The PRIMALS Compendium of Teaching Resources

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Literacy Compendium Kit

E NG LISH L E S S O N PL A NS F I LI P I N O LESSO N P LAN S LI T ER AC Y ST R AT EGIES

Writing and Composition

Journal Writing
One goal of the English This guide describes some
curriculum is to develop strategies to help learners
learners into practiced, logical, practice their writing skills
clear, and honest writers. In through journal writing.
English, writing is taught as
"process" — that is, thinking,
planning, drafting the text,
then reviewing, discussing,
redrafting, editing, polishing,
and finishing it. It's also
important that students learn
to write "on call" or "on demand."
Learning these skills take time
and practice.

Table of Contents:

Background/Research Base 2
Purpose/Benefits 3
Description/Procedure 4
How Teachers Can Make
the Strategy Work 6
Applications Across
the Curriculum 6
COMPOS ITION
WR ITIN G AN D
 Writing and Composition

Journal Writing

Background / Research Base

Journal writing is an open-form type of writing that

can be taught in the classroom. Journal writing can
be informal which makes it popular to countless
individuals, especially those who might not consider
themselves writers.

Often in journal writing, the journaling in the classroom as a way

author speaks from personal
experience highlighting the first
person narrator. Journals often
contain stories of significance – the
author wants to capture a person,
a scene, or an experience that left
an impression with them. Journal
writing has a natural audience
with a purpose that ties to that
audience (Reibehn, 2017).
Journal writing has been used
for many years in classrooms
all over the world. Teachers use
for students to reflect upon their
thinking, and connect information
that they know, with what they
learned.
For years, research has shown that
journal writing is therapeutic, can
help people reflect on their thoughts,
and also deal with their emotions.
Journal writing also offers students
the opportunity to have a place
where they don't have to worry
about their spelling and grammar,
and be accepted as a writer without

2 The PRIMALS Compendium of Teaching Resources | LITERACY STRATEGY GUIDES

criticism. Although journals are
never graded for grammar, they are
known for helping students become
better writers. This goes with the
theory of “learn by doing.” When a
child writes frequently, he or she
gains fluency, which gives them the
chance to practice important skills
that can make them a better writer
Cox, J. xxxx). A study also indicated
that journal writing assignments
increasedstudent learning, and
student evaluations supported the
perceived usefulness of this exercise
in fostering understanding (Connor-
Greene, 2000).

Purpose / Benefits

There are numerous benefits of • Indirect growth in grammar

journal writing, including, allowing
students to gain new insights about a
culture, problem, or event, providing
individuals an outlet for recovery or
reflection, and utilizing a life-long
authentic writing skill for a specific
purpose. Some of the benefits of
journal writing in classrooms are
enumerated in the K-5 Chalk Box
(2019):
• Builds student confidence.
Struggling writers must have
opportunities to build their
confidence in their writing skills. If
they are assessed on every piece
they write, they won’t want to take
risks.
• Allows the teacher to gain
student insight. Teachers can
learn much about their students’
development as writers, the stages
of spelling they are in and are able
to pinpoint weaker areas students
may need lessons on.
and mechanics. By going back
and re-reading previous entries,
students can begin to self-
diagnose their writing skills. The
will notice their own errors and
begin applying new strategies
and rules.
• Help some students to deal
with issues. By paying attention
to what is written in a journal,
teachers can be more aware of
what is really happening to their
students.
• A fun way to practice writing
to a prompt. Daily writing
lessons are an excellent way
to increase this skill, and fun
prompts can make it seem to
students like it is no work at all.

Writing and Composition | Journal Writing 3

 Description / Procedure

Journals are a great way for teachers
to see what their students are
thinking, and they can be an excellent
assessment tool as well. Here are a
few ways you can incorporate journal
writing into the classroom. Janelle Cox
(2019) describes some ways teachers
can do this:
• Use journals as a class start-up
activity. When students enter
the classroom, allow them time
to reflect upon a personal goal or
issue. They can also use their journal
to respond to a writing prompt that
is on the front board.
• Summarize opinions before or
after instruction. Give students
the opportunity to write about their
ideas, experiences, and what they
know about the topic before you
teach it. Journals can also be used
to reflect upon what students have
learned about the topic after it has
been taught.
• Create a personal journal. Personal
journals allow students the freedom
to write about whatever they wish.
They can express their feelings,
opinions, and emotions about any
topic that interests them.
• Create a dialogue journal.
Dialogue journals are interactive
journals between the teacher and
student. Teachers can comment
on what the student writes, and
vice versa. This is a great way
for teachers to learn about their
students, while students get the
opportunity to express themselves
to their teacher in an informal way.
Dialogue journals could also be
between student-student about
topics of mutual interest. These
written conversations reinforce
learning while forming bonds
between students that can provide
a foundation for later cooperative
learning activities.
Example: After reading a story,
students are asked to work with a
partner to respond in a dialogue
journal to the question, “Did the
story end as you thought it would?”

Sample Dialogue Journal

(Source: Teacher Vision, 2019)

Student 1 I thought the story would end differently.

Student 2 Why?

Student 1 I thought the boy would get what he wanted (the bike) because it
seemed he did all the right things.

