Reading journals are an essential instructional tool. I use reading journals to:
1) encourage a life-long love of reading and writing; 2 ) teach the many
aspects of the reading process/writing process; 3) teach students to be
motivated, virtuous, curious, responsible, independent learners; 4) accelerate
the acquisition of the reading and writing process; and 5) turn students
great potential into real academic achievement.
Frequent writing about what you have read can develop and
expand comprehension and vocabulary.
Expressing important ideas in writing helps the student
organize ideas and strengthens connections to vocabulary.
Well-taught writing can help students' reading, poorly
taught writing can hinder students' reading
Journaling Process for Intermediate Students
My students use journals daily during reading instruction. It begins with
teaching students to select challenging poetry, prose, or any well-written
text. Examples of some texts are: The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen, or Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell. At the beginning
of Reading Boot Camp we focus on basic paragraph structure and the use of
Six Traits of Writing (Spandel, 2004). Next, we move into the more complex
skill of detailed summarization. Eventually, the students will be summarizing
important facts, evaluating characters' opinions, identifying turning points,
comparing and contrasting, discussing the author's points of view, identifying
main ideas, noting key details, and choosing pertinent quotations. All this is
focused to reinforce reading comprehension and the writing process. Part
one for each chapter in, the reading journal consists of interesting vocabulary,
important sequential details, or questions that students want to ask during the
quick conference. Ten to twenty words are listed and at least ten to fifteen
detailed notes are recorded for each chapter response. Students then
summarize the main ideas of each chapter using traditional paragraph
structure. Summaries include the author's main idea, including who, what,
why and/or how, and at least five supporting sentences. Advanced students
may add additional notes and summaries, including connections they have
made between other books or poems. Students use the journals to have a
quick conference with the teacher three times per week to prove that they
are completing and comprehending the assigned readings. An extended
conference is scheduled as needed to support students who are not making
gains in the reading and writing processes. The quick conference ensures
students are on task and doing the assigned readings and journaling.
Throughout this process, students are always given suggestions on how
to improve their reading comprehension and improve their writing.
By the end of the 20 days, students often complete two full journal
pages for each selected reading passage or chapter. The goal at this point
is to have completed summaries rich with connections to the important
details of the chapter. Students are constantly instructed on how to
independently integrate the reading process with the writing process
(“read and response”). The ultimate goal is for students to become
motivated, independent learners, exactly the type of students we want
them to be.
Part two in this process includes revising, drafting, and editing each of the
summarized paragraphs. The students and teacher carefully check the
structure and quality of the topic sentence and supporting details of each
paragraph. They then review the author's main ideas, important facts,
character development, settings, events, and turning points in the reading.
Conferences
Quick conferences, or spot checks, can be at any time to check students
on-task behavior and accountability. Teachers, student prefects, or tutors
can do quick conferences to insure students comprehend the vocabulary,
important facts and main ideas, important outcomes/turning points,
characters, settings, events, and even enjoyment. Students who show poor
comprehension of the passages are asked to reread with a competent
student, teacher, tutor or parents. Students are always asked to record
more notes on the second reading, looking for more details and facts to
find the author's purpose and important ideas. Students who still fail to
find the main idea after rereading are instructed one-on-one in an extended
conference. Unknown vocabulary and important background information
is explained in detail to insure deeper meaning and understanding. Students
are asked to never erase notes or paragraph summaries, but to salvage
what they have and use the margins for new ideas. The final part of the
reading journal process is the extended conference between the student
and teacher, or reading tutors.
The extended conference is to help students check:
1) for complete understanding of the readings;
2) the drafting, revising, and editing process for complete summaries
with strong topic sentences and supporting detail;
3) the structural quality of the final draft of the book reports or science
report; and
4) the revising, drafting, and editing process for a well-developed use
of the Six Traits of Writing.
The final part of the reading journal process is the extended conference
with the student and teacher, or reading tutors.
The extended conference is to help students check:
1) for complete understanding of the readings;
2) the drafting, revising, and editing process for complete summaries with
strong topic sentences and supporting detail;
3) the structural quality of the final draft of the book reports or science
report; and
4) the revising, drafting, and editing process for a well developed use of the
Six Traits of Writing.
Value of a Read and Response Journal
Journaling as you read is the most effective way of understanding a work of
literature and strengthening understanding of the writing process at the same
time. With journaling you integrate reading and writing, and you will
find that you can relate to the story more completely, and experience every
image, every conversation, every character, and every interesting adventure.
