Young people are encouraged to use this writing journal for kids as a means to think, write, and be creative. The journal helps children to explore their worlds, learn about their families, and record their memories, feelings, and dreams. Following explanatory sections for parents, teachers, and the writer, the journal contains these sections:…

Presents annotations of 12 items from the ERIC database which demonstrate that journal writing can be an effective tool for teaching reading and writing at elementary and secondary levels. (RS)

Annotates 12 conference papers, journal articles, and theses in the ERIC database that discuss the effectiveness of journal writing in the elementary and secondary classroom. (RS)

Annotates 17 conference papers, theses, and journal articles (published between 1989 and 1992) from the ERIC database that discuss the advantages and disadvantages of journal writing at all levels of education. (RS)

Although reading and writing exist only in relation to each other, writing plays little or no role in the usual instructional approaches to reading. Mostly, reading is taught as a sequence of discrete skills, which is ineffective since it accommodates the analytic reading style to the exclusion of global, kinesthetic, and auditory styles. Reading…

Nine years ago, many parents protesting the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (commonly referred to as the Hatch Amendment) accused the schools of invading student privacy in sex and drug education classes, in counseling sessions, and in English classes. Some parents testifying at hearings conducted by the United States Department of Education…

This digest explores the literature related to journal writing from various disciplines, including psychology, language studies, outdoor education, and experiential education. Although journal writing has been around since ancient times, it was not until the early 1960s that it flourished as a learning tool. Instructors from a wide range of…

This digest discusses expressive writing and the expressive mode, which is seen as a recurring stage in a writer's process of writing. The digest suggests that by structuring expressive writing activities and correlating them with particular stages of the writing process, a teacher can draw the natural linguistic activity out of a student. The…

Noting that the emphasis in writing instruction over the past 40 years has shifted from product to process, this digest focuses on the experience of individual teachers as they searched for ways to put the principles of process writing into practice in the classroom. The first section discusses writer's workshops, noting that teachers have found…

This digest focuses on the use of dialogue journals for developing the language and literacy skills of students of all ages learning English a Second Language. Dialogue journals are written conversations in which students and teachers communicate on a regular basis. Students write as much as they choose, and the teacher writes back, responding to…

In outdoor education, reflection transforms experience into knowledge. Writing activities facilitate reflection. In designing writing activities, instructors should ask themselves why they are asking their students to write, what type of writing is appropriate for their purpose, when and in what context the activity should take place, how they…

Student journal writing can connect reading, writing, and discussing through activities that accommodate diverse learning styles and that further students' linguistic development. The various uses of journal writing can be incorporated into one compact student notebook. A notebook for an English class might consist of a dialogue journal as a…

This monograph focuses on the use of dialogue journal writing for developing the literacy skills of adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. A rationale is presented for making open and continuing dialogue a central part of any work with adults, and various approaches are suggested for promoting this dialogue with students, tutors, and…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans focuses on reading and writing activities for use in the high school science and math classroom. The 43 lesson plans in this book cover writing about science, reading about science, the vocabulary of science, short scientific…

Many teachers of adult learners of English have found dialogue journals, interactive writing with a teacher or other individual, to be an important part of their classes. Dialogue journals not only open new channels of communication, but they also provide natural contexts for language and literacy development. When adult learners write with their…