Journaling In The Primary Classroom By Ruth R

Journaling In The Primary Classroom By Ruth R. Valeen Ghawp 2004 July 15, 2004 Clear Creek ISD Mc. Whirter Elementary First Grade

Background Kindergarten Students loved drawing Journal in the morning after pictures first and then BEAR time. writing about them. Designate a responsible They used inventive student to pass out journals. spelling. They loved sharing! Nothing was more Important than sharing their experiences.

More Background Second Grade Students journaled all day. They wrote about topics They liked sharing in They took notes. Most important to them. front of peers and They wrote stories when the note taking was in some just liked to they were finished their language/spelling come to my desk and with their work. journal. share.

My Rationale • I feel that journals can be used in more ways. But how? • How can I use journals in a variety of ways in my classroom? • Is there a certain way or time I should start? • I’m teaching first grade this year. How are they supposed to work in this grade? • I’ll just RESEARCH it.

History of Journaling ü Leonardo Da Vinci recorded his daily activities and personal experiences in more than 40 notebooks. ü Lewis and Clark kept a journal of their travels. ü American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote conversations he heard in his notebooks which gave him ideas for his books.

Questions Teachers Have About Journals In Their Classrooms… 1. What types of journals are there? 2. How can I use them with my students? 3. Why should I use journals in the classroom? 4. How do I get started using journals in my classroom?

Continued Questions… • Continued… – 5. What can my students write about? – 6. Are there journals for more academic purposes? – 7. At what part of the day do my students journal? – 8. How do I assess journals? – 9. What about my struggling writers? – 10. What should I expect from my students’ journals? – 11. What are we teaching children when we journal?

Purpose For Journaling • -Routman. Invitations • “ Journals provide a nonthreatening place to explore learnings, feelings, happenings, and language through writing. ” • “ Personal journal writing can be a means of validating each child…” • “ When taught well, journal writing is a springboard to writing in all other genres. ”

Why Should We Use Journals in the Classroom? • “They will learn to write by writing and by living with a sense of “ I am one who writes””. -Calkins, The Art of Teaching Writing. • - Tompkins, Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. -“ …to record personal experiences, explore reactions and interpretations to books, performances, videos, and real life issues and concerns, stimulate interest in a topic, explore thinking, wonder, predict, engage the imagination, ask questions, and ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE (schema).

What types of Journals Are There? -Routman, Conversations. -Routman, Invitations. -Tompkins, Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product • • • 1. Personal 2. End of the Day 3. Reflection 4. Learning Logs 5. Writer’s Notebook 6. Poetry 7. Class 8. Dialogue 9. Reading Logs 10. Double Entry 11. Simulated

Dialogue Journals Similar to personal journals Written to be shared with the teacher or a classmate The person who receives the journal reads the entry and responds to it. Written more like a conversation

Poetry Journal • Copy favorite poems. • Write their own poetry. • Draw pictures to go with poems. • Make poetry books with favorite class poems. • Display pictures and write a poem about it.

Class Journals • • Observations of a class pet, activity, skit, or plant Reflections of a field trip Can be written as a shared writing activity (whole group) or individually Can use these as collages displayed inside class on walls

End Of The Day Journal • Write about favorite part of the day. • Favorite story read that day • Write about something they learned that day • Favorite activity • A topic they want to learn more about from that day or another. • A conversation with a teacher or friend they had that day that touched their heart

Writer’s Notebook • A record of favorite phrases and words that they may come across in reading that they might want to use in their own writing. • Write ideas, thoughts, observations, and memories for future topics. • Write a new story, or poem using these new phrases or words. • Use children’s books, other poems, nursery rhymes, big books etc…

Learning Logs • • Communicate how and what they have understood about “writing to learn” (what he has learned about a unit of study) Describe their learning processes. Take 5 to 10 minutes at the beginning or the end of a period to respond in their logs. Can be used in math, science, music, art, foreign language, or any subject area

Double Entry Journals Students divide each part of their journals into two columns. Write different types of information in each column. Can write favorite quotes from a story in one column and reactions in the next. Write predictions in one column and actual events in the next.

Simulate Journals • Students assume the role of the character or a historical personality. • Write entries from that person’s view point. • Include details from the story or historical period.

Personal Journals • • Write about what’s important to them Write about what they care about Write about events in their life Write about things that interest them May not write about the same thing all the time Encourage them to check out other books to spark up new interests. . Bring in family pictures to write about.

Reading Log Journals • • • Respond to stories, poems, and informational books Can be books they are currently reading or have already read Write and draw entries after reading Record key vocab. Words Make charts and other diagrams Can write memorable quotes

Benefits of Journaling • • • Promotes fluency in writing Promotes fluency in reading Encourages risk taking Validates personal experiences and feelings Promotes thinking and makes it visible Promotes development of written language conventions - Routman, Invitations.

How Do I Get Started With Journals In My Classroom? • 1. Introduce journals by using MINILESSONS in which you explain the purpose of the journal writing activity and procedures for gathering ideas. - - Teachers model this by writing a sample entry on the board or on chart paper as students observe. Make sure students know that journal writing is informal and that content is most important, NOT MEHANICS. -TOMPKINS, TEACHING WRITING: BALANCING PROCESS AND PRODUCT.