Avoid hasty reading or skimming because it can prevent you from
understanding the meaning of the book as a whole. Investigate everything
fully; be prepared to learn and be inspired. Never skip a word you don’t
know. Stop! Write it down! Seek the meaning! If you do skip the meaning,
you are leaving a great treasure behind. Seek those characteristics that
skilled writers observe in real life and integrate them into your journals,
essays, letters and reports: perseverance, conflict, justice, injustice,
challenge, courage, character, adversity, and apprehension. Engaging
writing includes exciting precise vocabulary, captivating dialogue, well
organized plot, varied complex sentences, and grammatically refined prose
with fresh original ideas. When you discover the deeper meaning and relate
it to the content, you'll be on your way to understanding and loving books.
Using great works of literature to examine, and compare and contrast with
your own writing, will build knowledge of how to write great passages and
prose yourself.
Homework Journals
Keep a response journal (homework journal) for all study areas, including art,
music, science, social studies, and even field trips. Write your feelings, first
impressions, funny moments, jokes, sketches, relationships, questions,
quotations, and great topic sentences-anything that helps you start to look
at professional writing structure. Learn to truly read and then learn to truly write.
Conclusion
Writing about reading makes students more conscious of making meaning as
readers. It gives them insight into the reading and writing processes. Writing
about reading accelerates, reinforces, and streamlines vocabulary acquisition
and retention. Writing about reading makes struggling students more secure
and comfortable to write with the support of the author’s vocabulary and
paragraphs. Writing about reading makes students more independent,
competent, motivated, and involved in all forms of academic text.
Writing about reading gives students ideas for their own texts. They reread
and reflect upon their writing, which sparks fuller learning. Writing about
reading supports students to take charge of their learning and make
connections between different areas of learning. Seeing teachers and parents
write in their own reading journals and sharing their writing reinforces the
vitalimportance of writing for life-long learning. It also emphasizes the public
nature of writing. Journal coaching supports the students as they reach for
more complexity in their reading and writing. Journal coaching supports the
students as they acquire the vocabulary and background knowledge to truly
understand and enjoy the reading. Journal coaching supports the lowest
quartile students as they learn challenging grade-level reading materials.
Journal coaching accelerates the student’s acquisition of vocabulary and
reading comprehension. Journal coaching accelerates the student’s
acquisition of the Six Traits of Writing and the writing process,
My students use journals daily during reading instruction. It begins with
teaching students to select challenging poetry, prose, or any well-written
text. Examples of some texts are: The Cay by Theodore Taylor, Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen, or Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell. At the beginning
of Reading Boot Camp we focus on basic paragraph structure and the use of
Six Traits of Writing (Spandel, 2004). Next, we move into the more complex
skill of detailed summarization. Eventually, the students will be summarizing
important facts, evaluating characters' opinions, identifying turning points,
comparing and contrasting, discussing the author's points of view, identifying
main ideas, noting key details, and choosing pertinent quotations. All this is
focused to reinforce reading comprehension and the writing process. Part
one for each chapter in, the reading journal consists of interesting vocabulary,
important sequential details, or questions that students want to ask during the
quick conference. Ten to twenty words are listed and at least ten to fifteen
detailed notes are recorded for each chapter response. Students then
summarize the main ideas of each chapter using traditional paragraph
structure. Summaries include the author's main idea, including who, what,
why and/or how, and at least five supporting sentences. Advanced students
may add additional notes and summaries, including connections they have
made between other books or poems. Students use the journals to have a
quick conference with the teacher three times per week to prove that they
are completing and comprehending the assigned readings. An extended
conference is scheduled as needed to support students who are not making
gains in the reading and writing processes. The quick conference ensures
students are on task and doing the assigned readings and journaling.
Throughout this process, students are always given suggestions on how
to improve their reading comprehension and improve their writing.
By the end of the 20 days, students often complete two full journal
pages for each selected reading passage or chapter. The goal at this point
is to have completed summaries rich with connections to the important
details of the chapter. Students are constantly instructed on how to
independently integrate the reading process with the writing process
(“read and response”). The ultimate goal is for students to become
motivated, independent learners, exactly the type of students we want
them to be.
