Helping Young Writers Maintain the Effectiveness of their Notebooks

 

To maximize the relevance of the Writer's Notebook as a writing tool and a resource for gathering embryonic ideas requires the support of mindful teaching. Conferring with young writers about the kinds of entries they are collecting in this special space and how they view the purpose of such entries therefore assumes significant importance. Focused writing conversations need to take place concerning notebook entries and how best to harness their potential.



Such conversations with student writers and the effective use of their writer's notebooks can focus on a range of considerations. Here are some starting points:

  • How are you, as a writer, building upon your notebook entries and ideas?
  • Are you rereading older entries to discover new topics for writing?
  • How are you dealing with the challenge of the blank page and getting their words to spill onto the page?
  • Are you using close observations to inform your writing ideas?
  • How are you using your senses to inform your notebook entries?
  • What are you doing well at present? 
  • How do find new ideas? Where do you look?
  • Tell me something new you would like to try in your notebook
  • What could you add to your notebook following observation of other writer’s notebooks?
  • Are you using your reading to inform the writing you do?
  • Do you occasionally lift a line from a piece and place it at the top of a new page and continue writing?
  • Are you occasionally writing about ‘old topics in new ways? Holding onto the topic or focus and using a different genre.
  • How are you planning to lift an entry from the notebook and develop it further?
  • How are your mentor authors helping you to become a better writer?
  • Are you practicing craft moves you have seen other authors use?
  • Is there a notebook entry you wish to revisit and expand into a longer piece of writing?
  • Is there an entry in your notebook you wish to lift out and revise to get it ready for publishing?
  • How and where might you publish one of your notebook entries?
  • What questions do you ask yourself before, during and after you write?
  • Are you using lists to extend your thinking around topics and ideas?
  • Are you reading what you are trying to write?
  • Do you use photographs and drawings to help you find new writing ideas?
  • Are you writing in your notebook beyond our classroom?
  • Do you share your notebook entries with other writers?
  • What is the biggest benefit you see in having your own writer's notebook?





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more