Binder Project

In my last post I discussed the organizational system I will be using this year.  Students are required to have a 3 ring binder dedicated solely to Algebra I.  Their binders will have four dividers labeled reference, notes, quizzes, and journal.  Because having their binders every day will be such an important part of the class, I decided to create a project that involved setting up their binder and creating a cover with "Numbers About Me".  This Binder Project will count as a major test grade.

I gave out this project description on the 2nd day of School (August 28) and gave them until the Tuesday after Labor Day to complete the binder set up.  Every day for the first week we discussed the binder and the importance of getting it set up as soon as possible. 

The reference section will contain a student progress sheet, a syllabus, bell schedule, monthly calendar, State formula chart, a plastic sheet protector containing a coordinate grid that we will use as a white board and anything else I can think of to put it in there.

The notes section will contain the notes for the current unit only.

The quiz section will contain all graded and corrected quizzes

The journal section will contain a table of contents, warm-ups, journal entries from given prompts, activities we do like card sorts, matching activities, frayer models, foldables, and anything else that will summarize our learning for each unit.

If you are interested in my project description and grading rubric you can download it here

My plan is for students to grade each other's binders.  I know, I know, this may or may not go well, but I will find out tomorrow (the day after Labor Day).  This is the rubric I intend to hand out to the student's to help them grade their classmate's binder.  I plan to walk around the room and monitor this process.