Journaling

Context:
Journals are created to record everything from very personal events to factual research data. On the Field Trip Earth site, researchers often share their journal entries with the world which allows us to experience life as a biologist, a vet, or a research scientist. Their journal entries give insight into the jungles of Cameroon, the misty mountains of the Appalachains, or the sunny beaches of North Carolina.

Journals help researchers see trends over time, remember specific details, compare behaviors, establish goals and share experiences. In this strategy, students will read journals and practice keeping their own "green" or field journal.

Curriculum:
Standards for the English Language Arts

Sponsored by NCTE and IRA

http://www.n cte.org/about/over/standards

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound- letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Attachments:

None

Other materials:

• Writing materials - pens, pencils, paper - Students may want to purchase a pre-bound journal as it is easier to carry into the field.
• A quiet place to observe nature.
• Sample journal entries from the Field Trip Earth site.

Instructional sequence:
Students should first talk about the purpose of journals. The ideas generated from this discussion can be listed on the chalkboard or overhead. Teachers may want to just ask the simple question: Why do people write in journals?

After creating this initial list of reasons to journal, students should read many examples of journals on the Field Trip Earth site. The following links should be helpful:

• Red Wolf Field Diaries
• Elephants of Cameroon Field Diaries
• Appalachian Black Bear Field Diaries
• Atlantic Sea Turtle Field Diaries

When students have read the sample diary/journal entires, they can add to the list of reasons researchers use journals.

Students need the opportunity to write a field journal of their own. Send students to an open football field, along a stream, or any place where they can sit quietly and observe their surroundings. Students should record everthing they hear, see, smell or feel in their journals. Do they see insects? What are the insects doing? Do they see birds or small animals? If so, they should record the behavior of the birds or animals. What kind of plants do they observe? What is the weather like? You may also encourage students to add illustrations to go along with their observations.

The student journal could also be a project that teachers extend over a period of time. Each day or specified day of the week, students go outside and write in their journal. This will give students the opportunity to examine the same setting over several days.

Extensions:

• Students write in their journals after observing nature in their own backyard. After recording what they observe for several days, students should share their journals with one another. Some students may live in very remote areas while others live in apartment buildings. Their observations of nature will be quite different.
• Field Trip Earth journals/diaries could be used as class warm-ups. At the beginning of a class period, a copy of one field diary can be placed on an overhead or computer screen for students to read. This daily warm-up may enable students to make a quick update of a particular research project, to talk about the author's choice of words or voice, or to emphasize some element of grammar.
• Students create a fictionalized journal where they pretend to be a researcher in the field. Their journal is then a fictional account of what they think might happen to them in the jungles of Africa, or other location of their choice.

Assessment:

• Rubric for informative writing
• Class discussion

Literacy advancement:

• Reading for information
• Examining different forms of nonfiction
• Reading to discover author's voice
• Exploring the use of writing as a profession

Author: Isenhour, Kim


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