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Field Journals

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If you're looking for "What Would You Do With It? Wednesday" Don't worry.... I'm bringing it back with a great line up of wonderful guest postings! We will kick it off in September with Deborah Stewart of Teach Preschool!!!! She will be sharing some great ideas with clothespins! So, get your ideas together to link up! If you are interested in writing a featured guest post, check out this post for more information.


Today, I thought I would share our "field journals" with you.  With all of the back to school buzz here in the states, you can get some great deals on supplies right now. A couple of weeks ago, I found composition books for $0.40 each! So, of course, I stocked up on them!


I thought that giving each child a journal to write in whenever they wanted would be a great way for them to work on their pre-writing/writing skills. They have access to them all of the time and have the opportunity to document whatever they choose. Sometimes they work on their journals independently, and sometimes they ask their friends for help. I have even been asked to "write" a few things down for some of the children. The children started calling the journals their "field journals."

We decorated them with stickers, and I added a pencil to each one with a piece of curling ribbon and some tape. This proved to work great for writing in the van to and from our field trips! (The ribbon keeps the pencil from falling to the floor!)
The children have always had unlimited access to a wide array of paper and writing implements, but they seem to be more engaged in the writing process now that they have their own journals!

What do you do to help promote pre-writing/writing skills? 
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Scott said…
Really like this idea, Amy. We have access to writing materials all the time but nothing that holds one child's writing in one place or shows changes over time. Definitely thinking about how I can use this.
August 26, 2011 at 11:59 AM
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