Journaling as a Genre Study: Making Journal Writing Meaningful

by Erin Ryan

“ Journal writing allows us to discover both the island that is our self and to see the bridges connecting our island to the mainland” –Anne Aldrich

Rationale for Genre Studies

As educators, we are constantly learning, changing, adapting, expanding, and re-evaluating everything we do in the classroom. A relatively new approach, or at least a recently popular approach, is the idea of studying literature as genres. Although it is argued that variety is the spice of life, sometimes students need to be immersed into literature in order to learn and understand the difference between specific genres. As Lucy Calkins writes in her book entitled, The Art of Teaching Writing , “We regard genre studies as fundamental enough to shape our curriculum around them. We find that when an entire class inquires into a genre, it is life-giving. It opens doors and leaves a lot of room for variety and choice, while also allowing the classroom to inquire deeply into something together” (363). In other words, by engaging students into the world of a single genre, they are able to live it as well as learn from it.

According to Charles R. Cooper, genres are “types of writing produced every day in our culture, types of writing that make possible certain kinds of learning and social interaction” (25). Many students know more about specific genres then they are conscious of in the first place. The teacher's job is only to embrace this unconscious knowledge and help them realize it. In fact, most readers have a preferred genre that they enjoy reading the most or a section of the bookstore that they tend to drift towards. Another interesting position on genre studies comes from a book called Time for Meaning , where author Randy Boomer discusses how genre studies are the “fundamental shaping force” for literary imagination (117). He goes on to say, “Every piece of writing, every text we read, comes to us as both a text – the piece it is – and a kind of text – an instance of genre” (118). In addition, Boomer argues that we cannot expect students to write a great argumentative essay for example, without reading argumentative essays first. Although Cooper's and Boomer's outlooks on genre studies are somewhat different, both authors imply that teaching in specific genres will only help students grow as readers and writers.

In terms of journal writing as a genre, students need to think of themselves as writers with important things to say. When students read other published journals first, they are able to learn from the characteristics and style of those journals and then reproduce them in their own writing. When this is happens, rather than assigning journal writing as an “end of the day time-filler,” journaling changes from a written list of the day's events into wonderful prose with purpose and meaning. In a genre study, students will be able to read and analyze different journals from all different time periods and about people with extremely different lives. In addition, students will be able to see, understand, and create their own journal entries full of rich detailed language. Teaching and implementing journal writing as a genre will only enhance student writing and perhaps even create life-long writers.

History of Journal Writing

Journal writing is a unique genre because it usually helps the reader to walk in someone else's shoes. For example, The Diary of Anne Frank illustrates the Holocaust from the eyes of an innocent child, the journals of Lewis and Clark take students on journeys to far away places, while Sylvia Plath's journal reveals internal secrets and hidden thoughts. Without these journals, we wouldn't know the things we do about these courageous people and the lives they lived. In addition to this list, many other published journals reveal the lives of astronauts, Native Americans, prisoners, soldiers, cancer patients, and the list goes on.

In the past, the most interesting journals came from men because women were rarely taught how to read or write, and if they did know how, they were not very good at writing. On the website, http://www.writingthejourney.com/features/history.htm it states that the process and need for journaling was different for men than for women as things began to change. To quote,

By the early 19th century, several European journals were published, creating more of an interest in journal keeping, and it became a passion during the Victorian era.  As the Industrial Revolution began changing the roles of men and women, their journals also changed.  The men's journals continue to write about city life and its political and social concerns, while the women's journals become introspective and reflective.

Regardless of the reason for keeping a journal or the intended audience, students will be able to learn from reading published journals and studying them as a whole. In addition, students will embark on expeditions to new places with new people and create a journal that perhaps someday, people will admire in the same respect.

My Personal Rationale for Journal Writing

As a young child, my extraordinary imagination and uncanny ability to daydream often became so intense, that I truly began to believe I was Anne Frank, locked up in my tiny confined attic. Sometimes, I would write such powerful love letters to imaginary boyfriends that I really thought it might be him when the telephone rang. I remember all these things so vividly not because I have an impeccable memory, but because they are all stored in nineteen journals that I have filled from the age of seven. When I thought no one was listening, I wrote about it in my journal. When I experienced my first kiss, I wrote about it in my journal. When I had a good day or a bad one, a personal revelation, a loss in the family, or a new poem, I wrote it in-between the lines of thousands of pages in my journals.

