Two Person Journal

One journal, one topic, one file, but two writers make a Two Person Journal. Students were partnered with a peer from another class. A folder with a file was created on the Laurelville server. The page was divided down the middle using a two column table. For the rest of the school year, students will write each day about a different topic.

This system has an advantage over a regular journal in that the writer has an audience. Everything written will be read daily. Also, with a peer to share ideas, comments, opinions, and information, it means more. Whether students write about books, school, friends, hobbies, family, or any other topic, they know a reader cares about what they have to say.

I originally did this project with composition notebooks that students shared. Now, with the technology available in Reading Workshop, students keep a common Open Office Word file saved on our file server. They can each write to the file from anywhere in the school. Because there is a computer for each student, they can access their file during class each day, read their partner's post, and respond.

This is a great motivator for students. After all, what does every writer want? To be read, of course.

Getting the Achievement Question, Part 2

As we continue to work on getting the questions, students are beginning to show remarkable progress. You can read about previous work from the Do You Get the Question post.

This is an example from Luke that demonstrates the before and after.

GREAT JOB, LUKE!

Grandfriend's Day

Today is the best day of the year for a lot of students. They have fun with their grandparents/grandfriends. They get to spend time with their grandparents at school, in their classes. Some grandparents travel a long way to get to visit with their grandchildren and participate in class. We had 29 grandparents/grandfriends join our class today. Thank you for joining us.

Students worked hard preparing letters, poems, and journals. They enjoyed sharing them, and even received extra credit for reading them aloud.

AND, the best part--at the end of the day, students got to leave with their grandparents.