Journals

Let’s Journal!

Journals are a great way to have a conversation about a book! Students have already been writing in journals once per week. Let’s keep it going! Please take a picture of your child’s journal entry for the week and send it to me via email. I will write and send back my letter as soon as possible (usually within the day). If you’d like, you can print my letter and glue it into the journal to keep the conversation going!

 

Below are the expectations with a list of some of the new learning.

 

Expectations
  • Enjoy reading and writing about a book of your choice!
  • Read (Reread). Read further…. NOW WRITE.
  • Show your new skills!: 4th graders know how to communicate clearly and impress others with their knowledge of new language and new learning.
  • Super Strength: Use evidence, examples, or direct quotes from your text to explain your thinking. 
  • LOOKS MATTER: 
  • Date, Page(s) read, Title, Greeting, Closing 

DON’T…

  • DON’T just start writing! Your journal should look like a LETTER. If you still don’t understand look at the examples. The examples will guide you.
  • DON’T skip pages in your journal. It’s hard to have a conversation that way. We will get lost and not know how to find your journal entries.
  • DON’T BE A “RAT”. A rat is a student that pretends to read a book and then scurries when trying to finish their journal.
  • DON’T TELL ME WHAT THE STORY WAS ABOUT.
  • DON’T only write one journal and it’s a SLOPPY JOE. A “sloppy joe” is a journal that doesn’t meet expectations and has sloppy handwriting.

A list of 4th grade skills:

-character traits
-inferring (emotions, reasons behind actions, etc.)
-author’s purpose
-different character’s points of view (perspectives)
-figurative language
-theme
-reader’s opinions (do you agree/disagree with the character’s actions, etc.)
-compare/contrast