Although all are equally important to me, the journals from my high school days reveal my most honest struggles with finding a voice, self-destruction, as well as self-loathing,

emotional growth, and most importantly my thoughts without censorship, or fear of evaluation. Instituting journaling as an important part of your English curriculum will provide your students with an alternative fire escape to climb up and down in the hopes of self-exploration. Journaling will function as the podium your students preach from and the soapbox they have the nerve to stand on. Unfortunately, there isn't a mold we can shove our students into that will shape them into responsible adults. However, helping them to hear their own voices without the temptation of conformity and anxiety of evaluation, will allow them to feel things out for themselves, and decide who they are as individuals.

Why Incorporate Journal Writing

Although I have touched upon it briefly, it is important to understand why journaling is so vital for your secondary school students. It is valuable for your students to experience writing in creative ways that allow personal voice and freedom to unravel itself. Calkins writes, “We care about writing when we write with, for, and about the people who matter to us, and when we write about or “off of” the issues and experiences that matter to us” (14). I can remember some of my classmates in high school saying that they hated writing because they were never able to relate to the papers or novels we were assigned. Obviously, when students feel detached from their work, they will not strive for excellence, but just a finished product. One of the only things I felt attached to in high school was my journal. I struggled more than most of my friends trying to uncover the blueprint for my life. While looking through some of my old journals, I found an entry from October 1, 1996 entitled, Ginger Bread House. I remember despising most of my classmates because they all seemed so similarly fake. I suspiciously watched them move around in monotonous mechanical and rhythmic motions. I wrote,

The girl in a box marked fragile, smiles and she cracks in half. Like a two-sided mirror, she secretively sees right through them all. These faceless puppets dance upon the stage of conformity, eager to please, yet clueless as to why. Unwilling to dance, the walls of her gingerbread house came crashing down. Now her life exists of only what pieces she picks up, so she laughs, waves and together in unison, the puppets wave back.

Perhaps it is a bit extreme to say that my journal was my sanity and without it I would have set the school on fire or gunned down my classmates; however, it is clear that like many students at this age, I was attempting to find a way to fit in, without losing myself. In the book entitled, Notes from Myself: A Guide to Creative Journal Writing , Anne Aldrich suggests that the journals will function as more than a writing device for the students. She says, “They need to retreat from their parents from whom they are beginning to separate in a natural and necessary, but not painless, way. They need their secret place, where their private and personal mysteries can be explored” (14).

To Begin a Genre Study on Journals

Rather than simply giving students examples and definitions of journals, teachers should allow students to learn and explore in an inquiry based learning environment; Especially when the moment the teacher mentions the word “journal” the students' heads will fill up with various misconceived notions of journals. The following are examples of journal entries from four very different people. The authors' names have intentionally been left out so that the students will focus on the characteristics of the literature. Read the entries aloud with your students, and ask them to think about the following questions as you read. “What kind of writing does this sound like to you? Are there any similarities between the passages? Are they similar to anything that we have read before?”

Journal Examples

"I like punk rock. I like girls with weird eyes. I like drugs. (But my body and mind won't allow me to take them). I like passion. I like playing my cards wrong. I like vinyl. I like to feel guilty for being a white, American male. I love to sleep. I like to taunt small, barking dogs in parked cars. I like to make people feel happy and superior in their reaction towards my appearance. I like to have strong opinions with nothing to back them up with besides my primal sincerity. I like sincerity. I lack sincerity. I've read so many pathetic second rate, Freudian evaluations from interviews from my childhood, up until the present state of my personality and how at any minute I am going to O.D. jump off a roof wig out blow my head off or all 3 at once. Oh Pleez Gawd, I can't handle the success! The success! And I feel so incredibly guilty!”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­

“It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm going to go crazy if I don't get out of this house. Mom's watching some dumb movie – one of those black and white things from before I was born. She's got it turned up real loud, like that's going to keep Matt and me from knowing she's crying. Only I don't think she's crying about the movie. She'd be crying anyway.

