12/17/2022 0 Comments Journal Prompts for All ContentsHow often do you write for yourself as an adult? As a teacher, do you ever model thoughtful, non-graded writing for your students? Too often we focus on learning to write "correctly" or assessing content knowledge that we overlook the importance of writing to learn... to learn about ourselves, the world, and life- past, present, and future. In my class, we write every day at the beginning of class. Sometimes it's directly related to content or skills we are covering, but more often I see powerful student writing come from personally relatable concepts and big idea questions. I get to know my students so well through these writings. It takes 5 minutes right at the beginning, and the students know I don't grade on grammar or "correct" answers. For many of them- even some of my roughest boys- this is a safe place to express themselves and release thoughts and emotions. I didn't think I would read everything everyone writes every time... but I can't not read them all! I love it! Writing is such a personal action. They know I read and interact with their as a human, not as a grader. It builds relationships and trust between us. It's worth the class time to do, and it's worth my personal time to read and respond. Here are some of the generic journal prompts I wrote for other content areas (I teach ELA this year): ELA:
MATH:
SCIENCE
SOCIAL STUDIES
ARTS (Art, Dance, Music, etc)
Also, this is not mine, but I've used it as a resource for essential questions and journal prompt inspiration in the past: www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/examples-of-essential-questions/ The logistics: They use one piece of paper, date each entry, and write for 5 minutes (I use a timer religiously). This time gives me a chance to check in with students who were absent as well as take attendance. In some classes they want to share what they wrote with their table partner, and in others they want to keep it to themselves. Either is fine! They add to the sheet every class period with a different dated entry. I only collect at the end of two weeks. I'm on an A/B block, so this means they usually have 5 entries. I read and interact with their answers, commenting on commonalities we have, asking questions, giving suggestions about life, etc. If they wrote, they get full points. If they are absent, they can always hop online and see the question for the day they missed and make up the points. That's it! So easy. I've had many students tell me that they always read my comments. If I don't comment anything, they get mad! It's truly such a relationship builder.
I hope this list helps you get started with journaling in your classroom! Let me know how it goes! ~Peace
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AuthorA midwest teacher in love with creating awesome opportunities for students to think, communicate, and produce. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Comfortable-Classroom
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