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Archive : 2003 : August : 3

journals
By Susan/5th

I can tell you what I've done in the past and what I'm doing this year. When I taught 8th grade, I used to have journals for every child (they brought their own composition book) and wrote their name on the front. When
they entered my room, they started working on DOLs, then did a journal entry on the board. Their journals stayed in a stack (by classes) in my room, on a shelf. A designated person from each class would pass them out. I only graded them once a quarter. That was a writing grade, and they had to have so many of them to get an A. I had a rubric for them. I didn't read every entry each

child wrote. I skimmed them and read a few - and made a comment on at least one per child. I mostly did journals for them to write freely - on a topic I gave them. They needed the chance to write without having to correct grammar, spelling, etc...
Now, teaching 5th grade, I'm going to use journals at the end of the day, to reflect on their day - what they learned, what they liked, etc... I'll grade them very similar.