Students learn to keep a journal in this unit by studying the journals of others. At the end of the lesson, students are going to: 
- examine the goal of a journal. 
- list the advantages of keeping a journal. 
- start journaling.

- What effects do language conventions and grammar have on written and spoken communication? 
- What is the objective? 
- What makes writing clear and effective? 
- Why do authors write? 
- Who is the target audience? 
- What will appeal to the audience the most?

- Focus: The center of interest or attention. 
- Literary Devices: Tools used by the author to enliven and provide a voice to the writing (e.g., dialogue, alliteration). 
- Literary Elements: The essential techniques used in literature (e.g., characterization, setting, plot, theme). 
- Point of View: How an author reveals characters, events, and ideas in telling a story; the vantage point from which the story is told. 
- Style: How an author writes; an author’s use of language; its effects and appropriateness to the author’s intent and theme. 
- Tone: The attitude of the author toward the audience and subject (e.g., serious, playful, critical, ominous, wistful, humorous, etc.). 
- Voice: The fluency, rhythm, and liveliness in writing that make it unique to the writer.

- notebooks or binders for each student to be used as journals
- copies of the Journal Prompts handout (LW-7-1-1_Journal Prompts) for each student
Optional:
- Zlata Filipović. (2006). Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Wartime Sarajevo. Penguin Books.
- Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney. (2009). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Little, Brown and Company.
- Anne Frank. (1993). Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Bantam.
- Jeff Kinney. (2007). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal. Amulet.

- Examine the journals of your students to see if they have shown that they can write about their ideas and feelings and are ready to go on to the following lesson.

Explicit instruction, modeling, scaffolding, and active engagement
W: Students go over the advantages of journaling. They will discover that a journal entry can serve as the inspiration for a more extensive writing project through the discussion of journals. 
H: Pupils hear captivating, developmentally appropriate tales from journals and diaries. By selecting their writing prompts from a list and writing about their ideas, memories, and selves, they establish a personal connection with the assignment. 
E: Students read aloud from sample journal and diary entries. They might also read expert essays on journaling or essay-formatted passages from novels. 
R: During class reflection, students discuss the advantages of journaling. Also, students will journal about their reflections. Also, students will journal about their reflections. Through self, peer, and teacher-directed evaluation, students go over, edit, and reconsider the essays they have written. 
E: Students assess their essays, focusing on one quality at a time with the aid of a checklist. 
T: It is up to you to choose which prompts to provide and how many to ask for. You can use more examples from students, instructors, or professionals. 
O: Students discover the advantages of journaling through reading examples and creating their journals, as opposed to being told about them. 

Part 1

Main Question: What is the definition of a journal?

Present journal excerpts to the class. Obtain copies of any or all of the following, if at all possible: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl; Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal; Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo. Give the students background information on any samples you display. Inform students that this is a real-life example. For most students, reading a peer's actual thoughts will be interesting. You can use the samples below if you are unable to find them.

"The day my younger brother was born was one of the best days of my life. I had to share my parents and my life with a sibling at first, which made me jealous, but now I love sharing everything with my little friends, including my parents and my love. My family is relocating. I feel conflicted about this. I'm a little bit looking forward to the adventure of relocating to a new town. We will be relocating closer to my grandparents, which makes me happy as well. However, I've noticed that I cry a lot because I'm anxious about making new friends and I don't want to part with my friends. I will have my family with me, at least!"

"We're going to talk about writing reflections in journals. What is journal writing, in your opinion?" Ask students to define a journal for you. (A journal is an archive of ideas, sentiments, and thoughts connected to events.) Talk about how some people conflate the terms journal and diary. “Many people consider diaries and journals to be interchangeable. Writing about one's own experiences, responses, and feelings is a part of both. The writer in the journal examples below is writing for a readership.

"Now, make a list of the advantages of journaling at your desk." Ask each student to come up with a list of advantages specific to journaling. Show students snippets from published journals or novels that were written as journals if they are having trouble thinking of advantages. (This lesson's Extension section includes a list of three such novels.)

Make a list of the advantages of journaling as a class. Throughout the unit, either leave the list up or turn it into a poster that you can put up. Here are a few concepts that students ought to think of or be directed toward:

Your private Facebook account is similar to a journal. You can jot down everyday occurrences, recollections, dreams, and ideas that you would like to remember.
A journal and a garden are similar. Your written thoughts and emotions are like seeds that could grow into longer pieces of writing or ideas. You'll also notice that you've changed and grown as you go through your journal entries.
A journal is similar to a weight room. It's a place where you can develop your creative muscles through consistent practice.
A journal and a laboratory are similar. You can try out different writing styles there.
A journal is comparable to a best friend. You can express your desires, worries, and grievances there. One can decompress there.
A journal is similar to a mirror. It portrays a genuine image of you.

