“writing taps the virtually unceasing stream of our inner speech” James Moffett
The marble journal or as we call it, the “Writer’s Notebook”, is used in the classroom for the purpose of developing fluency in the act of writing and for providing a forum for students to share their ideas without fear of judgment or negative criticism. Writing is a painstaking process for many young people; essays, writing assignments, and formal compositions are written in several stages during which the student’s work is critiqued, judged and reviewed by the teacher.
On the other hand, the “Writer’s Notebook” is a place to share one’s ideas substantively, free from the fear of being “corrected”, and to explore one’s identity in connection to the world. Occasionally, questions posted as bellwork when students come into class are intended to encourage students to respond personally to the topics/characters/issues raised in the literary works. Utilizing Bloom’s taxonomy, students are encouraged to “assess, decide, analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, compare, select, explain, infer, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, and summarize”.
The “Writer’s Notebook” also provides the opportunity to engage the student in a brief “dialogue” with a peer reader. Students “swap” notebooks quarterly, and peers respond to one another’s work. They should encourage one another and provide meaningful feedback to the peer writer through this process.
A portfolio is also kept in the classroom in which every student’s formal writing and tests are kept.
