Reading Tulip Garden Updates and Collecting Our Thoughts
How to Use This Journal Page in Your Classroom
Journaling helps students reflect on information they read and see. Writing also prepares them for thoughtful small group or whole class discussions. Read Journey North Tulip Garden Updates together as a class. Invite students to revisit the information in small groups or independently and "collect their thoughts" on their journal pages.
In the left-hand column of the journal page, students write an excerpt from the Tulip Garden Update. The excerpt should be one that sparked their interest! You may also ask them to choose an excerpt — a sentence or paragraph — they would like the class to talk about together.
In the right-hand column of the page, students write their thoughts about the excerpts selected. Encourage them to include discoveries, opinions, questions, predictions, and connections.
For students who are new to journaling and reflective response, use questions to facilitate their work:
- Which part of today's News surprised you?
- What information can we use to make predictions about what might happen next week?
- Which sentences or paragraphs made you think about new questions?
Sentence starters are also a way to help students collect their thoughts:
- I discovered . . .
- I think . . .
- I noticed . . .
- I predict that . . .
Wrapping Up:
- When students have collected their thoughts on journal pages, have them share their reflections in small groups or with the whole class.
- Invite students to collect and collate journal pages throughout the season.
- You can use journal pages to assess students' understanding. Read student reflections together and discuss their thinking. Or collect the pages or journals periodically and use Post-it Notes for your comments.
Journal Page
"Collecting My
Thoughts"
