Interactive Journals Jessica Baird & Celenia Calderon Teaching & Learning Collaborative Antioch University

TLC Inquiry Project Can we improve students’ oral and written language and explore students’ cultural background through interactive journals?

Selected literature on children’s writing development and interactive journals McCarrier, A., Pinnell, G. S., Fountas, I. C. (2000.) Interactive writing: How language and literacy come together, K-2. Cress, S. W. (Sept., 1998.) A sense of story: Interactive journal writing in kindergarten. Early Childhood Education Journal. 26(1).

And some literature on dialogue journals... "A type of writing in which students make entries in a notebook on topics of their choice, to which the teacher responds, modeling effective language but not overtly correcting the student’s language" (O’Malley & Valdez-Pierce, 1996).

What are Interactive Journals? Interactive journals: May be a notebook or any bound paper used to record students’ ideas, feelings, and experiences Provide a place for teachers to model writing using student driven topics Create a place/time for the teacher and student to communicate and exchange ideas through writing.

The Purpose Our Initial Goals: Year 1 Encourage developmentally appropriate independent writing Learn more about the students’ culture through writing.

What does Interactive journal writing look like in the class? First, teachers model journal writing And teach a short mini-lesson, for example on labeling pictures in the journal.

Students work on their journals on their own or with others at tables or on the floor

Students collaborate with each other

Student/teacher conferences Students read their journal aloud Teachers respond in writing, and read their response aloud

Parent participation After a few weeks of working with the journals in class, the teachers held a workshop for parents to explain the purpose of the journals, and encourage parents to participate with their child’s journal project.

Parent Workshop/New Challenges Parents had varying levels of education Parents wanted students to work beyond their developmental level

Developmental Stages of Writing Drawing Scribbling Invented letters Random letters Invented spelling Common spelling Moats, Luisa (1997)

Random Letter Stage: As children become more aware of the alphabet, they often write the letters in long strings, usually at random.

Invented spelling. Invented spelling takes many forms but is related to the sounds the child hears in each word. At the beginning of this stage, children may write one letter to represent one word. Later, words are represented by two letters, the initial and ending letter sounds. As the child’s writing continues to mature, most sounds are represented in their invented spelling.

Common spelling. The child begins writing more and more words spelled correctly.

Findings in Year 1 Many students relied on the same sentence pattern Some students required lined paper Students were enthusiastic about writing Journals were a source for ongoing authentic assessment Teachers were able to identify and prepare lessons that focused on student’s individual needs.

Interactive Journals take 2

Expanding the Project Incorporate technology Continue to collaborate with University faculty and colleagues Model focused, thematic mini writing lessons before journal writing Provide an audience for the students Share an authentic learning opportunity with parents and family members.

Road Blocks Technology School accounts Management Parent and teacher responses

Parent Responses “It is working now. I really appreciate it. Much better! Thanks a lot!” “What a cute kid…..hehe.” “Sorry for the late reply, but that was great.” “Very nice. Can you make it longer next time?”

What did we learn? Despite the challenges in this ambitious project, the journals were a great assessment and teaching tool, and the students’ enthusiasm for writing grew. Parents were amazed at how much their children had learned to LOVE writing, and appreciated the opportunity to be part of their children’s learning. Many students who began Kindergarten without any writing experience were writing several sentences on a page by June.