Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog

Fancy Ideas for the Everyday Classroom

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Contact

Characterization Whole Class Journals

February 2, 2013 By fancyfreein4th

     This past summer I figured out a way to incorporate more writing into my weekly teaching by creating a series of Whole Class Journals.  I blogged about it here, but the gist of it is that each notebook has a prompt that each student will respond to it in 2 complete paragraphs.  They write in the journal once a week during Language Arts centers, picking a new journal/topic each week.  The kids  love these journals because they get to read what their peers say, they enjoy the variety of topics offered and the love only having to write 2 paragraphs.  I have seen AMAZING growth in their writing over the weeks. I started out using my Personal and Imaginative Journal topics since they are the most familiar with this genre.  Then, I moved onto the Compare and Contrast set which went great with skills associated with summary writing.  For this semester I introduced my Informative Set to help them learn how to explain things but I needed another set too focus of skills associated with Response to Literature.  I didn’t want to include a story and have the students respond to it for fear that they would copy what the person ahead of them had written.  So I created prompts that would ask the students to come up with character traits for real people, rather than characters from a story…. and that is how this new set was formed:

Here is a picture of 2 topics.  You just print these out on Avery 18126 labels and stick them onto wide ruled notebooks, or print them out and modpodge them on. 

I include some thinking maps on the inside cover to help the students organize their ideas better.

 I introduced these to my class last week and they were sooo excited to have new topics and I am excited to have them practicing skills that will help them on their up and coming state writing test!  You can get my new set here at my Teachers Pay Teacher Store on sale now!

«
»

Filed Under: characterization, TpT, Uncategorized, whole class journals 1 Comment

Comments

  1. Stacy says

    February 3, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    Love, Love, LOVE this idea. Thanks for sharing
    Stacy
    Leading and Reading

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome Widget

Welcome Widget

Subscribe Via Email

Topics

Latest on Pinterest

  • Kindness Counts, class notes, note to the student, pbis, postitive classroom culture
  • Secretary's Day Freebie! - Fancy Free in 4th
  • Interactive Synonym wall is one of the best bulletin boards in the world! Kids add it all year!
  • The perfect gift for Teacher Appreciation, Secretaries Day or anything in between.Looking for a great gift for anybody? This combines nails, the Target Dollar Spot and a free printable to go with!
  • Data Wall
  • Editable Cactus Classroom Theme Decorations that will make your classroom a beautiful place to be. Your teacher heart will be so happy with all the organizational goodies in here and you can customize it to suit your classroom needs.
  • Whole Class Journals: Get your kids writing across all genres for the entire year with my 5 sets of Whole Class Journals.  The students will love this weekly activity for center time and it is amazing to see the growth in their writing over the year.
  • Figurative Language Spring Bulletin Board
  • emoji surprise ball DIY
Follow Me on Pinterest

Instagram

When your puppy is named Olive and we read this; s When your puppy is named Olive and we read this; she’s feeling her Christmas doodle self 🐩🎄
And that’s a wrap on ⚡️Percy Jackson . If yo And that’s a wrap on ⚡️Percy Jackson . If you need a book to help reluctant readers fall in love with reading, chose this one.
Ending our Ancient Mesopotamia unit with a little Ending our Ancient Mesopotamia unit with a little cuneiform clay tablet activity thanks to @historyfromthemiddle 🫶🏻
I’m a snack. On Halloween and always. #teacherha I’m a snack. On Halloween and always. #teacherhalloweencostume
Classroom hack: pass out tea lights to get the stu Classroom hack: pass out tea lights to get the students in the mood to be creative. #gamechanger So proud of these authors! Clear eyes, tea candles, full heart. #iteach6th #ilovemymiddles
It’s October, so any day is a perfect day for a It’s October, so any day is a perfect day for a Tim Burton selfie 🤳 Thanks to my artistic student teacher for delivering this lesson. 🦔🫶🏻👯‍♀️✨#iteach6th #iteachmiddles thanks @artwithtrista for this awesome@product.
Instagram post 17926360442541760 Instagram post 17926360442541760
Instagram post 18179922439242127 Instagram post 18179922439242127
Sorting positive and negative integers together! # Sorting positive and negative integers together! #iteach6th #mymiddles
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in