Describes Sustained Silent Reading and Writing (SSRW), in which students write nonstop for five minutes about that day's silent reading. Notes that students using this strategy begin to use metacognitive strategies to increase their comprehension and make evaluative comments on what they read. (RS)

Describes how several types of written assessments (student journal entries, student formal response papers, student survey responses, and teacher logs) can be useful in measuring the effects of literature on students' behavior and beliefs. (SR)

Explores a group of strategies that use dialectical journals in a sequential instructional plan which guides students through a progression of skills to improve their thinking skills. Provides examples illustrating how these strategies can be used with any textual or orally presented material in all content areas, not just with literature. (SR)

Discusses problems associated with journal writing in courses, particularly overuse, ethics, goals, and grading. Offers suggestions to consider how journals can help students reflect on their own learning. (SR)

Advocates the use of literature response journals. Describes their use with an eighth-grade class and discusses teaching students how to respond well and how to include parents. (SR)

Argues that teachers can determine the instructional frameworks which can empower students to understand more about their own learning. Describes activities (learning logs, directed reading-thinking activities) that develop higher level thinking skills using writing, reading, and reasoning. Concludes that such activities facilitate students'…

Describes the use of character journals (a written diary kept by the reader who assumes the role of the main character) with a group of eighth-grade students. Shows how students think more about what they are reading and come away with a better sense of their own identity. (SR)

Describes a coding system to motivate and assess students' journal entries as they respond to books they are reading. Argues that coded journal entries are an effective means for diagnosing reading comprehension difficulties. Contends that coding journal entries permits the students to become more conscious of their reading processes. (RS)

Describes using a loose framework of response journal writing and small and large group sharing with two classes of ninth-grade English students. Describes students' deep involvement as they constructed important meanings from a story that went beyond their own experiences. (SR)

Notes that given constraints on time, class size, and material to be covered, language and reading teachers may have difficulty implementing the richer, more contextualized language activities called for by second language and reading researchers. Describes the dialogue journal as one way of promoting such teacher-student interaction. (RS)

Describes a program for at-risk sixth grade students designed to address their learned helplessness and enable them to view themselves as competent, capable learners. Suggests using question response cues, double entry/response journals, and self-evaluation to give students some control over their learning. (RS)