Shared Journals
Shared journal is our vehicle for teaching reading and writing.  Children are involved in sharing true stories about their lives.  They negotiate, vote, and write stories about each other.  At the end of the year, each child has a book filled with his/her writing.  It is filled with stories about friends and special events that happened during the year.  Here are some pictures and a description of the shared journal process.

   

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In our class, three children share a story each day.  Sharing time lasts about 20 minutes.  The children must tell their story to the teacher before signing up.  They get very excited about sharing!  Screening the story helps the teacher to work with children individually on the elements of a story.

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When the children share, the class becomes an audience.  They are listening  for things that will help them write the story and draw a picture of the story.
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After the story, the children have an opportunity to ask questions.  They are trying to find out details  that will help them in their writing.  This is also an opportunity for the teacher to point out important elements of the story and draw attention to objectives to be taught.

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After questions, the shared journal helper calls on someone to choose a keyword for the story.  This is a word that helps the children to remember what the story is about.  The class then works together to sound out the word they have chosen.
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Now,  it is time to negotiate.  Negotiation is a very important part of the sharing process.  Children talk with one another about which story they think would be best to write about. 

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Once negotiations are complete, the children vote on which story they want to write about.  When there are ties, the children help decide how they want to solve the tie.
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Writing is the main focus of shared journal.  The children have an opportunity to express themselves at their developmental level.  They can all tell the story, whether it is through drawing or writing.  They all feel successful at expressing themselves through this medium.

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Drawing the picture is also a major part of journal writing.  Illustrating the story helps each child to think through details of the story that are important.  They also learn how  to use their illustrations to tell more about the story.
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Writing about stories their friends have shared helps the children to develop friendships and understand one another's experiences.  They also learn about things that they wouldn't have an opportunity to know about, such as when children share stories about places they have been.

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Writing in a daily journal helps to develop a life-long habit of writing.  It also helps children to enjoy writing at an early age and feel that they can write.  Our class has journal celebrations when someone does something new or special in his/her journal.