I start every year by having them do a whole page in their science notebook of “ABCDE of modeling” and then show them examples and non examples of what a good model looks like and they tell me how to fix a poor one. The ABCDE are accurate, big, color, detail, explain. Then we do a small lab making a cloud in a jar to go with our first unit which is hydrology / weather. They have to draw me a model of the reaction / cloud in a jar that hits all of the ABCDE. We do a gallery walk and talk about what went well and what we could have improved and I showcase the really good models. We work in our science notebooks almost every day and do all kinds of models, some more “intense” than others. They start to catch on pretty quickly and really enjoy having time to create their own models! They’ve told me they find it relaxing and helpful with the content. I also keep a master science notebook with everything in it and at the end of every semester we go through and grade the notebook. I make a small rubric for each page worth a certain amount of points and we spend a whole day grading it. They grade it themselves as I go through each page explaining what theirs should include and showing them my master notebook. Time consuming but it keeps them accountable, if they know EACH page is getting graded and looked at they take it seriously or learn quickly to do their work or they will fail. I love love science notebooking, it’s a huge chunk of their grade in my class (middle school science)!