Part 2

Assign students a prompt or provide them with a list of options (LW-7-1-1_Journal Prompts). "You can write about any topic you want to write about in your journal, or you can use the list of prompts to help you choose. Select a prompt to answer from each of the three sections when you sit down to write in your journal. If you answer a prompt in each section, go back to the first section and select a prompt you haven't answered yet. Give yourself five minutes to write as much as you can in response to your chosen topic. Forget about spelling, grammar, and other details. Writing down your initial concepts, information, and ideas is the goal."

Give students a homework assignment that involves writing in their journals for at least five minutes every day after school. They should also include the number of the prompt they are responding to and date their entries. Through Lesson 2, students ought to keep up their journaling.

Language Skills Mini-Lesson

"Try to include as many details as you can in your journaling over the next few days. To effectively describe your experience or recollection, try using a variety of adjectives. You won't need to worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation for the time being as you journal. However, during this unit, you will select a journal entry to expand upon and revise, rewrite, and edit it. Let's take some time now to learn how to properly separate multiple adjectives with a comma because you will probably write a sentence that contains two or more descriptive adjectives. You'll know the rule when you turn your writing into a narrative at some point.

"Let us define adjectives first." (A word that describes a noun or a pronoun is called an adjective.) "You frequently need to use a comma to separate adjectives when you use more than one to modify a noun. The adjectives must modify the noun in equal but independent ways for there to be a need for a comma. The adjectives can each modify the noun on its own, so a comma is not necessary for them to work together." On the board, write the following guidelines and example sentences: "You can use one of these two tests to see if the adjectives are equal and independent."

Put the word "and" in between the two adjectives. The adjectives are equal if the sentence makes sense even without them.

I was exhausted from the steamy, hot day.
I was exhausted from the hot and steamy day.

"The comma is correct because this example still makes sense with 'and' placed between the two adjectives. Each adjective stands alone and is equal."

She caught a lot of spotted bugs.
She caught a lot of and spotted bugs.

"A comma would be inappropriate in this instance because the word "and" between the two adjectives is not necessary. The adjectives depend on one another to modify the noun; they are not equal and independent."

Change the adjectives' order. Once more, the adjectives are equal if the sentence still makes sense.

I felt exhausted from the steamy, hot day.
I was exhausted from the hot, steamy day.

"The comma is appropriate because this example still makes sense even with the adjectives in the wrong order. Each adjective stands alone and is equal."

She caught a lot of spotted bugs.
She caught and spotted a lot of bugs.

The comma would be wrong in this example because the adjective orders are not consistent. The adjectives depend on one another to change the noun; they are not equal and independent.

"Coordinate adjectives are those that alter the noun in equally spaced, independent ways.

"I'm going to read aloud five sentences. To find out if the two adjectives are coordinated, mentally perform one of the two tests that are written on the board. Write the words "coordinate adjectives" or "not coordinate adjectives" for each of the five sentences on a sheet of paper.

"1. There is a big, new park around the corner." (CA)
"2. The town baseball team will practice there." (NCA)
"3. Wet, brown leaves cover the bench." (CA)
"4. Wispy, thin clouds float by." (CA)
"5. The brisk March breeze lifted a kite into the air." (NCA)

"Write a brief sentence with two or more adjectives that independently and equally modify the same noun on a sheet of paper. Get together with a companion and trade sentences. To make sure the adjectives in your partner's sentence are equal and independent, try the tests on it."

Ask a few pupils to present their sentences to the class. Ensure the punctuation in the student-provided examples is accurate. Write them down for those who learn best visually. Allow listeners to determine if the sentence contains coordinate adjectives that need to be separated with a comma. If necessary, add the commas listed on the board. "In the upcoming lessons, keep in mind to apply this comma rule for coordinate adjectives when you are editing your drafts."

Extention:

When talking about journals and encouraging students to write in them, keep an eye out for any students or classes who don't seem to know what to write about or feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. Reading samples—whether they are from other students, you, or professionals—will help these students. After that, they can try writing about the same topics that are shown in the samples.

Sentence starters like these could be helpful for students who struggle to write in-depth journal entries:

Initially, I...
I observed...
I was informed...
At the time, I was...
I thought about...
I feel now...

See more passages from books that are structured, like diaries or journals. Talk about the advantages journaling provides for the main characters. These novels would be suitable:

Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 2009's Little, Brown, and Company.
Bantam Books, 1993. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley's Journal, 2007's Amulet.