Our class has been busy getting familiar with different types of sentences and how to identify complete sentences. They know that each sentence needs a “naming part” and a “telling part” thanks to activities like Sentence Surgery. This, along with the amazing work they did last year in Kindergarten, provides a solid base as we begin writing.
A very early journal entry: “My favorite animal is a green anaconda because it is green.”
The first experience students have with producing their own written work in first grade is in their journals. Later in the year, we will do more formal writing involving the whole writing process from prewrite to publish, but journaling is important for a number of reasons. Journals are a safe space in which students practice responding to prompts, writing multiple sentences on a given topic, using their best-guess spelling, adding appropriate punctuation, and forming letters correctly. They use their imaginations to free write, and express their thoughts using their own author’s voice. When they finish an entry, each student practices proofreading skills, checking for correct capitalization, punctuation, and syntax.
An entry from a bit later in the year: “If I were a rain forest animal I would be a spider monkey. I would eat bananas. I would live in a tropical rain forest.”
Journaling often also provides students with their first experience breaking through writer’s block. Right now, our goal is to write at least three sentences on a given topic. We are working on asking ourselves questions to help think of details we can add to each entry such as, “What feelings do I have about the topic?” “What else did I see?” or “What can I compare it to?”
“Fall is fun because it has beautiful leaves. It has beautiful butterflies. It is the season of Halloween.”
This particular group of students loves to share their work with one another. Here are some videos of volunteers reading their entries on “If I had a magic broomstick…” to their appreciative classmates:
I appreciate that student journals help me get to know my students better. It is also exciting to look back at the first entries later in the school year to see the progress they have made!