Booklets: Why they're effective and how I use them

https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/secondary/booklets-why-
theyre-effective-and-how-i-use-them

There is a place for booklets in the secondary classroom, argues Clive Hill –
if teachers design and utilise them effectively
6th October 2021, 12:00pm

Mark Enser is correct; the use of booklets in secondary schools is becoming

more popular.

I was introduced to booklets three years ago, when I was part of a

Department for Education project that looked at their use, and I, too, have had
conversations with primary school leaders and teachers about their use in
classrooms.

I agree with Enser's definition of a booklet - "these are a cross between a

textbook and a workbook" - but I disagree with his conclusion about their worth. I
believe that booklets are more than just a replacement for a quality textbook.
Why? Because they rely on teacher expertise.

The curriculum drives everything. A healthy curriculum is a live document

that can be adapted for a variety of reasons: after reflective critique of the
inclusivity and representation it is built upon; to take into account the latest
advances in science or world events that change the geopolitical landscape; or
to provide real-time examples of phenomena being explored.
Like the curriculum, a good booklet is a live document. It must not define
the curriculum but should be a tool used to deliver it. A great deal of work goes
into producing a booklet that fits within a scheme of work.

Enser speaks of the need to interweave within a curriculum - the weft flows
through like golden threads of knowledge, while our warp is there to tie all the
knowledge together. At my school, our booklets are designed to do just this, tying
in knowledge across scientific disciplines to build a scheme of interlinking
concepts.

I agree that there needs to be a cautious approach to using booklets; like

so many excellent things in teaching, there's a risk they'll mutate into something
they were never meant to be. I have witnessed this for myself and, without the
understanding of how to use a booklet, these can easily become a
textbook/workbook hybrid.
 There are, therefore, some key concepts that educators should keep at the
forefront of their minds when designing booklets and using them in their
classrooms.

BOOKLETS: HOW TO MAKE THEM WORK IN YOUR CLASSROOM

1. Don't print months in advance

Booklets should be printed just in time, rather than months in

advance, and there should be space built in to allow for fresh knowledge
to be introduced "live", as examples.

We meet officially each month to discuss any changes to the

booklets we have taught but, often, conversations in the staff base inform
adaptations or up-to-date scientific examples that can be incorporated
before our next print run. Our booklets are constantly evolving throughout
the year so, during the summer term, we ensure there aren't any loose
threads in our curriculum's weft and warp.

2. Focus on the scheme of work

Before the booklets are created, the whole department meets to

discuss the curriculum model. After this meeting, subject specialists create
the first draft of the booklets and ensure they specifically meet the scheme
of work. Golden threads are mapped out to ensure these are explicitly
linked across disciplines.

Plans for common misconceptions are also included in the booklets,

too, and we meet as a department to discuss the best way to explain these
concepts.

3. Build the booklets around Rosenshine's principles

Mutation can happen during delivery so we structure the booklets

around Rosenshine's principles to tackle this.

Each lesson starts with a knowledge-recall task, in which students self-

test their prior learning. This is followed by the teaching of lesson content in
an "explanation" phase, where the teacher reads a piece of text from the
booklet while students follow along. The teacher models the highlighting of
key information, adds annotations around the text and encourages
students to do so in their own booklets.
 Discussions are developed around the content, with planned
questioning of students at this point. Once the teacher is happy that most
of the class are ready, we move on to "I do", in which they complete one
of the learning activities, often located in the booklet, where there is a
teacher model of at least one worked example, explaining their thought
process.

This is followed by a "we do" phase, where students will be invited to

talk the class through a similar question, affording the teacher the
opportunity to probe deeper understanding.

Last, students are set off on the "you do" phase, where they work with
confidence on increasingly challenging tasks, some located in the booklet,
others not, with the teacher circulating the room to support and address
any misconceptions that have crept in.

4. Use mini-whiteboards to support learning

I use mini-whiteboards alongside booklets. If students need more

modelling of a concept in the "I do" phase, or scaffolding in the "we do"
phase, whiteboards prove invaluable. These also afford the opportunity to
practise in the "you do" phase by adapting pre-planned exercises (eg,
calculations) to really imbed the learning before moving on.

A booklet should have its own opportunities for assessment for

learning but, again, mini-whiteboards offer an easy solution for getting
whole-class feedback.

4. Be ready to adapt teaching practice

Just as with any scheme of work, there is the danger for

inexperienced teachers to fly through and assume that learning has
happened because the plan says the knowledge has been delivered.

This is why it is important that all members of my team know how to

teach using the booklets effectively, and can very much respond and
adapt their teaching practice as highly skilled professionals.

Just as in lessons without booklets, planned hinge-point questions,

cold-call questioning or realising that the group needs more support to
access the wider content mean that practice is adapted to suit the needs
of the group. This might lead to recapping some of the "golden thread"
 content before pushing forward. Much of this is dealt with in the planning
by knowing the class.

5. Evaluate their use

To avoid educational fads, we need to continually go through Kolb's

four stages when learning from experience: beginning with the theory of
what booklets are and how they should be delivered, followed by a plan
for how they will be used in the school's context, experience of the delivery
of booklets with reflection on their efficacy, and then returning to the theory
and making any necessary adjustments as a faculty.

