Writing Notebooks in Grade 2

elisa_waingort — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 18:28:46 +0000

As an early childhood educator I am a staunch supporter of the writing workshop approach as a way to encourage and nurture young writers. This year, after having read Notebook Knowhow by Aimee Buckner, I decided to try writing notebooks with my grade 2 students. Previously I had only used writing folders and at times premade small books for children to write in. After reading Aimee Buckner’s clearly written book with easy to implement lessons, I decided to give it a go in my own classroom. The resulting writing by my students has far exceeded my initial expectations. The 5 – 10 minutes of independent writing that they do several times a week in their writing notebooks has revealed to them, and to me, what they are capable of doing on their own. I have some children who will only engage in writing if they have a friend to do it with. The writing notebook has become a place for my more reluctant writyers to experiment and take risks that might not happen in our usually bustling writing workshop time. In my next posts, I will share the lessons I borrowed from Notebnook Knowhow and how I modified them. And, of course, I will post some of my students’ writing in response to these lessons.

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Writing Notebooks in Grade 2