So the Writer's Journal is in their hands, now what? The invitation to start writing is an intimidating task, but when done correctly it can spark amazing stories. People have this mindset that the writer's journal has to be filled with deep meaningful stories that happens everyday. I know that I had that impression at first. I was so nervous because I felt like I didn't have the creativity to be able to be successful. That is why we need to provide inspiration on what our students can write in their writer's notebook. We don't want to throw them into a terrifying task of trying to meet some expectations. This is their notebook where they can discover, explore, and have a place to write down their own thoughts. When launching, we can't provide exactly what they need to write, therefore we give them inspiration. Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli called the process of finding inspirations "digging for treasure" (Dorfman, 2017). With the guidance of other's ideas, teacher prompts, and connecting with literature, we can help launch the writer's notebook successfully.
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"Literature triggers thoughts, unlocks memories, and helps children realize they have something important and interesting to say. We want children to remember the powerful memories they often forget when they sit down for writing time." -Shelley Harwayne, Lasting Impressions (Dorfman, 2017)
Launching the Writer's Notebook
Connecting with Literature
In Dorfman and Cappeli's book Mentor Texts, they use various children's literature to help prompt students to discover personal stories that could be used for their writer's notebook. They provide many different titles and authors that could be used in the classroom for this task, but they point out that we should show our students books with meaningful connections.
When finding mentor texts, we need to find books that represent our students in many ways. Making connections before reading the first word of the book will pull the readers in. It will help them comprehend the material better if they can connect personally.
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As readers and writers, we sometimes have to be creative when creating connections. Books can either be "mirror books," where the reader can see themselves in the story or "window books," where they learn about others. The connections that are being made don't necessarily need to be exactly what is going on in the story. For example, the book could be a fantasy, but it could be related to everyday life.
Here are some ways we could use mentor texts to fill our "treasure chest" and launch the writer's notebook:
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"What if..." stories
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With the books The Day the Crayon Quit by Drew Daywalt or Imogene's Antlers by David Small,​ students can begin to discuss "what if" statements about familiar settings. They can use what they know about the story they just read together as a group to brainstorm a connection that is common to them.
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Happy Like Soccer by Maribeth Boelts could also be a mentor text for this activity. It shows writers that "what if" statements don't always have to be fantasies.
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Something Beautiful
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With the mentor text Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, students can begin to discuss the meaning of beautiful and something that is beautiful in their life.​
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Outdoor Writer's Café
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Right Outside My Window by Mary Ann Hoberman is a great guide into students discovering their senses in an outdoor environment. They go outside, take in everything, and write it down. They can use their list to then write a poem or story. Model this behavior for students before letting them roam free.​
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Drawing and Talking to Find Topics
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After reading the mentor text, students can then decide an important place in their life. They will sketch a picture of the place, tell the story to a friend or a group, and then go off and write this story. Mentor texts for this activity could include Right Outside My Window by Mary Ann Hoberman or All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan.​
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Finding Topics from a Memory Chain
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"A memory chain is a collection of ideas that are sometimes related and sometimes unrelated." It can help students who are in writers block to come up with various topics. It looks something like this:​
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Using Other's Work to Inspire You
When launching my writer's notebook, I feel like my initial inspiration was from the mentor text Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Throughout the first half of her chapter labeled "Social Studies," she helps readers understand how a writer's journal can look in an academic way.
When we think of Social Studies, we think of history, psychology, or sociology. She puts all the scientific and historical talk away and just talks about what it's like to be human. Students don't realize that they can write about mistakes, funny situations, or anything about their daily life. Rosenthal breaks this stereotype by writing all about her highs and lows or simple mistakes that she can look back on and laugh. There's so much in this book that inspire kids to write about anything and everything.
Walk Like a Writer
When you walk outside, what do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Sometimes finding inspiration is as easy as stepping outside and going for a walk. You'll be amazed by what is around you that you are usually not aware of. Stacy Shubitz wrote a post about how important it is to be aware of your surroundings when finding inspiration. She recommends the mentor text Ask Me by Bernard Waber. This book inspires children to look around and write down what they see. The writer's journal is meant for observations, therefore we need to provide opportunities for our students to observe! This quote in Shubitz blog really inspired me to go walk outside:
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"What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amendable to thinking and writing? The answer begins with changes to our chemistry. When we go for a walkout he heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles, but to all the organs - including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus, and elevates levels of molecules the both stimulate the growth of neurons and transmit messages between them." -Ferris Jabr in the New Yorker
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WOW I soaked this quote up and it made me realize what walking can do for our body and BRAIN. Me and my accidental minor in psychology love this kind of stuff. I feel like if students knew this, they would appreciate it more too. This motivates me to want to go out to walk and then write with my new neural connections I just formed! The Outdoor Writing Café I mentioned earlier would be a great time to test this theory out.
Mentor Text: Brown Girl Dreaming
I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK. From the words in the text, the meaning that comes with the story, and the rough finish on the ends of the pages. It definitely affects my senses while I'm reading such powerful words and touching the soft ripped up edges of the book. Just the appearance of the book is inspiring me to write. I could go on and on about this book, but this page is about writing. I'll provide a link here that will give more information about this lovely book by Jacqueline Woodson.
When picking a mentor text to inspire children to write, it doesn't always have to be a short text. You can pick a short piece in a long book to provide inspiration. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a great example of a book that can inspire children in many different ways. Small snippets of the book can be used to collect ideas on what to write about.
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I have only read part one of this book (p. 1- 41) because I know if I go further my professor would not be happy. A big part of this section is about where names come from. Jacqueline, the author and the character, talk about how she got her name from her dad. Her dad's name is Jack and that inspired her mother to name her Jackie, then Jacqueline. Hearing this story will probably have students thinking about the meaning behind their name. If not that, maybe what their name means to them.
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I tried to write about my name and realized I was named Laura because my mom liked that name. There was no historical or emotional relevance to the picking of my name. I struggled at first thinking about how to write about my name. Then it hit me. Laura is a name that can sound many different ways. I am called many different things by important people in my life. A name doesn't have to have meaning, but it certainly does have a background.
That inspired me to write about my many different names and pronunciations. Just like Jacqueline, her name, her being, came from many different name changes. Originally, her father wanted her name to just be Jack. Her parents constantly fought about how a girl couldn't be named Jack. Finally, her father settled on Jackie, but when it came time to sign the birth certificate, Jackie was turned to Jacqueline.
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I have felt like that. My name is so many different things, therefore I can't just write about one meaning behind my name. To me, I am Laura (pronounced Lora). To my mom, I am Laura (pronounced Lara). To my "older" brother, I am Wawa (stuck from when we were babies). On paper, my name looks like Laura (you decide how you want to pronounce it), but when spoken out loud, it's so many different things.
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This is a prime example of how such a simple writing topic can be spun into something completely different. I am not writing about how my mother just liked the name Laura, I am writing about pronunciation and nicknames. This should inspire writers to not feel trapped with one writing prompt. They are given something small, but they should write something that is much bigger than that.
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Here is my writing journal entry about my name, inspired by part one of Brown Girl Dreaming.
Name Lesson Plans
Here are a few lesson plans that can be used to prompt a writing journal session. The theme is based on background or meaning of your name. *Lesson plans provide by Dr. Beth Frye from Appalachian State University, Facing History, or My Name My Identity Organization.
Dorfman, L. R., & Cappelli, R. (2017). Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6(2nd ed.). Portland, MD: Stenhouse Publishers.
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