Have you ever tried journal writing for students in your lessons? If you haven’t, then let me tell you all about why it is amazing! Writing is a skill that needs to be practiced, and I like my students to practice writing when it’s low pressure, not for a grade, and done often but in little instances. A journal lets me do that and so each of my students keeps a journal that stays in the classroom!
Some students are excellent at writing already and they love doing it. But other students either hate it or they never do it, and as a result are not able to write pieces of text. I try to help all my students get over their dislike of writing or their inability, by practicing writing often and in fun ways! Let me tell you why journals are an excellent way to do that!
What can you get students to write about then? Grab this free Topic Picker Cheat Sheet to help you choose topics for this all year long!
Purpose of journal writing for students
So why should you really get some writing journals for students? The benefits to getting students to write in a journal at various times throughout the year are numerous:
- If you give students the task to write often, like a few times a week even, they will get into the habit of writing more and for longer periods. If they were not familiar with doing it before it becomes easier when it’s done more.
- When a skill is practiced more, the student will get better at it. Journal writing helps students write better pieces of text because they’re practicing it more often.
- Concentration to the task increases the more time you ask students to spend on it. You can start by just getting students to write for two minutes, then increase to five minutes, then to 10 minutes, 20, and half an hour.
- Journal writing for students provides a good opportunity for peer feedback. Get students to swap journals and comment on each other’s work in a constructive way. Not only will they learn from what the other person has written and improve their own work through that. But they will also get useful feedback in a non-threatening way because it’s not coming from a teacher that grades work.
- Journals in general provide a way for students to practice their writing in a non-threatening way, because it’s not for a test or grade – it’s just their own thoughts on paper.
- Students can see their own development over time when they look back through the journal. If you get students to write something often they will really see how they got better and that spikes a boost in confidence!
Journal prompts for students
Whenever I tell my students to write something I always give them a prompt to answer. This can be a statement that I want them to react to or it can be a question of asking them to answer. For this purpose I created a Topic Picker Cheat Sheet that I keep on hand always to get ideas for topics to have students write about. You can use it too! If you just click here, you can download it for free right away.
Journal writing format for students
The journal writing format for students I’m using right now is I give my students cards with questions on them, or I put statements or questions up on the smartboard. I have cards that work well for the seasons, specific holidays, various grammar topics, and Back to School. Check out the bundle I have in my store by clicking here.
Some journal examples for students you can so is you can ask them to write about the season. What do they like about the upcoming season? Which holidays are celebrated? What foods are their favorites? Or ask them to comment on holiday traditions. Which holiday in the year is their favorite? What traditions do their family have? How do they feel about how holidays are commercialized?
Or you can ask them funny questions they really have to be creative for to answer. What superpower would they like and what would a day with that power look like? If they had a swimming pool that they could fill up with any possible liquid, which would it be? These are some journal writing examples I love!
Structure journal writing
I also have some ideas about how to structure journal writing in class.
- Make sure all students keep their journals at school, so they can never forget them.
- Have them bring their own journal, with lines, and possibly get them to customize it with a cover before you start using them.
- Get students to write on a new page every time and give each entry a clear title to keep them apart.
- Create a routine for handing journals to the students at the start of a task and for collecting them again in the end. You can get students to do it easily, so your hands and your eyes are free to keep an eye on the group 🙂
I’ve said it before and I will say it again, journal writing for ESL students is a wonderful thing to implement! Your students will really enjoy it, and you get to keep an eye on how they develop as writers! Give it a try for sure, I know you will love it!
Related articles:
Why these examples of active learning strategies are amazing for your teaching
How to use postcards as writing prompts for your students
Top 5 best writing prompts for creative writing with your students