Getting Started Con’t… 2. Journals can be started with examples from literature. - Harriet the Spy (Fitzhigh, 1964) - Dear Mrs. Henshaw (Cleary, 1983) - A Gathering of Days (Blos, 1979) - In these books, characters demonstrate the process of journal writing and illustrate the pleasures and difficulties of keeping a journal. -Tompkins, Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product

Getting Started Con’t • 3. Introduce journals by oral BRAINSTORMING of possible topics. - Allow sufficient time for brainstorming - Place no value judgements - Demonstrate the writing process - Be sensitive and accepting - Only positive comments and body language

-Routman, Invitations • “When I go to classrooms and demonstrate journal writing, I begin by talking about things I can write about. They are ordinary things but they are important to me. ” • “ My list of topics is always different, depending on what is going on in my life. I stress that the topics are all things I know and care about. ”

What Can We Write About? • - Routman, Invitations. 1. Write about anything. 2. Write about something that has already happened. 3. Write about topics that others have written about. 4. Look around the room for something you might want to write about. 5. Write about an unforgettable experience. 6. Make videos, movies, and television shows off limits unless the experience has had a personal significance. 7. List topics on the board, or on chart paper to serve as an idea stimulant for others.

More to Write About…Thoughts -Routman, Invitations “ Even with demonstrating, there may still be children who have difficulty coming up with topics. ” A first grade teacher notes, “This past year, after I noticed that students were experiencing difficulty thinking of topics. I looked for opportunities throughout the day to help them generate ideas, and there were many. When the students arrived in the morning excited about something that had happened that morning or the night before, “That would be a great idea to put in your journal!” I commented the same way to students during shared reading experiences when a story or poem prompted reflections on personal experiences. ”

Other Thoughts… • “Very young children also need to be encouraged that what has happened to them is worthy of writing about. Note the following exchange with Kindergarten student who had begun to write: • • • Karesa: “This isn’t so good, but I’m trying my best. ” Routman: “What are you going to write about? ” Karesa: “I am picking apples. ” Routman: “Did you really pick apples? ” Karesa: “No. ” Routman: “Why don’t you write about something you really did? How about when you made applesauce this morning? What could you say? Karesa: “The applesauce was mushy and icky. ” • “What difference in language when the story was genuine!” - Routman, Invitations.

Are There Any Journals That Are More Academic? Tompkins, Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Prouct • • 4 Most Common procedures • 1. Brainstorming • 2. Quickwriting- writing informally, rambling on paper, generating ideas, making • • connections among the ideas, often write for 5 -10 minutes, not focusing on mechanics or revisions. 3. Clusters- spider web like diagrams to organize ideas and other info. (Bromley, 1996; Rico, 1983) Can be organized or unorganized. Are often used as tools for organizing thinking during prewriting, and as a report to present information. 4. Data Charts- use to categorize and record information about a topic. Students draw a grid and label the column headings with characteristics and the rows with examples. Can make this together as a class, individually, or in small groups. “None of these procedures are better than others. ” “Use the procedure that is most appropriate for the writing activity…”

At What Part Of The Day Do My Students Journal? Schedule daily for 10 -20 The beginning of a min. period At the end of the morning or day At independent work time Can do first thing in the morning Right before reading groups During work stations In 1 st and 2 nd, journaling in the morning is best (helps with guided reading schedule) In 3 rd and up, you’ll need to play with your schedule -Routman, Conversations. -Can schedule journals for 45 min. -1 hour for 3 rd and up -MODEL, MODEL In kinder, model a journal entry at least once a week in the morning

How Do I Assess Journals? • • • KINDERGARTEN - schedule formal journal writing once a week - these entries become a yearlong record of progress FIRST GRADE - At the end of each month, do a shared writing to remember and record important events. - Each student writes about the favorite event - At the end of the year, you’ll have a writing sample from each student for each month. SECOND GRADE - Revisit a favorite early entry and publish it in final form. THIRD GRADE + -Can give points for each entry made in personal journals -For more academic journals, grade the content to check and see if particular information was included. -Rough draft entries shouldn’t be graded for mechanical errors.

What About My Struggling Writers and My G/T Students Ø Ø Ø Ø STRUGGLING/ESL STUDENTS - Meet with them in small groups - Use interactive writing in small groups - Work on phonics skills and some phonemic awareness if needed - Whole class mini lessons on your observations - Conferencing with students at least once or twice a week - MODEL Ø G/T STUDENTS Ø - All journals are really great for these students Ø - The academic journals help you plan further and/or provide advanced activities Ø - Using comic strips for journal entries are also a great activity because sometimes the humor is more advanced thinking Ø - Usually come up with topics that others wouldn’t think of and their ideas help to promote higher order thinking.

What Are We Teaching Our Children When We Journal? • “Children are full of stories… they don’t know they have stories to tell. An encouraging teacher can help bring out these stories. In doing so, we affirm our students build their self-esteem, and encourage them as writers. ” - Routman, Invitations. “Perhaps most important, journals teach children that their life is important. ” - TOMPKINS, TEACHING WRITING: BALANCING PROCESS AND PRODUCT

Final Thoughts… “Journal writing, when done well, gives our students the message that what happens at home, in families, and with friends has value and relevance in school. By meaningfully connecting students lives in and out of school, we become more effective teachers, able to teach and reach the whole child, not just the student. ” -Routman, Conversations.

What Should I Expect From My Students’ journals? • 1. ENTRIES ARE REQ’D- a req’d number of entries may be part of an overall grade. • 2. LEGIBLE HANDWRITING • 3. INVENTED SPELLING WELCOME • 4. HIGH FREQUENCY WORDS MUST BE SPELLED CORRECTLY. • 5. AT TIMES, MUST MOVE TO NEW TOPICS • 6. DO YOUR BEST!

Bibliography For Presentation • Routman, Regie. (1991, 1994). Invitations. Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. • Routman, Regie. (2000). Conversations. Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. • Calkins, Lucy Mc. Cormick. (1986, 1994). The Art of Teaching Writing. Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. • Tompkins, Gail E. (2000). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.