Grades 2–12
20 Minutes
Memoir, NarrativeSparksStudents will learn about the practice of journaling and explore routines for journaling.
Your students will write a journal entry in a personal writing journal.
Introduction
Journaling (or “freewrites”) is an important element of writing instruction and a powerful social-emotional processing tool for young people. And yet, many young people are not getting the recommended amount of time to write in a day. Use this spark to introduce journaling and to establish a practice for journal writing in your daily or weekly writing schedule.
STEP 1
To begin, share with students that writing, like reading, exercise, or any activity, requires practice to build stamina! Stamina means how long you can do something. You can’t just get up one day and run a marathon, and you can’t just sit down one day and write a novel! Writing a little bit every day (for longer and longer each day) is an important way to build your writing muscle for all kinds of writing.
Daily freewrites or journaling not only helps your...
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