Getting to Know Your Needs

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Keeping a Writer’s Notebook

Julie Wiesejulie_wiese@roundrockisd.org

When I find something that inspires me, I write about it in my writer's notebook. I think of my writer's notebook as a true friend, a great listener, someone who will accept whatever I write (the good, the bad, the weird, and the tedious). My writer's notebook never judges me. It understands that becoming a writer takes a long time, and we might as well have a little fun along the way.

Ralph Fletcher (2005)

Welcome!Welcome!• Introductions

• Goals1.What is a writer’s notebook?2.Writer’s Notebooks: A Valuable Tool to

Create Lifelong Writers 3.Explore some strategies for launching

writer’s notebooks in your classroom

“The writer’s notebook nudges students to become more active

learners. It gives them a place to react to their world. To make that all-important personal connection. And

the notebook provides a safe place- no grades, no one correcting their

grammar.”

School Talk, Writer’s Notebook: A Place to Dream, Wonder, and Explore, Ralph Fletcher

What is a writer’s notebook?

It is…• A place to store your

thoughts, feelings, observations, ideas, opinions, and more

• A place to record your reactions

• A collection of ideas

“A writer’s notebook gives you a place to live like a writer, not just in school during writing time, but wherever you are, at any time of day.” Ralph Fletcher

It is not…• A diary• Not a reading journal in

which students write summaries, main ideas, or letters to characters per the teacher’s assignment

From A Writer’s Notebook

by Ralph Fletcher

What does a writer’s notebook look like?

• It should reflect the writer’s personality• Could be a small notepad, a journal, a sketch

book, or a composition book

• At the beginning of the year, give your students

the opportunity to personalize their notebooks

“When you come right down to it, a writer’s notebook is nothing more than a blank book, but within those pages you’ve got a powerful tool for writing and living.” Ralph Fletcher

An excerpt from Ralph Fletcher’s Writer’s Notebook…An excerpt from Ralph Fletcher’s Writer’s Notebook…

“This morning I stopped to buy an iced coffee. When I got home I took out my writer's notebook, the most important tool I have. I think of my notebook as an "idea bank" or "seed farm" where I can collect ideas, or just write for fun. I opened my writer's notebook and jotted this down:

I love an iced coffee, with milk and sugar, on a warm summer's morning. Light and sweet, that's what I tell the woman at the Dunkin' Donuts, and she knows what I mean. When I've got a cup of iced coffee in my hand, so cold beads of condensation are already gathering on the sides, and I'm getting double-jolted by the surge of caffeine plus the lift, provided by those sugar crystals crunching between my teeth, I know beyond doubt it's going to be a great summer day.”

"Letters To Young Writers." Ralph Fletcher, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg (Sep. 2005)

Modeling and Strategies to Jump Start Writer’s Notebooks

• Teacher models writing in or shares her notebook- Model, model, model!• Start the year off by getting students excited about their writer’s

notebooks• Writing off literature• Gather feelings, dreams, insights, odd facts, artifacts (ticket stubs,

photographs, newspaper clippings), lines from songs, snatches of overheard conversation.

• Collect favorite leads, ending, verbs, poems, etc.• What amazes/surprises/angers you• What you wonder about• What you notice• Small details that intrigue you• Memories• Lists• Lots of sharing time!- Share, share, share!

Ways to show good models to your students if you don’t keep your own

notebook…

• Borrow a notebook from a student in another class who is willing to let you photocopy select pages to share with your class

• Find an example from a published writer the students are familiar with

• Create a dummy notebook (Make sure to include all components you want your students to have in their ideal notebook!)

Independent Writing by M. Colleen Cruz

Professional Resources Notebook Know How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook by

A. Buckner A Writer’s Notebook by R. Fletcher Lessons for the Writer’s Notebook by R. Fletcher and J. Portalupi Guiding Readers and Writers by I. Fountas and G. Pinnell

Children’s Books A Writer’s Notebook by Ralph Fletcher Amelia’s Notebook by M. Moss (lots of great books in this

series) The Pain and the Great One by J. Blume The Keeping Quilt by P. Polacco Poetry!