Transcript What is a Writer’s Notebook?

MCMS
Literacy Booster
Ideas for Writing in a Writer’s Notebook
Based on information from:
A Writer’s Notebook, Unlocking the
Writer Within You
By: Ralph Fletcher
What is a Writer’s Notebook?
A writer’s notebook is not a diary!
Writers react. Writers need a place to
record these reactions. That’s what a
writer’s notebook is for. It gives you
a place to write down what makes
you angry or sad or amazed, to write
down what you noticed and don’t
want to forget. A writer’s notebook
gives you a place to live like a writer.
Unforgettable Stories
What moves you?
Whenever you hear a story that stirs
something inside of you, take out
your notebook and write!
Look for stories that inspire,
fascinate, fill you with wonder.
What stories keep tumbling through
your mind even when you try not to
think of them?
Fierce Wonderings
Pay attention to what haunts you, what
images or memories keep running around
in your mind even when you try not to
think about them.
What do you wonder about?
Explore these questions in your notebook.
Writing Small
Use the writer’s notebook to jot down the
important little details you notice or hear
about. Details make writing come alive!
You can train yourself to notice the details
around you. Use all of your senses.
Reread your notebook and look for places
where you are using vague, general words.
What other words could you use???
Seed Ideas
A writer’s notebook is just like an
incubator: a protective place to keep our
infant idea safe and warm, a place to
grow while it is too young, too new to
survive on its own. In time you may
decide to go back to that idea, add to it,
change it, or combine it with another
idea. Don’t expect the seeds to sprout
immediately. A writer needs patience.
Mind Pictures
Pay attention to your world. Drink in the
world through your five senses. Use your
notebook to capture mind “photographs”
you take of the world around you.
Collect mind pictures wherever you are:
the city sidewalk, YMCA, church, train
station, pet store. Use all your senses.
Try to describe as carefully and honestly
as you can.
Dreams
Get into the habit of writing down dreams
before they leave you. Your notebook can
work as an alarm clock to remind you to
wake up and pay attention to what’s
happening in your world, both inside and
out.
Snatches of Talk
Writers are fascinated by talk, obsessed
with what people say and how they say
it, how they interrupt themselves, the
words they repeat, the way they
pronounce or mispronounce certain
words. The way we talk says as ton
about who we are. Notebooks can be
filled with dialogue. Learn to listen
wherever you go.
Lists
Many writers keep lists: favorite books,
movies to see, ideas for all sorts of
writing projects. Keep a section in your
notebook for your favorite words, unusual
words, new words, and remarkable words.
Listing facts is one of the best ways to
brainstorm about a subject that interests
you.
Memories
Memories just may be the most important
possession any writer has. Our memories
shape what we write. As a writer, you
need to connect yourself with your own
unique history. When you explore
memories in your writing, pay attention
to the feelings connected to it. Exploring
a memory includes looking into not only
what happened but also how it affected
you then, and how it affects you know.
Writing that Inspires
The notebook can work as a scrapbook to
collect important relics from your life.
You can also use your notebook as a
different sort of scrapbook, a place to
gather writing that inspires you. Use your
notebook as a container to hold all the
beautiful writing you collect.
Rereading: Digging Out the Crystals
How do you separate crystal from dull
rock? Reread and sift out the most
valuable pieces, bits that spark your own
original writing. Ask yourself: What
seems interesting/intriguing? What stuff
do I care about? What ideas keep
tugging at me? What seems bold and
original? Reread. Look for seeds. Look
for sparks.
Final thought about what a notebook
is from fifth grader, Briana Carlin.
A notebook is where you keep dew drops from
a dew drop morning. It’s where the sun sets.
It’s the wind in your face at the beach looking
out over the water. A notebook is where
you’re playing with your dog. It’s where you
have dreams about walking on rainbows. It’s
where the good feelings and the bad feelings
spend the night.
Over time in a writing workshop I
hope to see students developing...
 Sense of self as writers
 ways of reading the world like writers, collecting ideas
with variety, volume, and thoughtfulness
 as members of a responsive, literate community
 ways of reading texts like writers, developing a sense of
craft, genre, and form in writing
 a sense of audience, and an understanding of how to
prepare writing into the world
From: The Writing Workshop, by Katie Ray
What tone looks like and
sounds like...
 What’s on the walls and hanging around the
room?
 Look at the geography of the room. Does this
look like a place where I am supposed to work
with other students or where I should stick to
myself?
 Look to see where the teacher is in the room. Is
she/he out where the students are, teaching
alongside them while they work?
 Look around to see what materials are in the room.
 Look to see how neat or how cluttered the room is.
 What kind of talk is going on in the room?
 When the teacher talks, is it loud and direct like
she/he thinks no one really wants to listen
anyway?
 What kinds of questions does the teacher ask
his/her students?
 Does the teacher’s response to his/her students
show that he/she was really listening to them?
 Watch to see how students carry on in the
classroom.
 Keep an eye on the clock. How is time used
in the classroom?
 Look at what students are working on in
their writing.
 Ask a student to tell you about writing
workshop in the class. Does the student
understand what this time is for?
From: The Writing Workshop, by Katie Ray
Notebook Checklist
 Keep your notebook with you at all times.
 Date every entry.
 Do not skip pages.
 All drawings should have writing with them.
 Number the pages.
 Write daily.
 Vary your topics.
 Care for your notebook.
 Make sure there is evidence of what you’re learning in
your notebook.
Application/Homework
Write in your writer’s notebook. Share
your notebook writing experiences with
your students.
Bring a book to the next staff development
meeting that you used to teach
notebook/folder writing. Be prepared to
share with your colleagues how you used
the book to teach an aspect of writing.