Talk to me about doing a daily writing journal with my boys

[Lots of boys]

I am planning for next year and really wanting to do more writing with my boys. My oldest is 9 and is finally getting to the point that he doesn't mind writing short stories (he is only writing about one or two paragraph stories at this point) as long as it is something he is interested in, Next year, along with WWE3, I was hoping to have him do a journal entry every day (or every other one). My thought was to have him go to Time for Kids (Time magazine on-line for kids), let him do some reading, and have him pick one article from the website for that day and do a journal entry on it.

 

Have any of you done something similar with your kids? How did you structure it? How much did you require that they write?

 

My son gets really hung up on his spelling. He really wants to spell everything corectly and so will stop every other word to ask me how to spell ilt. I have told him when it comes to writing stories or outlining articles, that he can go back later to edit his work and correct spelling but he really get hung up on it while he is writing and it holds him back from using larger words or nice fluent sentences.

 

Anyway, would love to hear your suggestions if you have done anything similar in the past.

Thanks.

[kathy_overman]

I don't have any good advice. We have started several writing journals, but we always quit. Our boys do not like to write, and I get tired of the battle. However, I am hopeful that we can maybe use one of the following journals for a little more structure and continued success. I do well with a 'book' for them to complete - a free journal is too easy to put aside.

 

Daily Activity Journal

http://www.activitybags.com/Daily_Activity_Journal_1_Order.html

 

101 Writing Prompts

http://noeminator.wikispaces.com/file/view/101+Picture+Prompts+to+Spark+Super+Writing.pdf

[Jess4879]

Journals don't go over very well here for the long term, so I am not a lot of help there. To help with spelling, I'd give him a spelling folder with all the common words he uses and you can add to it as you go along. This way he's not just getting you to feed him the correct spelling, he'll have to look it up and recognize it and hopefully absorb the correct spelling. :)

[IrishMum]

My boys keep a diary for school. They write in it for 15 mins about 3 times a week. It's completely unstructured and uncorrected, just free writing, with the odd picture thrown in for good measure. I love it because they write about what's on their minds, not what I'm telling them to.

I do look through them and pick out spelling mistakes to incorporate in a later lesson.

[MinivanMom]

We have always done journal writing. I don't use any writing prompts; they are free to write about anything (I get lots of Star Wars entries from ds7). I never correct spelling or grammar, because I want the journals to be their safe place to write. We do have the Scholastic Spelling Dictionary that they can use to look up any spelling they are unsure of, but I'm always close by to give spellings if they request it. Dd9 has always been a natural speller who didn't need help, but ds7 regularly asks me to spell words for him. Dd5 is a new reader, so I sometimes have her read her entry back to me when I can't decipher it. I will write the "translation" very small along the bottom of the page, so we'll be able to read it down the road.

 

I really feel like journaling is one of the best things we have done in terms of writing development. I know it gets a bad rap on these boards, because of its overuse (and misuse) in many public schools; however, it has been a real confidence builder for my kids. Journaling gives them a safe place to write about whatever they want without worrying about it being "wrong". The act of writing daily as a habit has really built their confidence and fluency as writers. They all love looking back through their old journals to see what they wrote about, and they laugh (good-naturedly) over the topics they chose and the spelling mistakes they made when they were younger.

[IrishMum]

We have always done journal writing. I don't use any writing prompts; they are free to write about anything (I get lots of Star

 

I really feel like journaling is one of the best things we have done in terms of writing development. I know it gets a bad rap on these boards, because of its overuse (and misuse) in many public schools; however, it has been a real confidence builder for my kids. Journaling gives them a safe place to write about whatever they want without worrying about it being "wrong". The act of writing daily as a habit has really built their confidence and fluency as writers. They all love looking back through their old journals to see what they wrote about, and they laugh (good-naturedly) over the topics they chose and the spelling mistakes they made when they were younger.

 

 

This here too!

Well said MinivanMom!

