Comments on: Using Home Journals to Enhance Communication

By: Leah Geary

Leah Geary — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 14:29:34 +0000

I used to do this with my 2nd graders my first few years of teaching. We didn’t used to have any set programs being used for language arts, but now we have an intense writing program that takes up a lot of time so unfortunately I had to stop. The last year I tried it, I was always rushing to fit it in and half the time we had to skip it. One suggestion that worked well for my class was that we wrote a letter together for the first half of the year so that I could model the structure and language conventions. The could copy it over, copy and add on, or opt to create their own letter. I also used this part of the year to enforce handwriting skills. Then after halfway through the year we only brainstormed together. For my students who had parents that didn’t speak English well, I encouraged my students to read their letter to them and explain it in their home language then have their parent respond in their own language and read it back to them. Most of my ESOL students don’t know how to read or write in their home language so this was a good opportunity to give them that exposure. I’m still determined to make it work with our schedule again!

By: Heidi Raki

Heidi Raki — Mon, 23 May 2016 00:32:28 +0000

I love this idea and I would love to use it with my class. However, about half of my students’ parents speak Spanish only. Do you have any suggestions with how to use this with ESL students?

Heidi Raki

By: erin

erin — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 00:04:42 +0000

What a fabulous idea! Would this work for grades 1 and 2? I will have a 1/2 split next year and would love to do something like this. I realize they might not write as much as in older grades, especially at the beginning of the year but I still think this would be a great experience for them.

By: Erika Schaff

Erika Schaff — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 10:37:55 +0000

Love this idea! It would be a great Work on Writing idea for Fridays!