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Action Factor,  Inc.  presents the workshop for teachers and parents

Presenter:  Dr. Myrna R. Gifford

Workshop overview: Spice up journal writing in your classroom with six different types of journals that help children develop as writers. Through personal journals, simulated journals, dialogue journals, learning logs, reader response journals, and writing notebooks, students can gain needed practice in several modes of expression.  Workshop participants improve their own narrative, poetic, expository, and transactional writing skills as they experience journaling from the student perspective.

Objectives of the presentation: Participants will learn a) how to introduce, model, and encourage students to explore six types of journal writing, b) the basics of effective journal writing assessment, c) how to involve students in self-evaluation, self-monitoring, and self-improvement in journal writing. Participants will receive a packet of ready-to-use activities and information that can be adapted to individual needs and curricula.

Format of the presentation: This is an interactive workshop where participants participate in the journal writing that they will use in their classrooms. Participants work individually, with partners, and/or in small groups to produce and assess journal writing. Full-day workshops include make-and-take projects that provide ready-to-use materials for writing centers, learning labs, and classrooms. Orientation for computer-assisted writing, electronic journals, and desktop publishing are options for full-day workshops.

Target age group: Primary grades through middle school

Target audience: Classroom teachers, special educators, administrators, pre-school teachers, tutors, parents, and others who wish to provide young learners with alternatives to traditional classroom instruction.

Brief summary of content: Journals have been around for thousands of years and for good reason. The journal provides a means for reflecting and remembering details of life around us, for stretching our imaginations, and for experimenting with words and ideas. The personal journal is free-form and is assessed only to the degree that students participate. A simulated journal allows students to take on the personality “get in the skin” of another person, be it a book character, a historical or contemporary figure, or an animal. Dialogue journals provide a means for developing closer student/teacher or student/peer relationships. Learning logs provide the means for organizing new information learned in content areas like math, social studies, and science. In reader response journals, students respond to sections that they have read, predict upcoming sections, and evaluate those predictions. A writing journal serves as a repository for future writing. In this type of journal, students gather ideas for plots and characters, vocabulary for descriptive language, and graphic organizers for different forms of writing. A rich and varied journaling program provides a foundation for a lifetime of thinking, learning, and self-expression.

To request a customized workshop at your location, please use our online form.