To experience a variety of journal formats that can be used in language arts class, you are to obtain a journal and complete the following journal entries throughout the course:

Daybook Entry: You can have a section of a journal marked off as a daybook.  The last 5 minutes of class, you and the students write in your journals about the good & bad situations that occurred during the day.  Daybooks are designed to contain brief, dated entries with one week to a page so patterns between days can be detected.  Students can also write about what they learned in class, questions they may have, and what they learned about themselves and others. This journal gives teachers insight into how they taught the whole child this week. 

Personal Journal Entry: These are entries are similar to a diary where students write about any topic they choose. Students can fold or even seal pages with a stapler or tape (or both) if they wish to keep their entry private. Some students like to share these entries, but because these entries can be private, sharing should always be optional.  Personal journals give teachers insight into the social and emotional sides of students, and these types of entries get students writing!

Reading Response Journal: Students record their ideas and feelings about what they have read.  These entries connect reading & writing and build aesthetic reactions to reading. Students can write from their perspective but can also take on the role of one of the characters in their book and write from their point of view.  This type of journal is also called a Character Journal.

Dialogue Journal: These are written conversations between a student & a teacher.  These entries allow all students to have an opportunity to share privately with the teacher their reactions, questions, and concerns about school experiences without any threat of reprisal or evaluation. Students write specifically to the teacher and the teacher responds. It helps teachers get to know their students in a deeper & more personal way.

Buddy Journal:  This is a section of a journal designated for others to write back.  Entries are written to seek a response from others.  The entries can focus on personal issues, academic questions, reactions and reflections to life, books, or learning.  The journal is given to a friend (or buddy) and the buddy writes back.

Interactive Journal:  This entry is similar to a purpose posing journal or a learning log.  The goal of these entries is to get students to interact with their learning by posing questions and reactions to topics presented in class or to react to books or reading materials they have read or to seek the responses of others to their learning or ideas.  Students share these entries with others by obtaining their reactions, thoughts, or responses.(This type of journal can also be called a Learning Log.)

Spelling Journal:  This is a section of a journal dedicated to listing words that students have difficulty spelling.  This section can be alphabetized or just a listing of words with their correct spelling.  It then serves as a reference section to the student when attempting to spell the word correctly in writing.

Poetry Journal:  This can be a section of a journal or a separate journal.  The objective is to get students interested in poetry by having them write original poetry in any form (including song lyrics) or, for reluctant writers, to copy down favorite poems (or cut and paste them into this section).

Comment On This Page