How might STEAM Notebooks power your Write Out 2022?

Dear friends of Write Out,

As you already know, this year’s event Write Out is STEAM-Powered and will run October 9-23. And that STEAM-Powered Write Out will use notebooks and journals that inspire observing, describing, and annotating just like STEAM professionals do!

Why notebooks you may ask?

Learning from the authors of Composing Science: A Facilitator’s Guide to Writing in the Science Classroom we know that “[f]ormal scientific writing begins informally, as scribbles in the margins of an article, notes taken at a conference, or surprising data described in a lab notebook.” In learning how to “compose science” then, the authors suggest that the use of notebooks can begin with spending time with the notebooks of science professionals and engaging in discussion about their many purposes in the field. Doing this allows “… students come to see their notebooks as a way to learn and not simply as a way to record what is already known.” (Chapter 1, Composing Science)

*Pages from Alexander G. Bell’s Notebook shared as an inspiration or “mentor text” to students in Composing Science curriculum.*

*Pages from Marie Curie’s notebook shared as an inspiration or “mentor text” to students in the Composing Science curriculum.*

How might thinking about the use of notebooks and journals outside, and being inspired by STEAM professionals and how they use these same tools, power your Write Out this October?

We can’t wait to hear from you!