Student 2 I thought he might not get what he wanted because at the beginning
of the story the author has the mother say, “We don’t always get what
we want … but that’s OK.

Student 1 I did not think about it that way. It doesn’t seem fair, though. He
worked hard and should have gotten the bike.

Student 2 Well, maybe, that is a lesson the author is teaching.

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 Double Entry Journal
• Double entry journal. Use a
double entry journal to improve From the TEXT... From your MIND...
students' comprehension,
and help them organize their • a passage • a reaction
thoughts. To create this type • interesting • a theory or
of journal, have students fold
language hypothesis
their paper in half. Then on the
left side of the paper have them • quotation • a comparison
write down a phrase or sentence. • key event • an explanation
On the right side of the paper is
• critical fact • a discussion of
where they write their reaction to
that passage. • main idea significance
• a problem or • a discussion of
This template for a double entry conflict reactions to the
journal suggests possible items
text
about the text on the left column
and possible foci of the student’s
thoughts about them (Mrs.
left side right side
Armstrong – English, 2019).

Some guidelines in journal writing

Cox (2012) provides these guidelines in using journal writing in the classroom:

• If you are having trouble thinking
about what to write in your journal,
think about what you would
possibly write as a status update
on a social media site. Use this as
your starting point.
• Journals are not meant to be
published. Remember that this is a
place where you can explore your
thoughts and ideas without any
concern of someone's criticism.
• If you like to write stories, or
poems, it is OK to write them in
your journal.
• It's OK to break all of the rules
in spelling and grammar. There
is no right or wrong way to write
something in your journal.
• If you don't know how to spell a
word, use this time as a learning
strategy. Write the word as best
as you can, or underline the word
that you think you misspelled.
• Write with a pen, marker, colored
pencil, or whatever it is that you
like. You can also add a drawing if
you want to enhance your journal
entry.
• Date each journal entry, and write
in your journal every day.
• It's OK to go back and revise or
add on to a journal entry if you
feel you need to add a detail.
• If you feel comfortable, be willing
to share your journal entry with a
friend, or classmate.

Writing and Composition | Journal Writing 5

 How Teachers Can Make The Strategy Work
How can teachers make the
strategy an effective aid in
achieving their instructional goals?
Here are some tips from Cox
(2019):
1. Provide students with their own
journals: a bound notebook,
lined paper in a three-hole
binder, or lined paper stapled
together. Students can make and
decorate a journal cover.
2. Students can write in journals
at a designated time during the
day, or anytime during the day,
but should write daily. Collect
a text set of books that use the
diary or journal format and do a
book talk to introduce each one.
Provide a brief summary and
read an excerpt aloud. Students
may read these independently,
or t hey may choose one for a
book club group.
3. Students can record the date of
each journal entry on a checklist
Applications Across The Curriculum
The different types of journal
writing can be used across the
curriculum. Some examples
(Teacher Vision, 2019):
Math:
After solving a math problem, have
students use dialogue journals to
discuss the strategy they used to
solve the problem.
Social Studies: of these discoveries or another
Lessons can lead to meaningful
discussions about politics, cultures,
6 The PRIMALS Compendium of Teaching Resources | LITERACY STRATEGY GUIDES
that can be kept in the front of
the journal so the number and
dates of the entries can be seen
at a glance. Students could also
download a blank calendar for
each month and check off the
days they made a journal entry.
4. Students can bring journals to
teacher conferences if there are
ideas they would like to share, or
discuss writing options, or if they
have questions about writing
conventions.
5. For struggling students, model
journal writing using a graphic
organizer. Do a class journal
writing interactively. Students
can also do an oral journal
entry and have another student
write what they say and read it
together, checking for writing
conventions.
6. Use the journal for assessment.
The journal itself is a valuable,
ongoing record of a student’s
development in writing over a
semester or school year.
parts of the world, and so on. Have
students use dialogue journals to
express viewpoints after reading
about or experiencing such
information.
Science:
News about scientific discoveries
can be controversial. Have
students use dialogue journals
to express their thoughts on one
current scientific topic.
References

Mrs.Armstrong-English (2019). Double entry journal.

Retrieved from http://armstrongenglish.weebly.
com/double-entry-journal.html

Connor-Greene, P. (2000). Making connections:

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Journal
Writing in Enhancing Student Learning.
Sage Journals. Retrieved from https://
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1207/
S15328023TOP2701_10

Cox, C. (2012). Literature Based Teaching in the

Content Areas. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications, Inc.

Cox, J (2019). Journal teaching strategies. In

Teach Hub.com. Retrieved from https://www.
teachhub.com/journal-teaching-strategies

K-5 CHALKBOX (2019). 6 Reasons to write in

journals. Retrieved from https://www.
k5chalkbox.com/benefits-of-journal-writing.
html

Reibehn, T. (2017). The power of journal writing in

the classroom. In English Language Arts Blog.
Retrieved from https://www.sadlier.com/school/
ela-blog/the-power-of-journal-writing-in-the-
classroom?hs_amp=true

Teacher Vision (2019). Dialogue journals. Retrieved

from https://www.teachervision.com/dialogue-
journals

Writing and Composition | Journal Writing 7