Since my dad left, it's been like Mom's not really here, either. She could be a ghost or a shadow. Now that I think about it, though, she's always kind of a shadow. When Dad was here, it was whatever Dad wanted, Mom did. I don't know why she misses him. It's not like anyone was happy when he was around.”

“The corps consisted of forty-three men ... part of the regular troops of the United States , and part engaged for this particular enterprize.

The best authenticated accounts informed us, that we were to pass through a country possessed by numerous, powerful and warlike nations of savages, of gigantic stature, fierce, treacherous and cruel; and particularly hostile to white men. And fame had united with tradition in opposing mountains to our course, which human enterprize and exertion would attempt in vain to pass.”

“The sun is shining, the sky is a deep blue, there is a lovely breeze and I'm longing – so longing—for everything. To talk, for freedom, for friends, to be alone. And I do so long….to cry! I feel as if I'm going to burst, and I know that it would get better with crying; but I can't I'm restless, I go from one room to the other, breathe through the crack of a closed window, feel my heart beating, as if it is saying, “Can't you satisfy my longings at last?”

­

*******

After reading these examples to the class, have students write down their immediate reactions to the passages and have students volunteer to share their responses. Students should recognize that these passages are relatively informal pieces of writing. At this time, the teacher should ask the students to respond to the initial questions that were asked before reading the passages. “What kind of writing does this sound like to you? Are there any similarities between the passages? Are they similar to anything that we have read before?” As a class, students will begin to make a list of similarities and/or characteristics of the four passages in their notebooks. See the examples below.

Although the journal entries are quite different in content, what are some similarities?

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

Based on the four journal excerpts that we read, what are some possible motivations and/or reasons that people might write in journals?

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

At this point, depending on the level of students, you may or may not have to provide more examples before moving on to some more concrete definitions of journals. (A list of more published journals is included at the end of this chapter.)

Some Definitions:

Again, it is important that students understand that this is a genre study of journals. It is most likely different from other encounters (if any) they have had with journaling in previous English classes. Studying journals as a whole-class genre study includes looking at the different reasons for writing journals, as well as analyzing what makes a journal interesting to read.

Other Descriptions (For Teacher Use)

Journal writing in the classroom can take many forms. Some teachers use journal writing to meet specific goals; others use journals for more fluid purposes.

• Some teachers allow students to write freely about any topic; others provide writing prompts for students to respond to.
• Some teachers read every entry in their students' journals; others read only student-selected excerpts; still others use journaling as an opportunity for free expression.
• Some teachers check and correct journal entries and work on polishing students' writing skills; others use journals as the one "uncorrected" form of writing that students produce.

It is also important to talk to your students about why you are investigating the genre of journals in the first place. While some teachers do not feel it is necessary for students to understand why they are asked to learn certain things, I believe that students deserve to know. The only reason that I can fathom as to why teachers would want to withhold this information is because they themselves do not know; which is a problem in itself. The following is a list of benefits that teachers can provide students with regarding journaling.

Benefits of Journals

The potential benefits of journal writing are many, including opportunities to:

• Sort out experiences, solve problems and consider varying perspectives.
• Examine relationships with others and the world.
• Reflect on personal values, goals, and ideals.
• Summarize ideas, experience and opinions before and after instruction.
• Witness his academic and personal growth by reading past entries.

Because the goal of this genre study is that students will learn from the journals read in class and then be able to write their own, it is important that students have a starting point. The teacher should review the different reasons why people keep a journal in the first place. To relate back to the four previously mentioned passages, the first passage (Kurt Cobain's) was written to express feelings and personal anguishes. The second passage (from Don't you Dare Read this Mrs. Dunphrey ) was written by a young girl in a journal that was assigned by her English teacher. In the third passage, the people on the Lewis and Clark voyage kept journals in order to document their travels. In the fourth passage, Anne Frank kept a diary while hiding in the attic during the Holocaust to past-time and free emotions. However, in each case, the reader was able to discover what it was like for that specific person even if for only one day.