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I found (for my children) if they hated writing, the journal idea just made the hate grow and the ones that loved it would write so much on their own time that a daily journal was not necessary. For my haters doing free writing just made then stare at the page (usually tear stained) and prompt writing made them feel like it was an English writing assignment more then a journal entry. I did find some success in picture prompts, usually a funny picture or an adventuresome one, and have them write about the picture prompting them with what happened right before this, or right after, as well as make up a story about this picture. The picture was usually given out or hung on the wall at the beginning of the week so they had time to think about the picture before writing.

[Lots of boys]

Thanks everyone - I will continue to ponder whether this is a good fit for my boys for next year.

[LindaOz]

Something that works well here is that I sometimes photocopy a picture out of a book that we are reading and have my kids color it. Then they cut it out and glue it to the top of a page in their writing journals. They then write the story connected with that picture. The story can be a narration of that part of the story that we read, or it can be a bit different, or completely made up.

[Lori D.]

I am planning for next year and really wanting to do more writing with my boys. My oldest is 9 and is finally getting to the point that he doesn't mind writing short stories (he is only writing about one or two paragraph stories at this point) as long as it is something he is interested in, Next year, along with WWE3, I was hoping to have him do a journal entry every day (or every other one). My thought was to have him go to Time for Kids (Time magazine on-line for kids), let him do some reading, and have him pick one article from the website for that day and do a journal entry on it.

 

Have any of you done something similar with your kids? How did you structure it? How much did you require that they write?

 

My son gets really hung up on his spelling. He really wants to spell everything corectly and so will stop every other word to ask me how to spell ilt. I have told him when it comes to writing stories or outlining articles, that he can go back later to edit his work and correct spelling but he really get hung up on it while he is writing and it holds him back from using larger words or nice fluent sentences.

 

Anyway, would love to hear your suggestions if you have done anything similar in the past.

Thanks.

 

 

Journals were not popular with either DS here, but we did keep it extremely short -- 3-5 sentences in the grade 3-4. We used prompts, and sometimes funny lists. Also, because the spelling was a big deal to them, they were given complete freedom to ask for as many words as they wanted and I would spell to them. To me, the goals of journal writing were:

 

- getting comfortable with writing

- learning to write complete sentences

- learning to "flesh out" a thought

 

Going back and correcting spelling or punctuation, etc. was NEVER included for this type of writing (even after the fact) because this was *personal* writing, and was meant to encourage thinking/writing. Also, by not spelling words for DSs while their writing -- i.e., by making them go back later to fix spelling -- totally stifled creativity and their great vocabularies. Being typical children, they didn't WANT to go back and "re-do" anything, so all their brain power went either into correct spelling so they didn't have to go back and fix anything, or in coming up with very short sentences composed of 3 and 4 letter words so they didn't run the risk of misspelling anything. Not good for trying to develop good writing practices of supporting your statements, using vivid words and imagery, good vocabulary, and using a variety of types of sentences to keep the writing interesting.

 

Since your DS doesn't mind writing stories or articles, why not keep going with that? Have him add a few sentences a day to a story and by the end of the year he'll have his multi-chapter book! Or write a blog that just a few select friends and relatives can access. Or write a series of short articles and then put them together as a newsletter, print it, and he can distribute to the audience of his choice. Or write a back-and-forth story or conversation (he writes a few sentences or paragraph, and later in the day, you add yours for him to find and respond to or add to).

 

And if what you are trying to encourage is personal writing and comfort level with regular writing, then go with what the student enjoys. And help him focus on the creative side by spelling any word he needs.

 

BEST of luck, whatever you decide to go with! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

Writing Prompt Resources

Creative Writing Prompts (346 prompts; story prompts, mostly for grades 6+)

Write Source: writing topics (about 2 dozen general topic areas per grade level, gr. 1-12)

ABC Teach: writing prompts (200 prompts; each on a printable page; many holiday-related; elementary and upper elementary)

Teachers Net: journal writing ideas (100+ ideas, in categories: "about yourself"; "fantasy"; "if I..."; "things"; "people"; "using your imagination")

Can Teach: writing prompts/journal topics (250+ prompts by category: "what is"; "what if"; "what do you think"; "what... misc."; "how"; "I wish"; "when"; "which"; "why"; "misc.")