What is a Journal?

Melissa N. Matusevich

We are going to begin writing an account of this school year that will include our thoughts and feelings about what is happening in class. Each of you, on a weekly basis, will use the computer to word process your thoughts about all that you are learning. You will maintain a special file where you jot down notes each day about what you have accomplished, so that when you write your account you will have a way to remember all that happened since the last time you wrote. Of course you may include discoveries you make on your own whether at school or at home.

Many people, throughout history, have done the same thing you will be doing. Sometimes their thoughts have remained private; other times these thoughts have been published and shared with others. The writing you will be doing will be shared, so if you also want to keep some thoughts private, you will have the option of writing a separate version for yourself that you can keep secret. Now, I have a question for you: Does anyone know what this type of writing is called? [Allow time for class discussion. If a student suggests the word, "diary," write it on the board and then write the word, "journal," underneath it.]

A journal is a type of diary. I have a copy of a journal entry for each of you. After I pass them out, I will read the entry aloud while you read it silently. After I read the entry, we will discuss the following questions: [Post or project the questions for all to see.]

November 12, 1843

I've learned so much crossing these mountains. When we left Virginia to move west, I had too many unanswered questions. Whenever I'd raise them, Jeremiah would assure me that while the hardships of this venture would be many, the rewards, in the long run, would be greater. He'd get a gleam in his eye as he'd talk about the land west. "Jenny," he'd say, "Where we are going, land is open and free-farm land with rich, black soil. Opportunity will be all around us. As long as we are committed to working hard, our lives will be so much better." I often wonder if he believes that now. Here it is almost winter and we aren't half as far as we thought we'd be. No one could have imagined the troubles we'd have bestowed upon us. First, the baby got sick and almost died. I was sure we were going to lose her, but our prayers were answered. Then our Jake got snake bit. His leg swelled up so big I'd thought it would burst. But again, our prayers were answered.

When Jeremiah and I were planning the long journey, we went over and over the list of supplies we knew we'd need. Little did we know that food wouldn't last as long as we thought or that we'd need far more rope than the twenty-five feet we had purchased. One good thing is that we brought an extra wagon wheel. When we hit that rut and the wheel broke, I almost sat down and cried. After all we'd been through, I didn't think I could take much more. What worried me most, though, was slowing down the others. I knew everyone was thinking the same thing. If we got caught in these mountains during winter, we'd surely not survive. But the men insisted that we stop and make a good repair, and as soon as we came to civilization, we'd get the broken wheel fixed. Life sure can be hard. But like I said, I have learned a lot. Mama always said, "Lessons learned well stay with you forever." She surely was right.

Before we discuss the questions, take time to slowly reread the entry. You may underline portions, sentences or phrases, so that locating them while we discuss the questions is easier. [Allow time for students to complete this activity.] Now, with your partner, I'd like for you to quietly discuss the answers to the questions. [Again, allow time for pairs to discuss.]

Now, I would like for partners to come sit together on the rug facing me. Bring your sheets with you. I am going to use the laptop and the LCD panel to word process and project important ideas you give during discussion, so that everyone can see and reflect on them. [When doing this, I have the laptop at a level where I can sit or stand and type and still facilitate the discussion. This is a change from the past when I would sit in the rocking chair to lead discussions. Even though the intimacy is lost a bit, the integration of the technology has added much to how we work. The children readily adjusted to the slight change.]

We have many important ideas listed. Let's review them. [Go over the list and clarify any misunderstandings.] What other important information is contained in the journal entry? [Again, list and project for all to see.] Now, I have an additional question for you-How did Jenny (the author) feel, and how do you know? Did she exhibit many feelings or just one? Let's look at the journal entry, one sentence at a time, to see if we can find evidence of how Jenny felt, and how she expressed those feelings. [Read and discuss the entry, again listing students' ideas.] Can you find any place in the journal where Jenny expressed the feelings of others? Yes, in the first paragraph she describes her husband's feelings in a novel way. Who can read the words Jenny wrote that illustrate how her husband felt? [If no one can determine this, prompt the students to look for how Jenny describes Jeremiah before she quotes him. Add this to your projected list.]

Your journals will be similar to Jenny's. By looking at Jenny's entry, what do you think I will expect from your journals? [As students respond record appropriate responses.] I am pleased that you have figured out from this sample journal what I will be expecting. Let's go over our list:

You have all told me that you enjoy using the word processor, and some of you have indicated that you have discovered "Tools." In the tools menu you will find "Spelling " which is the same feature as the red underlining that shows up every time you make a spelling mistake. The feature in the "Tools" menu allows you to spell check an entire document when you have finished with it. This way, if you have chosen to turn off the automatic spell checker, you can wait until you finish writing to check all of your spelling at one time. But, beware! Spell check will tell you if a word is spelled incorrectly. It will not tell you if you have used the wrong word. Let's look at these examples. [Project, one at a time, sentences you have rewritten from Jenny's journal entry that contain no spelling errors, but have included the wrong word(s). As students locate and discuss the errors, use the strikethrough feature to cross them out. After the strikethrough, enter the word correctly. Examples of sentences to use follow.] At this time I'd like to show you a sample file like the one you will create that will hold the daily notes you will enter about what you have accomplished during the day. You will refer to this file each week when writing your weekly journal entry. When you create yours, name it carefully so that you can easily remember what it is for. Each day as you enter your notes, begin like this: [Project.]

[Notice that I put the day and date and underlined them both. This is the heading for today. Why do you think it might be important to put the day and date? If you'd like you can create a bulleted list like we did last week, but remember, your journal will be written in paragraphs.]

Monday, November 18, 1996

After you and your partner finish, you may search the "Santa Fe Trail" homepage that we bookmarked earlier. Look for journal entries, and read three of them.

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