Journal writing will guide students through analytical and reflective processes with appropriate prompts. Provide elementary school students with guidelines for journal writing. Include prompts, which show the students have read assigned material, to summarize material about which students write. Provide students with questions about their responses to the topic. Ask, for example, if students agree or disagree with the topic. Students should explain their responses. Provide opportunities for students to form conclusions or to reflect on the meaning of a topic. Topics might include, for example, how the pilgrims interacted with native tribes in the New World or what students think about what freedom meant to Huckleberry Finn.
Elementary school students are just learning how to express ideas and feelings in writing. As students discover new ways to look at the world through reading, history, science, math and personal interaction, teachers can challenge them to find safe and appropriate outlets through journal writing. Propose topics to tap into students' imagination while providing boundaries for their thought processes. Teachers.net suggests using literary ideas, such as Joseph Addison's "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body" or the fable "Beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing," by Aesop.
When students spend most of their time hearing what they need to do and how they should do it, they may unconsciously think their own opinions have no weight. Show students how to communicate their thoughts and feelings with personal journal reflection topics. Topics may or may not relate to specific course information. Personal journal reflections offer an outlet for chaotic thinking and provide teachers with insight into student issues. Prompt journal topics, such as student opinions about bullying on the playground or about an issue raised at a school assembly. Evaluate journal responses based on filling the criteria of the assignment rather than on the students' own opinions.
Life changes for young students every nine months. Teach students to tap into their feelings and experiences about moving from one grade to the next and as they prepare for the big transition to middle school. Any teacher of any course can provide opportunities for student self-expression. Integrate a particular class into the journal topic. Ask students, for example, to reflect on elements of their science class they feel they understand well enough to move on to the next level. Provide a safe outlet for any fears students might have about pending changes. Use student responses to target areas in which teachers might help students gain confidence.