#1530. Whole Class Journal Writing for the Day

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Sun Jan 23 13:34:59 PST 2000 by Robyn Jill Price (RunningInCahoots@aol.com).
Blossom Valley Elementary, El Cajon, CA USA
Materials Required: Large butcher paper lined horizontally 1 inch between lines, black, red, blue markers
Activity Time: 10-15 minutes
Concepts Taught: Pre-literacy skills

This is a wonderful whole group instructional lesson. This works best at the end of the day, when most activities have been experienced and completed.
Ask the students to raise their hand and contribute ideas of activities they did or concepts they learned today. As each child states his or her idea, print the idea in a full sentence on the chart using the black marker. As you print, emphasize beginning sounds, asking for help from the students. Tell them when one word is complete and when you are leaving a space to start the next word. ask for ending sounds when appropriate. Print three or more student generated ideas relating academically to the day's events.
When complete, read aloud together, emphasing the concepts of reading from left to right, beginning at the top of the page. As you read, read slowly, tracking from left to right, emphasizing each beginning sound so help the students recall the next word in the sentence. Discuss some high frequency words that may have been used. When finished, use the red marker to circle each word, counting out loud together. Discuss the difference between words and letters. With the blue marker, print the number of words in today's class journal writing. Ask for student assistance with number formation.