A “1” is the lowest score my students can receive. This example has one word and a pretty terrible drawing that does not demonstrate any understanding of the concept. Marker was used.
A “2” has a title, misspelled content words, and an incomplete diagram.
A “3” has a complete diagram, but with no title and specific information. It has a written description that addresses what the student observed using some content vocabulary.
A “4” has the a complete diagram with a title, descriptions, labels, and color. The student not only stated the information they observed, but also included information about the change in energy and the current in a closed circuit.
Have I seen some “1”s at the beginning of the year? YES! Have I seen “4”s? Not really. I mostly see twos and threes and I have to train them to take it to the next level.
Having these examples posted helped my students recognize the effort that needed to be applied and self-assess their work. I’m not walking around saying “1”, “3”, “1”. I’m working with students. Teaching students to self-assess gives me the opportunity to work with more students and gives them the opportunity to achieve higher quality work and ultimately, better retention of the material.
12 thoughts on “Science Notebook Picture Rubric”
I have been working on my rubrics for journal responses for a few weeks, and this gave me a couple of ideas to add! Thanks for sharing! With 2 of the grade levels I teach being accountable for a writing test, I decided I really should help and make my students write like they should!
Nice post which It seems like we always have a camera or our phones in hand ready to snap a photo,and unlike the old daysof scrapbooks or actual photo albums, we now share our pics online. In which able to share the memories with your friends and family only. Thanks a lot for posting.
Picture Sharing Contest
I love your visual rubric for science notebooks! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your expertise in science. I would like to know if I could have your permission to use your science journal pictures in the blog. I would like to copy them into a PowerPoint to show students examples of what my expectations are for their science journals. I will email you a copy if you would like.
Sharon…Go for it! I’m glad you can use them…no need to email. 🙂
This is great! I just started using a 4-point rubric for science notebooks this year, and it has helped improve most students’ notes. I created a table that students glue in the front of their notebooks with the criteria for a 4-point notebook, so I can collect them each month and write their scores in the table.
I was wondering about your rubric that the students put into their notebooks. Do you have that for sale or is it in each of the bundles? I really like the visual one for the students to see but I would also like to put it into their notebooks. Thanks for helping me.
Hi Tammy,
It’s included in Setting Up Your Science Notebook and the All in One Notebook bundle. Thanks!
-Ari
As a high school Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, I even found your visuals rubric an excellent idea! I’m going to create some examples this summer! With 6 different preps, I don’t think I will tackle separate ones for each prep but try to find commonality that can be applied.
Thanks for a great post!
Is your rubric available anywhere by itself? I can see it’s included in the TPT bundle for setting up a notebook, but I am wondering if I can somehow get JUST the rubric?
That’s the only place I have it right now. Thanks!
Thank you for all of the sacrifice and effort you put into this lesson. They are cutting edge information.