Therefore, teachers need to put time aside to evaluate the booklets,

reflect on changes needed and then make the necessary improvements.
This is something we carried out at the end of last year, resulting in a change
in the curriculum design and improving the content of the plant-based
aspects of the curriculum, where I used my degree specialism to add depth
to this often underwhelming aspect of science in schools.

Like everything in education, context provides nuance. For me,

booklets - unmutated ones at least - add to my teaching and the offer
provided by our science department to the students. At the end of the day,
the impact on their outcomes and learning is what matters.

USING BOOKLETS FOR GUIDED NOTES

https://missdcoxblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/22/using-booklets-for-guided-
notes/

In the past couple of years I’ve seen that many teachers have been using
booklets with students. These look like mini text books but with the advantage of
being bespoke and generally having better tasks/questions for students to
complete than the average text book.

I’ve not gone down this route as I’m a ‘chalk and talk’ type teacher that
gives the students the info they need from the front rather than from a text. They’re
also a lot of work. I could spend hours creating these.
However, I’ve come up with a different way of using booklets; guided notes
booklets.
 I have for the past 5 years promoted note taking with students. We expect
it from year 7. We give them some guidance on what makes good notes and I
constantly remind them in lesson about making notes. I put ‘core notes’ on the
board that everyone has to write and then remind them to make independent
notes. Some students do loads of independent notes and some do none. For
GCSE I thought it would be useful to ensure that we cover the whole specification
by creating a booklet that has every element of the specification inside it, laid
out, ready for notes.

Our guided notes (also known as scaffolded, skeleton or skeletal notes) give
students a simple structure for their notes based on the content being taught
which differentiates them from generic templates such as Cornell notes.

The research

The research for scaffolding notes for students is interesting. It’s overall
positive for learning. The benefits of guided notes include increased accuracy,
frequency of notes and improvement in tests. Research also suggests that
students prefer using guided notes. Another interesting finding is that guided notes
can benefit students with SEN (Lazarus 1993).
Konrad et al (2009) say ” Results indicated that guided notes are an effective and
socially valid method for increasing note-taking accuracy and improving
academic performance, particularly for school-age students” .
This Cult of Pedagogy podcast and blog has a great summary of the research on
note taking.

The practice

I’ve made booklets that cover some of the units that we teach; essentially
a whole topic. I’ve had to guess the amount of space needed for notes but used
the previous year’s notes from a student’s folder to guide me on space.
The booklets include keywords, comparison charts, some diagrams where
appropriate, extra independent notes pages and some information that we
would have presented on individual sheets, such as quotations.
 For students that have to use laptops for their work, I send them the blank
template and they complete with typing.

As I have a visualiser I have one booklet per class I teach and will often
complete the booklet with the students. This models my expectations, ensures I
only get them to write what can be fitted in the boxes and makes sure they all
get the minimum same content.

Student views

After using the booklets for the first time, I thought it would be useful to hear
what the students think about them and get some useful feedback. Here are the
questions I asked (via a google form) and selected responses that summarise the
main points.

What are the benefits of using a booklet?

 “All my answers are in one place and are easy to find”

 “Don’t write unnecessary information”
 “The benifits of useing booklets are that you have all your notes in one
place. You have pre written titles and you have paragraph structures when
applicable” (sic)
 “It’s good because you have all the knowledge written down on one sheet
instead of loads of different sheets to look back on.”
 “The answers are clearly in an area which is visible and it stays neat and
clear.”
  “It is set out better and puts all the work together. It also shows us the
amount of work needed for a certain lesson.”
 “Decreases amount of loose sheets”

What are the problems with using a booklet?

 “Not enough space for people with big handwriting”

 “There’s not enough space to write everything”
 “There is limited space to write.”
 “Can sometimes be overwhelming”
 “Some of the spaces are quite small, so limit the amount of info you can
write.”

For the Theme E booklet, if we used it again next year, what do we need to
change?

 “More space, some brief directions on what to do on each page for if we

have a cover”
 “Titles,, We had to change some eg. from some Christians to some Muslims”
 “Add a notes page and more space to write in the boxes”
 “Just work out reasonable spaces for each part of the booklet so we don’t
run out.”

From this feedback I’ve made every other page a blank notes page so they have
more space for independent notes.

I probably should have followed this questions up with ‘why?’.

Any further USEFUL comments to help us

Examples of student work

These show how notes are made in the gaps and how the extra note space
can be used for ‘free hand’ notes.

Conclusions

These booklets seem to be well received by students. They are fairly quick to
make. They ensure that we cover all the points in the specification. They’ve been
adapted so students have structure and the chance for lots of independent
notes. We can easily edit them each year and add/remove what’s needed.
Students and I can easily see what they’ve missed and can easily copy from
another student. A huge benefit for me is that my ‘marking’ is checking for gaps.
They’re useful for revision as all notes are in one place, clearly labelled. These are
a structured start for students on note-taking, which can support them as they
move to higher study, as they can see the benefits of layout and clarity of notes.
Potential draw backs include photocopying costs and students losing the booklet
with everything in (no different to an exercise book). Some may be concerned
that it limits teaching styles. It doesn’t matter how the content is taught, these
booklets are just a record of the key learning so I think teachers can teach how
they want then complete the booklet.