Notebook Know-How: Strategies for the Writerís Notebook
by Aimee Buckner
Reviewed by Sandra Epperson

This is a helpful book for setting up journals with a class. Ms. Buckner uses this as a writerís journal for generating ideas, taking notes, and of course writing. Notebook Know-How is chuck full of practical ideas for using notebooks or journals, evaluating notebooks, building fluency, expanding topics, responding to reading, and imitating authors. I found the chapter about evaluating notebooks very helpful as this part is important to many classroom teachers. Written by a fourth grade teacher, the ideas in this book are easily adaptable to all grade levels ñ including high school and college. The practical ideas are easy to find in that they are printed in a grey box. Extensions of activities are also included. Buckner writes in an easy to read, easy to understand way. If a teacher is planning to use journals or notebooks, this is a wonderful book to use as a resource.