| Dialogue journals are a "conversation"
in writing conducted with a peer or the teacher. One use of
dialogue journals is as a form of response journal that allows
students to correspond with others about their reading. Students
write a response to their reading and then trade journals
with the teacher. The teacher writes a short response back
to the student (usually in note form), offering opinions,
personal connections to the original response, or another
idea that the response triggered. With younger students, this
written response might take the form of a picture or a few
words.
Teachers should emphasize that dialogue journals are a way
of sharing reactions. Students may be encouraged to write
more clearly and legibly as they are writing to communicate
ideas to their teacher. When responding to student writing,
teachers should model thoughtful responses demonstrating conventional
spelling and the mechanics of writing, but not correcting
students' writing mistakes.
With younger students and beginning writers, dialogue journals
are most effective between teacher and student.
To learn more and see examples of dialogue journals, see
the sidebar.
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