Getting Young Learners Writing Daily

Themed Journal Writing

 Tips for Effective Daily Writing

Writing is one of the most important skills that teachers tackle with their students. Writing is something we do every day. It becomes an automatic skill. We don’t give it a thought. Our young writers are not at this stage. There are so many things they are trying to understand and make sense of. Such as using sight words and inventive spelling. We want them to use sight words that have words that are not decodable and yet we want them spelled correctly. We want them to sound out CVC words and spell them by sound.

So, as educators, we want to provide the time that our students need to gain mastery of their writing. They need both structured writing and informal writing time. Both types of writing can be provided by using journals. Read these tips to help you do this effectively!

When Can We Find the Time to Write?

Students are fortunate if they are given a daily writing time where they can practice what they are learning and apply the skills they have been learning. There are so many aspects to writing especially for young writers such as directionality, punctuation, spacing, writing complete sentences, etc.

Then there is the question of when to provide the time.

First thing in the school day, it can be part of the morning work. This is a great way to get them going and into school mode.

After lunch, they come into the classroom all energized from their lunch recess. They can pull their writing journals out, settle down and spend some quiet time writing.

At the end of the day, can also be a good choice. Students know that the day is at an end, and many of them get fussy not wanting to do more schoolwork. This is a perfect way to bring the school day to a close.

After a special occasion, event, or a speaker, can also be a time to write down their thoughts.

 

Providing Writing Journals

So, what do I give to my students to use for this daily writing time? You will need to provide these for your students. There are so many ways to make journals, Easy Handmade Journals for Kids, gives some great ideas on how to make these.

Journal Writing

Journal writing is one of the best ways to get kids writing!

Earlier I referred to formal and informal writing. The same applies to writing daily in a journal.

Informal Journal Writing - the purpose for this type of writing is different. It does not need to be graded. This is a time for stress-free writing and getting into the routine of writing. They can share what they have written with a buddy. The teacher/homeschool mom can randomly look at what they have written and make positive comments on that page.

Formal Journal Writing – the purpose of this type of writing is to provide structured writing. The kids can be given writing guidelines, a checklist, and a focus. Teachers can provide students with a prompt to respond to, or a writing practice sheet.

Any opportunity that young learners get to write is going to benefit them. Journal writing is an ideal way to give that opportunity! Even if they are not writing words or complete sentences, this journal writing time will give them the chance to attempt to write without the pressure of having to write perfectly. As time goes on, you will begin to see their random letters forming into words and the early formation of sentences.

If you are looking for a way to accomplish this structured writing daily, I have several types of writing resources that can be used as a daily writing journal for our young writers.

Themed Daily Writing Journal

These themed writing journals provide structure for your students. These practice sheets provide picture cues, prompts, the alphabet for inventive spelling, keywords for labeling the picture, a sentence starter, and open writing space. The goal of these activities is to strengthen their sentence writing.

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Froggy About Teaching on AUL

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It is so important for our students to get the opportunity to strengthen their writing skills. I hope I have provided you with some valuable ways to do just that.

Debbie - Froggy About Teaching on Amped Up Learning

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