Journal Bites

As a writing coach, I have heard countless times that there is not enough time to teach writing. Understanding that teaching writing does not have to be a lesson separate from other subject areas, would change the way teachers look at teaching writing. To be meaningful, writing should be included in all areas of the curriculum. It should be considered to be the way we communicate what we know or what we have learned. When children write, they don't have the same experiences as adults. Therefore, when assigning a writing lesson, teachers cannot simply give them a statement and ask them to write about it. We must give them some support for how to get their limited ideas onto paper. The writing prompts in this book contain questions to get students thinking about what they know. Journal writing is a great way to get your students writing every day. Short writing lessons can be done when students enter classrooms in the morning, later in the day for reflection on something read, or as hooks for lessons. Discussing what students have written, and having them share their writing with others, are not activities that are meant to be graded.