Shared Journal

       Shared Journal is a daily literacy/writing process in which children share real life experiences with the class. The children learn about each other’s families and lives outside of the classroom. This process helps to develop children’s ability to decenter and tell stories so that others can understand them. Allowing children to vote on the story they wish to write about forms a democratic community. They decide as a class, through questions, discussions, and exchange of opinions which story will be written in our journals. This method provides a written class history. Children are allowed the freedom to experiment with writing and construct their own ideas about written and oral language. Through this experimentation, children are encouraged to use their knowledge of initial consonant sounds to record the chosen story. Children’s invented spellings are a valuable part of the process that provides evidence of their growth as a writer, from scribbling to conventional spelling. Through conversations and questions involved in the Shared Journal process, children become more accepting of cultural and individual differences. Teachers provide daily one-on-one instruction to facilitate each child’s advancement in his/her writing ability.  

          Our kindergarteners will be writing in school. Some children might begin with scribbles and random letters, and some children will be writing simple words. Their words will soon be sentences and their sentences will soon be ideas that will develop into stories. Writing is learned by writing, just as speaking is learned by speaking. Since writing is a developmental process, not all children will be at the same stage of development at the same time. Accept what your child writes and encourage him/her just as you did when he/she first learned to speak.

WAYS TO HELP YOUR CHILD BECOME A WRITER

1.     Accept what ever your child writes and encourage him through praise.

2.     Resist the urge to immediately spell words for your child or to insist on correct spelling. Instead, offer questions that will encourage your child to think beyond their initial attempt. He will use what is called invented spelling. This is spelling that is meaningful to your child. If your child asks you to spell a word, ask him how he thinks it should be spelled and tell him to write the sounds he hears. Say the word for your child, but let him do the thinking and the writing. Have your child read what he has written to you. Not all children will be able to read back their own writing at first. There is a time for correct spelling, but this will depend on your child’s development.

3.     Give your child opportunities to write. Let him write your grocery lists and holiday lists for you. Letters to special friends and relatives are fun for children to write as well.

4.     Let your child see you writing. Always read to your child. As you read, he will see correct words and sentence structure.

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