Jazzing up the Journal
Ways to foster a love of reading
through the use of a Reading Journal
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
Agenda
What are Reading Journals?
 Why keep Reading Journals?
 How to keep Reading Journals
 How can Reading Journals be put
to effective use in the classroom?
 What resources are available to
assist in using Reading Journals?

Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What are Reading Journals?
A Reading Journal provides
children with an opportunity to
reflect upon and respond to text,
also offering opportunities to
develop a written response to text;
 A Reading Journal provides
teachers with useful information
about children’s thinking processes
and comprehension as they
interact with
text.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr

What are Reading Journals?
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In Reading Journals, children respond to their
reading using an important form of writing –
writing to learn.
When they write to learn, children attempt to
make personal sense of their reading
experience as well as build connections
between what they already know and the new
ideas they encounter.
This type of writing helps children to construct
their own knowledge, develop their thinking
and reflect on their learning.
It is part of the process by which
understanding can be communicated to others
in a range of written and oral genres.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What are Reading Journals?
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Reading Journals can range from being informal,
in which children express their own personal
responses, to structured learning logs in which
children record thoughts and comments through
review type formats.
Whichever approach is adopted, using Reading
Journals is useful in that they:
–
–
–
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Encourage children to think and articulate their thoughts;
Make their learning personal;
Support self-exploration and self-discovery;
Focus children’s attention on values, attitudes and ethical
issues;
– Support the key learning processes of negotiation,
collaboration and reflection;
– Improve children’s writing
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What are Reading Journals?

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The First Steps Reading Resource Book helpfully
lists a range of suggestions as to what reading
journals are generally considered to be.
A journal could include:
– A set of personal goals for reading
– A list of texts read with commencement dates, this is
usually kept separated from other entries
– Thoughts or feelings, recorded in response to reading
– Drawings of settings, characters or events
– Phrases or words that have excited or puzzled the reader
– Predictions
– Suggested changes readers would have made if they had
been the author
– Comments on characters, illustrations, diagrams, layout
or language used.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
Why keep Reading Journals?
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Reading Journals are most valuable in that they
require children to express in writing their own
personal interests and insights into reading and
build on the skills they already intuitively possess:
the ability to observe, to listen, to take notes, to
reflect on their notes, and to ask questions that
are borne out of a sense of genuine curiosity.
Furthermore, giving children space and
encouragement to record their personal thoughts
and reactions to their reading can also allow them
the opportunity to locate their own specific points
of engagement with the text – even, or especially,
if they initially react to the text negatively.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How to keep Reading Journals
Reading Journals can be kept by children
in a variety of ways but the following
suggestions are the most frequently used.
 The suggestions are directed toward
reading fiction texts, but you can apply
them to other kinds of text.
 For each text read, the notes made by the
children in their journals may include all or
some of the following suggestions,
depending on the amount and type of
reading involved and also the child making
those notes!

Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How to keep Reading Journals

Personal thoughts and reactions
– Aim to be open about reactions to the text,
rather than limiting responses to ‘I liked (or
hated)’ type of statements;
– Be reflective, thinking about why you may be
responding the way you are;
– Allow yourself room to change your mind –
maybe list initial thoughts on the left of a page,
allowing for later reflections, additions,
comments or questions on the right!
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How to keep Reading Journals
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Comments and Questions on plot,
narrative structure, point of view,
characters, or setting
– Use these and similar questions to guide
children’s responses as they read:• Plot: What is the main dilemma? How are other
dilemmas related? What causes the dilemmas?
• Narrative Structure: How does the story move on?
Does the story move chronologically?
• Point of view: Who tells the story? Why do you think
the author has chosen this point of view?
• Characterisation: How are the characters portrayed?
• Setting: Where does the action take place?
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How to keep Reading Journals
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Observations on context
– Recording observations and questions about the
locations or the historical period depicted in the text can
be useful for encouraging cross-curricular links
– Children simply take notes on what they ‘observe’ with
regards to:•
•
•
•
•
Gender roles
Family relationships
Social class
Cultural background
Interior & Exterior space (architecture, countryside, etc.)
– They may then choose to conduct further research to
discover more about the context of their observations!
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
The key to using reading journals in the classroom
is getting children to use them as a tool to help
them engage with their reading and their
response to that reading.
 Engagement with the text is paramount!
 Similarly, any reading related tasks should be
achievable and stimulating.
 For example, “Draw and label your impression of
the first character you meet” is better than
“Describe the main characters with reference to
appearance, personality and relationships with
other characters.
 Why?
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr

How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
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Because:
– The first is quick and doesn’t detract from the reading!
– The first is not writing!
– The first sets up the important questions – how the
author builds and shapes our view of the characters.
Later on, simply challenge the child to adapt the drawing
to reflect new information.
– The second requires writing – and daunting writing at
that for such an early stage in a book.
– The second kills any chance of the child engaging with
the text and overcoming any prejudice about reading and
texts!
– The second reinforces the “we read, then we write about
it” experience rather than “we read, then respond to it.”
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
The “We read, then we write about it” experience.
 Writing is fine for jotting down ideas, thoughts
and reflections but should generally be kept to a
minimum.
 “What do you think could be the star sign of the
main characters?” will focus reluctant readers on
characterisation much better than a formal
extended writing task.
 Once the child stops fearing the reading journal,
then extended, pupil prompted, reflective writing
is often the outcome – “we read, then respond to
it.”
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Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
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The following are some suggested activities:Book Bites:
– Ongoing throughout the reading of the book, the child
draws the front cover (frequently what drew them to it in
the first place!) also making short ‘bite-size’ responses
on how they feel the cover relates to the book and how
they might change the cover to better reflect the story.
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Directed Freewrites:
– Prior to class discussion on a particular passage,
character, scene or question, allow time for a freewrite –
this if often a good way to stimulate discussion, giving
children practice in writing short analyses and reflections
on their reading to which they can refer back. This could
even be good preparation for a hot-seating activity.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
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Journal Swap:
– As an alternative to class discussion, this gets all
children participating and gives them practice in
sharing their writing and their responses to reading,
on a relatively informal basis, with their peers.
Starting once again with their own freewrite in
response to a passage, character, scene, etc. on the
left side of the page, the children swap journals and
then respond to his/her peer’s freewrite.
– There are many variations to this. For example,
children might be asked to pose a question which
when passed on, receives a partner’s written
engagement to the reading. Children may swap
several times in order to have many different voices
participating in
their journals.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
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I notice, I wonder statements:
– These two phrases can be used to prompt
children in articulating their unique interests,
questions and speculations about their reading.
– Children might be asked to write two sentences
in their journal at various points in reading a text:
the first beginning with “I notice,” the second
with “I wonder.”
– This can also work well in combination with the
journal swap wherein peers can respond with
their own speculations. “I noticed this too, but I
wondered if…” Or “I didn’t notice that, but I did
notice this related thing, Like you, I wonder if…”
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
How can Reading Journals be put to effective use in the
classroom?
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Individual/Affective Responses:
– Children, like all readers, will have their immediate
personal and emotional responses to a text and these
can often provide them with valuable insights if they can
later apply them critically.
– On the left side, record their immediate response, being
as specific as they can (that is they cannot say, “ I hated
this”). Encourage them to describe their reaction as
vividly as possible (ie. “This novel made me feel really
uncomfortable, like I was wondering around a place
where I didn’t want to be.”)
– Once again, swap journals, read the reaction and then
write their own response, considering what specifically
from the text may have evoked such a response (“I
noticed that the first thing the narrator does is shout
rudely at his parents and run away. I wonder if this is
why you felt uncomfortable.”)
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
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Each child, each class, each school will have its
own approach to Reading Journals.
There are many resources available, those
produced by educational suppliers, those made by
other teachers and practitioners and those you
create yourself.
The key is finding the resource that works within
your school, works for your class and engages
each individual child with their reading.
It is fairly certain therefore that the more
resources you have available, the greater chance
you will have of helping every child to succeed in
engaging with Stuart
their
reading through their journal.
Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
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First of all, some suggested prompts to help a
child articulate their responses to fiction:
– In what you read today, did the setting or any of the
characters remind you of people or characters in your
own life? Were any of the situations or events similar to
your own life? How were they alike and how were they
different?
– Does this story or its characters remind you of another
story you have read? Does it remind you of a film you’ve
seen? How are they alike and how are they different?
– If you could change the setting in this story to another,
what setting would you choose? Would you change just
the time period? Or would you change the place, the
season, the actual environment – maybe from poverty to
riches? Why would you make those changes?
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– If you could change the life or lives of the characters in
the book you are reading to make their lives more like
those of any other character, whose lives would you
change? How would you change their lives? Why did you
choose to change the life of that person or those people?
– If you were to put this story into your own life, in the
area where you live, around the people and friends that
you know, how would the story have to change? How
would the people change? Would the setting have to
change? Why would these changes have to take place?
– Sometimes we are pulled towards one or two characters
in the story. We identify with them or feel sympathy for
them. With which characters do you identify in the book,
and why do you believe you identify with them?
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– Sometimes when we read, certain words or phrases or
images stand out. Maybe they are words or phrases that
make an impression because of their sound, or maybe
the meaning or image they make strikes us? Sometimes
we find words or expressions we just do not understand.
Share those that you have come across and describe why
you listed them.
– Now that you are this far into the story, what do you look
forward to learning next? What conflicts or problems do
you think the characters will face? What qualities of your
character (honest, loyal, cruel, dishonest, angry,
vengeful) will affect how the character handles the
problems and conflicts s/he encounters?
– If you could ask any character a question, what would
you ask? If you could ask the author a question, what
might that be?Stuart
Explain
why
youCarr
chose these questions.
Gaston-Nash
& Helen
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– In what you read today, what surprised you? Explain
how this will affect the story or how it changed your
thinking about the story.
– What do you wish to learn when you read the next part?
What do you hope will happen in the story or to the
characters? Why do you wish for that happen?
– Are you puzzled or confused about anything in the story?
What is it that confuses you, and why is it confusing?
– It is not unusual to wish that our live were more like the
lives of characters in stories. How would you change your
own real life to be more like the world of your story?
– Why do you think the author wrote this story? Where did
s/he get the idea or the characters? What message do
you think that Stuart
the Gaston-Nash
author is
trying
& Helen
Carr to share?
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
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Secondly, some suggested prompts to help a child
articulate their responses to non-fiction:
– What did you learn from your reading that you did not
know before? What surprised you? Explain why it
surprised you.
– From your reading, were any questions that you had
answered by what you read? List the questions you had
and the answers you came up with from the reading. Are
you satisfied with what you learned, with these answers?
– Did you come across a problem in your reading that you
had not considered before? What was the problem?
Could you solve it? If so, how? If not, how could you?
– Are any of the real life situations or people that you read
about similar to situations that you have experienced
before in life? How were they similar or different?
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?

Next, a list of opening sentences that could be useful
for a child in starting their journal response:
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I like/dislike this idea because…
This character reminds me of someone I know because…
This character reminds me of myself because…
This character is like [character name] in [title] because…
I think the setting is important because…
This scene reminds me of a similar scene in…
I like/dislike this writing because…
This section is particularly effective because…
The ideas here remind me of the ideas in [title] because…
This incident reminds me of a similar situation in my own
life. It happened when…
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?

Now for some independent reading activities that
could lead to work in journals:
– Make a list of the words used to describe 3 characters eg.
what they looked like, attitudes, personal qualities, etc.
– What words would you use to describe two characters in
your story?
– What do you think a character would do or say to you if
s/he met you?
– Do you think this story could happen in real life? Why?
– Write a letter to a character in this story telling him/her
what you think of the way s/he treats people.
– Whom do you not like in this story? Explain why.
– Describe the person
in this &story
that you feel most like?
Stuart Gaston-Nash
Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– Make a list of six places mentioned in the story and
describe each one.
– You are a TV reporter. What shots of places would you
show? How would you describe each shot?
– What do you think were the best words used to describe a
place in this story? Explain why.
– What place in the story seemed most real to you? Why?
– What places in this story would you most like to live in or
visit?
– Describe how two different places in the story make you
feel?
– Collect and organise information about the objects in your
story eg. who owns them, where you would find them.
– Write a recommendation of the book for a friend. What
will you say to encourage
Stuart Gaston-Nashthem
& Helen to
Carrread it?
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– What use did people in the story make of things or
objects?
– Make a book jacket for the story using pictures or
sketches of things in the story.
– List the action words used to describe three important
events in this story.
– Put the events in this story into a flow diagram showing
the order in which they happened.
– What three events in this story do you think are most like
real life? Why?
– Write a letter to a character telling him what you think of
his opinions.
– Who in this story makes you feel angry or jealous? Why?
– Plot a graph that represents how you felt about different
sections of the story?
How &and
Stuart Gaston-Nash
Helenwhy
Carr does the line change?
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– Write an imagined biography of one of the characters.
– Write an account of what you might have done if you were
in one of the character’s predicament.
– Construct a stage and setting for a scene in the book.
– Write a diary that might have been kept by a main
character.
– Organise interviews of people assigned to roles from the
story.
– Role-play the author, defending the book against critics
on radio.
– Give a sales pitch for the book to the class.
– Write a letter to the author telling him/her why you
enjoyed the book.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– Write about a true-to-life incident similar to one in the story.
– Write as one of the characters many years after the incidents
in the novel.
– Write an imagined dialogue between characters in two books.
– Compare characters faced with similar problems in different
books.
– Research fact from fiction in an historical novel.
– Discuss the effect of setting on the behaviour and attitudes of
the character.
– You are a psychologist offering advice to the main character.
Tell what the problem is and what advice you would give.
– Create a greeting card that one character might send to
another. Tell why it would be sent and the receiver’s reaction.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
– Write an unsigned letter from the point of view of a character,
and have the rest of the class work out which character it is.
– Choose a scene from your book and rewrite it as if it took
place two hundred years in the past.
– You are a millionaire suffering from a fatal illness. You are
trying to decide what to do with your money. Tell which
character you would leave your money to and why.
– Write a newspaper report of an incident as it might have
appeared in a newspaper in the time and culture of the novel.
– You are a private detective assigned to follow the main
character. Write a report on his or her activities over one
period of time. Tell where s/he went, whom s/he saw, and
what s/he did. Draw conclusions about the character’s
motives, values and lifestyle.
Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
There are of course
many commercially
produced resources
available…
 But teachers have
known that
creativity should be
at the centre of any
classroom’s
curriculum and
resources for a long
time…

Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
What resources are available to assist in using Reading Journals?
There are of course
many commercially
produced resources
available…
 But teachers have
known that
creativity should be
at the centre of any
classroom’s
curriculum and
resources for a long
time…

Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr
The end
Hopefully, if we have achieved our
aims, we have provided you with
lot of ways to use Reading Journals
in the classroom.
 Thanks for listening!

Stuart Gaston-Nash & Helen Carr