One of the best tools you can use in your classroom is journals. Journals can help students work on their writing skills which in turn can help with reading. If you use a specific system for writing journals in elementary, they also get used to routine which can help them follow directions. How do you make sure your students’ journals are exactly what you want them to be? By following these steps.
Begin with Basics
When you are introducing journaling in your classroom, you want to make sure you have a format that you are following. The journaling activities I have in my store all want students to use the same steps. These include:
- Setting up the journal with the date and the student’s name
- Answering the five essential questions
- Drawing pictures to go with the story
- Writing the story
- Revising the story
Start Writing Journals in Elementary with the Essential 5 Questions
One thing students can learn when they are writing journals in elementary is what a good story all includes. A good story will tell you the following:
- WHO was part of the story
- WHAT happened
- WHEN it happened, what day
- WHERE you went
- HOW did you do it? Were you quick, slow, happy, sad, annoyed, etc.
When students are choosing what to write about, it’s important they can answer all of these questions with at least some level of detail.
Draw a Picture to Start Writing Journals in Elementary
One of the hardest parts about doing any kind of writing can be getting ideas organized. I have students divide the blank space in their journals into four. Then I have them draw four pictures that highlight what they did. The drawings don’t need to be fancy and shouldn’t take too much time. The whole purpose of the pictures is to help students remember what they want to write. It can also help to remember what comes first. I tell students in order to tell a story that makes sense, they should do the following:
- When did you go and who was there?
- What happened exactly?
- What happened next?
- What happened at the end?
Check out my latest YouTube video about teaching kids Journal writing.
Writing Journals in Elementary
After students have drawn pictures showing what they want to write about, they can start doing the actual writing. Remember this should follow the pictures they drew so the writing stays in teh correct order. I always have my students start by writing the first sentence that says where they went and who was there. Once they do this step, I ask them to check for the basics.
- Are you writing on the line?
- Are there finger marks between each word?
- Are you using capitals and periods?
Reinforcing your expectations throughout is always a good idea. If you don’t , some students might start to skip steps which just makes your job more difficult.
Connecting Ideas with Transition Words
Once students are writing journals in elementary, you want to make sure you talk about transition words. I encourage my students to use one or two of the following words to get them used to using transition words and phrases. The transition words I ask my students to use include:
- First
- Next
- Then
- Last
- Finally
Again, I don’t require students to use all of them when writing journals in elementary, but it can be helpful when learning the writing process.
Review Your Writing
A really important step when writing journals in elementary is learning to go back and review your writing. Students should make sure they are answering all five of the questions to start. This will help ensure they have everything they need to tell a successful story. Then they want to make sure they have the correct formatting with letter spacing, capital letters, and periods at the end of sentences. After making sure the requirements are met, students should go back through and add a transition word or two to make their writing cohesive. Finally, they want to make sure the story makes sense. Anytime you write, it’s important to review what you wrote for clarity.
Writing journals in elementary is an important part of the learning process. One of the best ways students can get better at writing is to practice. Journals are a quick and easy way to help students get writing. You can also use this practice to have students tell you what they learned in a particular subject or story!
If you are interested in some free Journal prompts please CLICK HERE. I am part of a huge promotion of free items aimed at new teachers. You will find my entry if you scroll down and click the link beside my store logo.
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