ALERT Journals and Web Logs
The possibilities of a journal . . .
Brian Morris, "These Small Hours," Meet the Robinsons, 2007.
Classroom journals and student-created websites are a place to play with ideas by recording and reflecting on . . .
- Quotations
- Plans for a project
- Images that stick in my mind
- Opinions on issues and situations
- Responses to literature
- Things that make me happy
- Things that make me sad or bother me
A Student-Create Digital Notebook Using Google Slides (click File, Make a Copy)
Proverb Prompts
If you are at a loss for words, consider starting a sentence or paragraph with these phrases. Many times, all you need is a place to get started.
For 4th graders
To me this means . . . In other words . . . An example is . . . An illustration would be . . . A Habits of Mind connection I can make is . . . |
For 5th graders
The essence of this quote is . . . In other words . . . For example . . . A Habits of Mind connection I can make is . . . To give you a metaphor (or analogy) so you can better understand what I am saying, consider this . . . |
Incidental Comics illustrations by Grant Snider
The Random Journal Title Generator
Birth Month (Text)January- A Journal of . . .
|
Birth Date (Adjectives)1- Amazing
|
Birth Day (Topic)Sunday- Scenarios
|
composition notebook
And somehow, one day, it’s just there
speckled black-and-white, the paper
inside smelling like something I could fall right into,
live there—inside those clean white pages.
I don’t know how my first composition notebook
ended up in my hands, long before I could really write
someone must have known that this
was all I needed.
Hard not to smile as I held it, felt the breeze
as I fanned the pages.
My sister thought my standing there
smiling was crazy
didn’t understand how the smell and feel and sight
of bright white paper
could bring me so much joy.
And why does she need a notebook? She can’t even write!
For days and days, I could only sniff the pages,
hold the notebook close
listen to the sound the papers made.
Nothing in the world is like this--
a bright white page with
pale blue lines. The smell of a newly sharpened pencil
the soft hush of it
moving finally
one day
into letters.
And even though she’s smarter than anything,
this is something
my sister can’t even begin
to understand.
--Jacqueline Woodson
And somehow, one day, it’s just there
speckled black-and-white, the paper
inside smelling like something I could fall right into,
live there—inside those clean white pages.
I don’t know how my first composition notebook
ended up in my hands, long before I could really write
someone must have known that this
was all I needed.
Hard not to smile as I held it, felt the breeze
as I fanned the pages.
My sister thought my standing there
smiling was crazy
didn’t understand how the smell and feel and sight
of bright white paper
could bring me so much joy.
And why does she need a notebook? She can’t even write!
For days and days, I could only sniff the pages,
hold the notebook close
listen to the sound the papers made.
Nothing in the world is like this--
a bright white page with
pale blue lines. The smell of a newly sharpened pencil
the soft hush of it
moving finally
one day
into letters.
And even though she’s smarter than anything,
this is something
my sister can’t even begin
to understand.
--Jacqueline Woodson