What Your Students Will Produce

Students will produce a series of journal entries on a range of topics.

What You Will Do

Before you begin, determine the days and times that your class will devote to journal writing. You may start with 5 minutes daily, for example, then work up to 10 or 15.

Introduce journal writing to students as a time to write freely, without worrying about spelling, grammar, or a grade. The point is to let their ideas out and come to life on paper. Journal writing helps everyone process their world and themselves.

Encourage students to make their journal their own: give them time or encourage them to find quotes from authors they like and stick them to their notebook.

Share one of the prompts included each day for students. If students wish to write about something else on any given day, that’s OK! Whatever students choose to write about, they should try to keep their pen or pencil moving for the entire time.