Journal Writing Activities

When students finish writing in their journals, the teacher might:

1. Save the writings for future use.

2. Assign volunteers read their responses and lead the discussion into the day's lesson.

3. Read each response aloud, then use class time for group revising and rewriting.

4. Use journals for closure. Allow five minutes at the end of class for students to write their own observations or summaries. During this time the teacher may wish to write his or her own reflections.

5. Interrupt a lecture with a five-minute writing to help students focus or to help them reveal their understanding.

6. Interrupt a discussion with writing to help the discussion change direction, to get back on the point, or to encourage more students to participate.

7. Use learning logs to solve a problem. Writing helps clarify thinking. Students often discover solutions while writing about problems.

8. Use writing to identify a unifying theme and support it with references to the work studied.

Source ED 295 127
Jacobson, Annette, ed. Essential Learning Skills across the Curriculum, Oregon State Department of Education, 1987. 58 pp.

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