It’s been a bit of a crazy week at school. Our district requires us to give benchmark assessments in the language arts and math at the start of the school year (and then two more times during the year). As a result my regular program was disrupted and I couldn’t do any formal writing activities. Once again this week I focused on journal writing. I must point out that in my class journal writing has quite a nontraditional meaning. Rather than being a personal record of the day’s activities, it’s more of an informal, creative writing exercise. I want kids to have the opportunity to write freely, without being hung up on correct spelling and how to structure their paragraphs the right way. I just want them to get used to the idea of capturing their free flowing thoughts on paper.
I teach third grade and they need a lot of guidance when it comes to writing. Sometimes I specify what their sentences should be about. At other times I leave it to them, but then I spend more time on discussion and modeling responses.
Journal writing for the week was as follows:
Monday: Describe what your weekend was like. Tell about:
- A place you went to;
- An activity you did;
- A meal you ate;
- A person or people you saw
I discussed the topic and clarified that a place was anywhere outside their house. The grocery store, the park, the beach, downtown, the shopping mall, a relative’s house, the pool, the movies, etc., were all places. This quickly eliminated the but, I didn’t go anywhere excuse! An activity meant reading, TV, movies, playing a game, shopping, etc. As was expected there were kids who had done particularly exciting things and wrote lots of detail. And others were able to at least write four sentences about their weekend.
A topic like this on a Monday morning is a great way to build a community spirit. Before I ask them to share their writing, I tell them about my weekend. They see me in more human terms and I get to know them better.
Tuesday: It’s the last day of August. In Santa Barbara, we are still very much in the middle of summer. What are some of your favorite summer activities?
After eight minutes I asked for volunteers to share. I give out stickers to kids who work seriously and share their ideas. After they earn ten stickers they get a treat. This acts as quite an incentive in a third grade classroom. As each child shared their favorite summer activity I wrote their idea on the board in a concise sentence that they articulated after creative prompting from me. When each new idea was presented I asked the student to vary the sentence.
Eg. I like going to the pool on hot days.
I enjoy walking my dog in the park.
Lemonade is a way for me to cool down.
After taking about six ideas I asked the kids to choose two ideas to copy in their journals. I am a firm believer that in copying good writing, kids develop their own writing skills.
Of course I exceeded my fifteen minutes of journal time, but given I wasn’t doing any other writing lessons, this was fine.
Wednesday: Qualities of a Good Friend
Think about what you like in a friend. For each quality that you come up with write a sentence.
As they wrote I walked around and tried to encourage kids who seemed a bit stuck. Eight minutes later it was time for them to share their ideas. Again I modeled sentences on the board, prompting them to vary each sentence.
Examples:
A good friend is someone you can trust.
I like a friend who cheers you up when you are sad.
A quality I like in a friend is kindness.
The kids came up with a number of suggestions. I was quite impressed. One student gave me this response: I don’t like it when someone laughs at me. I asked her to look at the topic and rephrase her idea so that it fit with the topic. She couldn’t do it, but another very enthusiastic girl said: A good friend respects you.
“How about A good friend doesn’t laugh at you? I said.
They nodded and so I added that to the list on the board.
To conclude the session I asked the class to choose two ideas from the board and copy them in their journals.
Thursday: Think about things people do to annoy you. Write down a few examples. Then, tell what you do when someone does something to you that you don’t like.
This topic came about because of a few complaints I’d been getting from kids. Issues arose on the playground and I needed to address this.
I’m used to kids coming up with excuses. I fully expected someone to claim that nobody ever annoyed them. But, amazingly, everybody got to work.
At sharing time I embarked on a discussion of handling problems by ourselves.
So, not much of a writing activity!!!
Friday: This Week
On Fridays I have the kids reflect on their week. I tell them to write in their journals about:
- Something they learned at school;
- Something they enjoyed – either at school or at home or wherever;
- Something they didn’t enjoy.
A discussion after they write helps them realize just how much they learned, and is a wonderful way to bring closure to the week.
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