Setting Students Up with Ideas for Journaling

If you have your own journals, share them with the class. Explain to your students how you are able to relive your past and reflect on how far you have come as a writer and a person. If you do not have a journal to show them, start one as a model with the class and make it personal by decorating it. The most important is to be excited and positive about the implementation of the journal. Have the students personalize their own journals with pictures, magazine clippings, favorite quotes, etc., As a starting point have the students write the following list of possible journal topics as a reference guide for ideas when they can't think of something to write about.

Journal Topics:

First and/or favorite memories

Favorite authors/books

Favorite vacations

Things you hate

Things that scare you

A teacher you had

Dreams

Best friends

Times when you were disappointed

Favorite songs

Parents/Families

Embarrassing moments

First loves

Pets

Places you want to visit

Inspiring people

Losing someone you love

Favorite poems

Things you don't understand

Questions you have about…

What you see from your bedroom window

Sports

If I could change one thing about…

As Margot Soven writes in her book Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools Theory, Research, and Practice, “High school students will continue to enjoy writing if teachers continue to provide meaningful experiences without increasing their fear or evaluation. Students will be motivated to write if they have something worth writing about” (2). This is why it is worthwhile to have the class volunteer more suggestions for possible journaling topics. Encourage the students to continue to build on the list as they think of more ideas throughout the year. In addition, tell students that every time they write in their journals, they should imagine that someday it will be read by someone leading a completely different life in a completely different time period and that the goal is the reader should be able to envision what it was like to live in their individual shoes.

It is likely that there will be some rejection and complaining from the moment the class hears the word journal, so it is crucial that you have a plan of attack. Instead of bribing your students to write everyday by saying things like, “No one will read it,” promote journaling as an adventure. The most important is to be excited and positive about the implementation of the journal. The worst way of presenting the journaling assignment is to say something like this, “Now class, I know you are going to hate this at first and it seems like a lot of work but…” This type statement reaffirms negative connotations related to journals, and the students will automatically perceive it as more work that they do not need. Instead, promote journals as a legal addiction, a high that lets them escape from the world, school and their parents. Calkins quotes Theodore Roethke in her book, who said, “If our lives don't feel significant, sometimes it's not our lives, but our response to our lives, which needs to be richer” (7).

Additionally, teachers can provide students with a set of guidelines for journal writing as a way to free the writer's inside of each of them. In her book, Writing Down the Bones , Natalie Goldberg suggests six simple guidelines she proposes to other teachers and students when it comes to journaling. She writes ,

1. Keep your hand moving. (Don't pause to reread the line you have just written. That's stalling and trying to get control of what you're saying.)

1. Don't cross out. (That is editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.)
2. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
3. Lose control.
4. Don't think. Don't get logical.
5. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary, or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)

Prewriting Mini Lesson

Although many students would be able to sit down and simply begin writing, other students will claim, “I have nothing to write about!” Because of the reluctant writers, it is a good idea to have a mini lesson on brainstorming and prewriting techniques. This mini lesson will be especially useful if you are starting the school year with journals because students will be able to use these prewriting strategies all year.

Your Task:

Before you begin writing anything, it is a good idea to brainstorm some possible writing topics and ideas. In the graphic organizers below, put a journaling topic in the middle circle. Choose a topic of your own list or from the list we created as a class. On the outside lines, write down whatever comes to your mind when you think the word(s) in the middle. Make sure you think about taste, touch, smell, sound, sight, feelings, etc. in order to include vivid details to help you write your first journal entry.

After students finish filling out the graphic organizers, ask for volunteers to share their ideas with the class. The teacher should ask questions to the volunteers that will require them to include even more detail to their graphic organizers. At this time, students should choose one of the topics they brainstormed and begin writing.

Mini Lesson on Adding Details

Using a journal entry from Don't you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey, students will be able to see how adding detail changes and enhances the meaning for the reader. The goal is that students will look at the first journal entry they have written and add even more detail to it.

