Notebook Entries

Teaching Diverse Types of Notebook Entries

Reaching into Memory

Even if you aren’t the best at remembering things, we can all recall at least one recent memory.  Whether it be from that day, something that happened yesterday, the weekend or last week. I like this entry because its probably one of the easiest for students. A recent memory might come easier but it also can make them recall some of their past memories. I know that writing can be frustrating and intimidating to some students especially when they feel the pressure to write something down in a limited amount of time and writing about a memory may be a good entry to start with. A lot of the prompts given to students on assessments begin with " Think of  a time when..." and go on to ask them to think of a specific time which can be hard because some students don't have an experience for what their asking or can't remember but writing entries about a memory in their lives could be practice to think back and recall some events in their lives. I'd introduce this type of entry by asking students to recall any memory no matter how small it is and have them share with the class or with a partner just to get them started on recalling something. Then have them start writing about what they shared about. 

Thinking about a person

Students have a lot of interactions throughout the day such as with their parents, siblings, teachers, and classmates. Of course, they also have relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This topic has never crossed my mind but what a great topic!  It’s a chance to reflect on their relationships and the important people in their lives. It’s a topic where their feelings come into play and it’s important for students to be able to write about their feelings towards others even if the writing is just for themselves.  This is also a topic that may be easier for students to write about since it may be easy to quickly think of a person to write about. I think I’d introduce this entry by asking students to think of someone who is important to them or who has made an impact in their life. I’d guide them with ideas of what they could say about this person such as describing them physically, their character, who they are to them or why they are important to them.

Intentional Strategies Versus Assignments

I think that what the author is saying here is that a writer’s notebook should be just that. A place where students can write causally daily. Even though you are giving the students a topic, it’s not considered a graded assignment. It should be kept separate from what they do in class, so students can take some ownership of it and think of it as something personal. Assignments given by the teacher should not be done in this writer’s notebook. It’s a notebook they can refer to for ideas when writing an assignment for the class.