Journaling

Delaney started working on a daily journal in November. I read the book Never Too Early to Write by Bea Johnson almost every year to refresh my memory on writing/reading philosophy. Johnson guides teachers through all of the stages of writing, and how to teach kids to be amazing, creative writers, and improve their reading skills as well. I used this book in my kindergarten class, and had amazing results.

I made Delaney a journal with a large piece of construction paper folded in half, with blank paper inside. I let her decorate the front. When she journals, she uses one piece of paper and can draw whatever she wants for at least 5 minutes, then dictates her story to me. Some days she writes for the minimum amount of time, and other days she will draw for 30 minutes.

She has had some very creative days.

 And some days that you can tell that she is just waiting to be done...haha.

She is beginning to use some phonetic spelling to write her own stories, listening to the sounds that she hears in the words and putting them together.

We usually do this while Sophie is asleep, but sometimes she gets to journal too. :)

I make sure that I am doing some kind of writing while she writes. Sometimes it is sneaking in some email, or writing lesson ideas, or perhaps sneaking over to Pinterest, but I try to show her that I write/type too, and that it is fun! We often read a book of her choice beforehand. I find that this gives her imagination a little jumpstart, and sometimes she will journal about what we read, or make up her own related story.

I love journaling with her, and I can't wait to look back at our journals in about 6 months and see the progress that she has made!