1. Start by giving the students the two passages from Don't you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey.

1. Have a student read the first passage aloud.

1. Ask:
1. As a reader, what did you want to know more about?
2. Was this entry interesting to read? Why or why not?

1. Have a student read the second passage aloud.

1. Ask:
1. How was this entry different than the first entry?
2. How does adding detail change this entry?

1. Conclude by having students look at the first entry they wrote in their journals. Have the students re-write a few sentences underneath their entry, but with VIVID detail. The reader should be able to picture it, smell it, taste it, feel it, etc. If students think that they have enough detail in their entry, have the students pair up and read what they wrote to someone else. If the listener can ask questions like, “What did it look like? How did you feel? Who else was with you?” then the writer must add more detail.

First Passage

I remember one winter. I was ten. It was around Christmas, and we decorated the tree. When Dad brought it home, Matt started talking about Santa Claus. He was talking about getting presents. He was young, and didn't know any better. Dad told him that it was too cold and that Santa would not come this year. Matt started crying and Granma hugged him and was angry at Dad. Dad got mad at Granma and left the house. Mom chased him out into the cold. We could hear them yelling. We stayed inside on the couch. They yelled outside. The tree looked pretty.

Second Passage

“I remember one winter when I was maybe ten, it was really, really, cold. It was Christmastime, and Granma had Matt and me trying to decorate the Christmas tree. (It was just one of those fake silver one – real ugly.) Dad came home, and he had icicles hanging from his beard, it was that cold. Matt ran up to him and started gibbering about Santa Claus coming and bringing presents- matt was only two or three then, so he didn't know any better. Anyhow, Dad told him, “Oh Matt, don't you know? It's so cold outside that all Santa's reindeer are going to freeze. No presents this year.”

Matt started crying, and Granma tool him up on her lap and kept saying, “Ssh, ssh, it's all right. That's not true. Reindeer can stand any kind of weather.” The whole time she was glaring at Dad. Dad got mad and started yelling about how Granma thought she know more about taking care of his kids than he did. He ran outside and Mom ran after him, even though she was just wearing slippers and a robe. No coat. Dad couldn't get the truck to start, and Granma and Matt and me, we cold hear the engine turning over and over, and Mom and Dad yelling at each other. And Mom crying.

The weird this is, I remember that as a happy moment, because Matt and Granma and me were all cuddled up on the couch together. It was warm in the house, and Mom and Dad yelling was something outside, like the wind, that couldn't get to us. The lights on the silver tree were blinking on and off, all bright and shiny. I thought it was beautiful” (10).

Peer Review

Peer review is an effective way for students to read, respond, and evaluate each other's work before the teacher sees it. Also, students are able to learn from each other and evaluate their own piece of writing based on a classmate's piece. As Soven points out in her book, “…many teachers will tell you that they tried peer editing and it just doesn't work. They often cite two reasons: Students comments are not sufficiently specific, and they do not stay on task” (48). However, rather than having students simply trade papers and read for errors, providing students with a list of specific questions that they must answer will give students a guideline to make the process meaningful. Additionally, by assigning a grade to the peer review, students will take the assignment more seriously and provide better feedback for their peers. Below is an example of detailed peer review questions that would be appropriate for journaling assignments done in the scheme of the genre study of journals.

Peer Review Questions

Read your partner's journal entry and answer the following questions. Remember that you want to help your peer create a great journal entry so answer the questions as honest and as specific as possible. Also, you will be handing in the peer review sheets for a grade at the end of class.

Writer____________________

Reviewer_____________________

•  Has the author written thoughtfully about the chosen topic or the prompt he/she has been given?  Has the writer invested him or herself emotionally in this piece of writing?  Provide evidence of this.

•  Does this writing have voice or does it sound generic, as if the writer is writing for the teacher instead of for him or herself or the intended audience?  If you think this journal has a clear voice, give a sentence or two as evidence of this.  If it sounds like a generic response, where in the journal could the author expand or elaborate to make the journal more personal?

•  Has the writer seemed to have exhausted his/her thoughts and feelings on this subject?  Does the journal seem vague or is it an example of a well-developed, reflective piece of writing?  What questions has the writer left unanswered? What questions does the reader need answered? Where in this piece of writing could the writer elaborate?  Has the writer provided a clear picture for the reader about the subject?  Does the reader know the writer better because of the thoughts and feelings expressed in this piece of writing?

