves, it’s necessary with them, but it’s time-consuming and for me in terms of the ratio - time - real benefit - they are not very good. I think - well, they made these notebooks, what's next for them? Why are they needed at all? So these notebooks will lie, children will sometimes look through, at best, brag about who has the prettiest, and so ... In general, I was not inspired. It is better to devote this time to work on the umk. I will say even more - I would be even less inspired if my child, studying with a tutor, spent his time on the design of this notebook, as if it were a lesson in labor / drawing.

Very interesting! Thank you for such useful information. I really like to work with kids, in addition to Shishkova, I also use Bonk "English for Kids", and I especially like Meshcheryakova's help "I can sing", do you know about this one? If not, get acquainted, songs and pictures, in my opinion, are an excellent tool for studying the material. And I have another question ... Do you think it is possible to use such interactive notebooks for adult children? Often there are children who began to learn the language with other teachers, there is no motivation, and the age is already 12-13 years old, it is very difficult to bring them to the level of “love” for English. Thank you!

Leah, hello!

Please write an article about yourself, how your year went, how many students were there, did you manage to devote time to your family, how did you work with your kids, how do you spend your summer, relax or work, will you go to work at the lyceum, of course, if this not too personal information. You are my motivator! Smart, kind, beautiful! Write more often! Thank you!

Thank you very much for such a detailed review. Very inspiring. And most importantly, very effective techniques - I tried several topics. Children are delighted!

Leah, thank you for this article, however, as well as for all others. I read and implement your ideas regularly in the practice of a teacher and tutor. Your site is one of the few where I always return for inspiration. Interactive notebooks are amazing! There is only one minus, it takes a lot of time in the classroom, I involve the parents of the students, I make the simplest elements. I wish you and your family all the best! Thanks a lot for the blog!

Hello! Please explain the difference between an interactive notebook and a lapbook. A notebook is a notebook, and a lepbook is like a wall newspaper?

We often ask this question to people who study English with us. Why do we recommend keeping a workbook or dictionary as you like, rather than relying entirely on listening comprehension? Because if you make notes of new words or grammar rules - you are working on the language and? accordingly, you have every chance to succeed. Here are a few reasons why we strongly advise you to get a thick notebook, which, as you study, will become an indispensable and faithful assistant, save the material and recall what you have already learned.

To begin with, let's remember that workbook in English - notebook , and a laptop - a computer we are used to working on, is called in English laptop .

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1. If the workbook is always at hand, you can immediately write down a new word or phrase that you heard on TV or from other people. In order to truly memorize new vocabulary with high quality, you need to constantly repeat it, and if it is in front of your eyes in your notebook, you will see it every day or even several times a day and, as a result, remember it for a long time. Each of us has many problems, and the information that we perceive by ear, as a rule, quickly disappears, leaving us no knowledge and, accordingly, no chance to learn the language properly.

2. Never write down English material in another notebook, where, in addition to English words there are also recipes for cooking or phone numbers of friends. If you need to write down something quickly, and you have to leaf through your notebook for a long time in search of English material among other information, you may miss the teacher's explanation, lose valuable time in the lesson and not be able to quickly focus on the material being explained.

3. Never stick notes in a notebook on top of each other - interesting phrases quickly catch your eye if they are written on separate pages or at a considerable distance from each other, so that there is room for possible further additions to the topic - this way all your notes will be in one place and at the same time will not interfere with each other. Many use markers, colored pens or pencils. For example, to mark grammar material, red is suitable, and new words can be circled in green at your discretion. Marking also helps you find what you're looking for faster by visually marking only the right color.

4. Reflect on what you have already learned. Go back to the words and phrases over and over again, helping yourself to understand and remember them. Having a notebook at hand, you can look through it on the bus, subway, trying to make sentences in your mind with this vocabulary or grammar - such exercises for the brain will help not only learn the material firmly, but also start thinking in English, quickly switch from one language on the other, in a word, reach a higher level.

5. Why do we advise to write each topic on a separate page, leaving a lot of empty space around? Because over time, you will add synonyms, corresponding prepositions, examples, and a whole topic can turn out from one phrase. Agree that it will be impossible if you sculpt words on top of each other.

Do you have a workbook? Choose a thicker notebook to fit all your knowledge.