jopurnal writing

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jopurnal writing
By Jennifer Gonzalez

I have always had my students write in their journals every morning while I do the lunch count, check off home work, attendance, etc. They must copy the date into their journal as a complete sentence (Today is Sunday, July
29, 2001.) I then have them write at least 3 sentences (fewer at the beginning of the year) and illustrate a picture to go with the topic that i have chosen for them. You can have them write about anything. Occasionally I let them pick their own topic and you would be surprised at the neat things they write about. I allow them to write for about 20 minutes and they do a fantastic job.

So that i can finish the daily housekeeping chores each day, i tell them that if they don't know how to spell a word, to sound it out. They know that their journal is not graded so they don't worry about the mistakes they make. It is neat to look back at the journal at the end of the year and the kid sees the growth. Hope this is helpful.