This week, we are beginning our first Writer's Notebook sessions and so I thought I'd explain what Writer's Notebooks are.
Writer's Notebook is a notebook for writing ideas, formatted so that children are able to get inspired and engaged with their writing. It helps students plan their writing constructively and avoid situations where students are sitting for long periods of time wondering what they should be writing about. The Writer's Notebook is also an excellent way for students to explore different genres, and we encourage students to write a varied selection of genres through the course of the year. Finally, because children must bring in their own stimulus from home, it allows their writing to be relevant (rather than always being told by the teacher what they should be writing about!)
Writer's Notebook contains three sections. The first part is the Seed of Thought, where students paste in a paper-based inspiration from home, such as a newspaper cutting, a ticket from a show or sporting event, a pamphlet from a museum exhibition, a photograph, a postcard, a picture found inside a magazine etc. This allows students to connect their writing with their 'out-of-school' experiences and come up with inspirations that are relevant to them. Students are expected to bring in something to use as a Seed of Thought at the beginning of the week, we ask parents to discuss during the weekend which Seed of Thought to choose from home. We also encourage students to keep several pieces of Seed of Thought in an envelope at the back of their notebook, so that they are always ready to make an entry.
Students write briefly on their response to the Seed of Thought in the Response section. The responses might include some description of the item, as well as what memory it may trigger, what kind of connection they can make to other experiences they may have had as well as more imaginative responses.
Finally, students write three detailed possibilities for a developed piece of writing they might want to continue with using this stimulus. The possibilities might include a poem, a story or an informational piece etc.
By the time they have made three entries in their Writer's Notebook, students are expected to begin their first copy of a developed piece of writing taken from one of their possibilities. This will then be redrafted, before being published.
Students may use a notebook provided by the school, or bring in their own notebook from home. All notebooks are kept in the writing shelf in the neighbourhood. If notebooks are taken home for home learning, we ask students to bring it back in on Monday so that teachers are able to keep track of students' writing.
Here are a couple of examples I wrote and showed to the students earlier this week which may give you a better idea how it all works. You can click on the image to enlarge it.
