I was wrong. It turns out that journal writing has been a wonderful way to encourage students to find their voice, and discover the joys of writing. They will find the perfect outlet to share their thoughts, feelings, and dreams. At the same time they will become experts on how to construct a sentence, while their punctuation and spelling skills improve. Very important for the teacher side of things.
Here is how:
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
First you will need a notebook, spiral or composition book for each student. For
younger kids, make sure you teach them to start at the beginning of their books
and write on the next page each day.
Otherwise they will choose a random page and you will never find their
stories. Writing every day is essential in developing a healthy writing habit!
Set
a requirement for how many sentences they have to write. I started with 3 or 4, and plan to work up to 6-8 as they get more comfortable writing.
Respond. Not always of course, there is not enough
time in the day, but even just say “Wow that’s crazy!” to show that they really
have an audience when they are writing. (Another of my students likes to write a personal note to me every day, he eagerly looks for my response. It is very sweet.)
Optional: I like to correct spelling by writing the
word correctly in the margins so I am not marking up their work, but they can
reference the spelling for the next time.
Reward. I use class Dojo and give a point for
completing their story, or two if they work very hard.
Make sure you have a variety of prompts that the students can relate to. Include ideas from sharing thoughts, experiences, dreams, imagination, and fantasy.
Here are a few prompts to get you started: Write about a time you were brave?
What is something you do not want to do? (One of my first graders put change diapers for this one, it was very cute!)
If you had lots of money what would you buy?
What makes you happy?
Write about a time you got really dirty.
Write about a hot air balloon ride.
What do you think it would be like to be blind?
What would you do if you were the king or queen?
What is something you should work harder at and why?
Write a story about your new pet. It can be any animal in the world.
Write about 3 things you like to do when you are quiet.
Write about going to the dentist.
Tell about a time you were hurt.
Write about learning to ride a bike.
As I am a planner, I went ahead and made up 170 prompts on cards so I won't have to think about it for the rest of the year!
Get them here:
