Description/Overview
I require my students to keep a writer's notebook so they will have an evolving and personalized resource to use while writing, revising, and editing their work. This is a writer's notebook. I do not allow students to put anything in this notebook which is not related to writing. In other words, no math papers or science notes. My students have a separate notebook for reading logs and responses.
Note: The sections listed below are modified from year to year depending on the grade level I teach and the needs of my students. Some years I do not have students keep a spelling section (when I taught Honors and Pre-AP English) and other years the Quips, Clips, Notes and Quotes section is combined with Drafts in Progress section (like when I taught seventh grade).
* Quips, Clips, Notes, and Quotes - This section is for students to place anything that may serve as a potential idea for a story. Items in this section my include old movie stubs, photographs, song lyrics, cartoons, overheard conversations, or other story ideas. Students are required to put one new idea into this section of their notebook per week.
* Drafts in Progress - This section contains any drafts or partial stories/ideas. These drafts are not as "formal" as those found my students' portfolios. The idea here is for students to carry their Writer's Notebook around with them and jot down ideas and/or partial pieces in this section to use when we have Writing Workshop. Some teachers may consider this the "journal" section of the Writer's Notebook. I choose not to use the term journal in order to avoid any negative connotations associated with journaling.
* Grammar Book or Style Book - It has long been my contention that direct grammar instruction for periods longer than a ten minute mini-lesson is ineffective. Simply going through a grammar book and selecting lessons to teach an entire class is like shooting fish in a barrel--sometimes you hit a few but more likely you blow a hole in the stock. I have students keep a grammar or style book section in their Writer's Notebook. In this section, they record grammar rules they learn as a result of either a mini-lesson (usually right after the Caught Ya exercise), a peer-editing session, or a teacher conference. Nancie Atwell does not recommend giving students more than two grammar or editing "rules" after a teacher-student conference for fear students will focus on the negative aspects of their writing rather than the positive aspects. I do require students to label pages in this section so they can locate rules easily and quickly. I also allow students to decide which rules they place in their books in order to personalize this section as much as possible.
* Revision Strategies – This section is filled with writing, revising, and editing strategies discussed in class (usually in the form of a mini-lesson). I draw, primarily, on the work of four people in creating my revision/editing lessons: Rebakah Caplan (Writers In Training), Barry Lane (After THE END, The Reviser's Toolbox), Nancie Atwell (In The Middle), and Dan Kirby (Inside Out).
* Editing Checklists and Writing Rubics - This section contains editing checklists and writing rubrics we have created as a class. Each "polished paper" my students submit is accompanied by a different editing checklist and is scored according to a specific writing rubric. I allow my students some input in creating both the checklist and rubric for each paper.
* My Universe of Language– another stolen and adapted idea, the Universe of Language section is a place where students keep their spelling and vocabulary words. Spelling words are recorded in this section after both peer editing sessions and student-teacher conferences. I limit the number of words a student can enter in the spelling section to three per conference, so I won't discourage students or perpetuate the idea that they are bad spellers. The vocabulary section is filled in with words students find interesting, intiguing, poetic or useful. Modeled after the story Donovan's Word Jar by Monalisa DeGross, students are encouraged to keep their eyes and ears open for "specials words" to use to enhance their writing.
