Journal Bites

About the Book

      As a writing coach, I have heard countless times that there is

not enough time to teach writing.  Understanding that teaching

writing does not have to be a lesson separate from other subject

areas, would change the way teachers look at teaching writing. To

be meaningful, writing should be included in all areas of the

curriculum. It should be considered to be the way we

communicate what we know or what we have learned.

     When children write, they don’t have the same experiences as

adults. Therefore, when assigning a writing lesson, teachers

cannot simply give them a statement and ask them to write about

it. We must give them some support for how to get their limited

ideas onto paper. The writing prompts in this book contain

questions to get students thinking about what they know.

     Journal writing is a great way to get your students writing every

day.  Short writing lessons can be done when students enter

classrooms in the morning, later in the day for reflection on

something read, or as hooks for lessons. Discussing what

students have written, and having them share their writing with

others, are not activities that are meant to be graded. 

About the Author

   Sonia Tuttle has been an educator, literacy instructor, and

coach for twenty-three years.  She has a bachelor’s degree from

Indiana University as well as a master’s degree from Indiana

Wesleyan.  Since graduating, Ms. Tuttle has been working with

students as well as teachers in large urban school districts.  This

experience has provided insight into the writing needs in these

schools.  After many years of studying the long-term memory

process, Ms. Tuttle is convinced that ‘how’ teachers teach writing

must be addressed.  State Standards tell educators what to teach

and the school districts provide guidelines for when to teach it. 

However, the ‘how’ to teach for long-term memory remains a

missing link to success.

   “While writing continues to be required in schools, less time is

being given to accomplish all that needs to be done.  It is