Part two in this process includes revising, drafting, and editing each of the
summarized paragraphs. The students and teacher carefully check the
structure and quality of the topic sentence and supporting details of each
paragraph. They then review the author's main ideas, important facts,
character development, settings, events, and turning points in the reading.
Conferences
Quick conferences, or spot checks, can be at any time to check students
on-task behavior and accountability. Teachers, student prefects, or tutors
can do quick conferences to insure students comprehend the vocabulary,
important facts and main ideas, important outcomes/turning points,
characters, settings, events, and even enjoyment. Students who show poor
comprehension of the passages are asked to reread with a competent
student, teacher, tutor or parents. Students are always asked to record
more notes on the second reading, looking for more details and facts to
find the author's purpose and important ideas. Students who still fail to
find the main idea after rereading are instructed one-on-one in an extended
conference. Unknown vocabulary and important background information
is explained in detail to insure deeper meaning and understanding. Students
are asked to never erase notes or paragraph summaries, but to salvage
what they have and use the margins for new ideas. The final part of the
reading journal process is the extended conference between the student
and teacher, or reading tutors.
The extended conference is to help students check:
1) for complete understanding of the readings;
2) the drafting, revising, and editing process for complete summaries
with strong topic sentences and supporting detail;
3) the structural quality of the final draft of the book reports or science
report; and
4) the revising, drafting, and editing process for a well-developed use
of the Six Traits of Writing.
The final part of the reading journal process is the extended conference
with the student and teacher, or reading tutors.
The extended conference is to help students check:
1) for complete understanding of the readings;
2) the drafting, revising, and editing process for complete summaries with
strong topic sentences and supporting detail;
3) the structural quality of the final draft of the book reports or science
report; and
4) the revising, drafting, and editing process for a well developed use of the
Six Traits of Writing.
Value of a Read and Response Journal
Journaling as you read is the most effective way of understanding a work of
literature and strengthening understanding of the writing process at the same
time. With journaling you integrate reading and writing, and you will
find that you can relate to the story more completely, and experience every
image, every conversation, every character, and every interesting adventure.
Avoid hasty reading or skimming because it can prevent you from
understanding the meaning of the book as a whole. Investigate everything
fully; be prepared to learn and be inspired. Never skip a word you don’t
know. Stop! Write it down! Seek the meaning! If you do skip the meaning,
you are leaving a great treasure behind. Seek those characteristics that
skilled writers observe in real life and integrate them into your journals,
essays, letters and reports: perseverance, conflict, justice, injustice,
challenge, courage, character, adversity, and apprehension. Engaging
writing includes exciting precise vocabulary, captivating dialogue, well
organized plot, varied complex sentences, and grammatically refined prose
with fresh original ideas. When you discover the deeper meaning and relate
it to the content, you'll be on your way to understanding and loving books.
Using great works of literature to examine, and compare and contrast with
your own writing, will build knowledge of how to write great passages and
prose yourself.
Homework Journals
Keep a response journal (homework journal) for all study areas, including art,
music, science, social studies, and even field trips. Write your feelings, first
impressions, funny moments, jokes, sketches, relationships, questions,
quotations, and great topic sentences-anything that helps you start to look
at professional writing structure. Learn to truly read and then learn to truly write.
Conclusion
Writing about reading makes students more conscious of making meaning as
readers. It gives them insight into the reading and writing processes. Writing
about reading accelerates, reinforces, and streamlines vocabulary acquisition
and retention. Writing about reading makes struggling students more secure
and comfortable to write with the support of the author’s vocabulary and
paragraphs. Writing about reading makes students more independent,
competent, motivated, and involved in all forms of academic text.
Writing about reading gives students ideas for their own texts. They reread
and reflect upon their writing, which sparks fuller learning. Writing about
reading supports students to take charge of their learning and make
connections between different areas of learning. Seeing teachers and parents
write in their own reading journals and sharing their writing reinforces the
vitalimportance of writing for life-long learning. It also emphasizes the public
nature of writing. Journal coaching supports the students as they reach for
more complexity in their reading and writing. Journal coaching supports the
students as they acquire the vocabulary and background knowledge to truly
understand and enjoy the reading. Journal coaching supports the lowest
quartile students as they learn challenging grade-level reading materials.
Journal coaching accelerates the student’s acquisition of vocabulary and
reading comprehension. Journal coaching accelerates the student’s
acquisition of the Six Traits of Writing and the writing process,
