I LOVE writing, teaching writing and passing on that love of writing to my students. BUT this can be a difficult task because as I have noticed over the past 9 years in the classroom, most kids HATE dislike writing. They get stressed out, rush through it and for my ELLs there is a whole list of other reasons that make them hesitant writers. To solve this apprehension, or fear of writing, I created 5 different sets of Whole Class Journals and incorporated them into our Work on Writing Centers. These journals have helped lessen that anxiety for my kiddos, and made writing a more relaxed and enjoyable part of our day.
This was one of my first TpT items and this summer I gave them a makeover! I updated them, add some more prompts and changed the fonts. I also included a rubric to make your life easier. The 5 different sets span across various genres including: Narrative, Persuasive, Informative, Compare & Contrast and Characterization. Each set has 10-12 topics and ask the students to write a minimum of 2 paragraphs. I provided sentence stems for my more hesitant writers to help support them as they write which has helped their confidence a lot.
During their Work on Writing/Center time they select one of the journals. They write their name and date at the top and compose their 2+ paragraphs. Then, they write their initials or number on the back of the journals and turn it in. As the year goes on there many entries in each of the journals and they get to read their classmates responses. It builds classroom community in a very natural way. I have had students read some one’s post and find things that they have in common with others. It is also a great way to see and track growth throughout the year. I LOVE pulling them out at conferences and Open House! This has also given me a plethora of writing grades!
They are super easy to set up and even easier for your students to use. Check out the entire bundle here at my TpT store or get them separately.
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