•  Is this journal organized?  Does it flow well?  Is it reader friendly, or does the reader have to constantly stop and reread in order to understand this writing?

•  Is this journal clear? What about it is unclear?  What suggestions could be given to this writer to improve this response?

•  Has this journal been edited for spelling and grammatical mistakes?  Edit this rough draft for grammatical errors.

After a five week period, the teacher would collect the journals and use the peer review questions as a rubric for grading the journal assignments. Students will be familiar with these questions, and understand that if the journal assignments do not meet the standards and guidelines stated in the peer review questions, their grades will be affected. Rather than a grade at the end of the entries with a few comments, the students will be able to read and benefit from the teacher's responses to the questions. This will also reaffirm the purpose and meaning of this genre study.

Lesson Preparing for Regents Examination

To prepare the students for the Regents, they will be given a sample Task III Box with an example from a journal and an example from another genre. For this assignment the example used is an entry from Anne Frank's Diary and a passage from Night by Elie Wiesel which they have previously read. They will begin by reading the passages aloud as a class. Then, in small groups, they will answer the multiple choice questions. Using graphic organizers, students will begin mapping out the controlling idea or theme from the two passages and create a thesis sentence. Once students have a working thesis, they will write the essay as they would from the Regents. The students will have to finish the essay as homework and bring it in ready for peer review. The lesson will look similar to this:

Directions: Read the passages on the following pages (a journal entry and an excerpt from a novel) and answer the multiple choice questions. Then write the essay described in “Your Task”.

Your Task:

After you have read the passages and answered the multiple-choice questions, write a unified essay about the effect of the Holocaust on these young writers as revealed in the passages. In your essay, use ideas from both passages to establish a controlling idea about the effects of the Holocaust on these two young Jewish people who lived during this time period. Use evidence from both passages to develop your controlling idea, and show how each author used specific literary elements or techniques to convey ideas.

Guidelines:

* Use ideas from both passages to establish a controlling idea about the effects of the

Holocaust on the young Jewish people as revealed in the passages

* Use specific and relevant evidence from both passages to develop your controlling idea

* Show how each author uses specific literary elements (theme, irony, figurative

language) to portray the effects of the Holocaust

* Organize your ideas in a logical and coherent manner

* Use language that communicates ideas effectively

* Follow the conventions of standard written English

(Directions and Guidelines taken from an actual Regents)

Diaries and Journals – Young Adult

The Amazing and Death-Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman by Paul Zindel

The Beginning of Unbelief by Robin Jones

Bunkhouse Journal by Diane Johnston Hamm

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

Don't you Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Ducky, Diary Two by Ann Martin

The Falcon by Jackie French Koller

A Handful of Stars by Rafik Schami

Letters to Julia by Barbara Ware Holmes

Somebody Else's Baby by Geraldine Kaye

Sydney, Herself by Colby F. Rodowsky

Tangerine by Edward Bloor

3 NBs of Julian Drew by James Deem

What Kind of Love? The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager by Sheila Cole

Who's Reading Darcy's Diary? By Martha Tolles

Great Resources to Teach Journal Writing

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins

Notes from Myself: A Guide to Creative Journal Writing by Anne Hazard Aldrich

Journaling: Engagements in reading, writing and thinking by Karen Bromley

Writing Down the Days: 365 creative journaling ideas for young people by Lorraine Dahlstorm

Some Famous Journals and Diaries

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis

The Diary of Anais Nin by Anais Nin

The Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath

Journal of Solitude by May Sarton

The Diary of Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf

Helpful Websites: Writing the Journey http://www.writingthejourney.com/features/readjournals.htm

Anne Frank

Benjamin Franklin

Sarah Cordelia Wright

Bernard Voyer

Syms Covington

Sir Joseph Banks

George Washington

Bobby Sands

Theodore Roosevelt

Elvis Presley

Laurence Fishburne

Samuel Pepys

Works Cited

Aldrich, Anne Hazard. Notes from Myself: A Guide to Creative Journal Writing. New

York : Carroll & Graf, 1998.

Atwell, Nancy. In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading and

Learning. Portsmouth , N.H. : Boynton-Cook, 1998.

Calkins, Lucy McCormick. The Art of Teaching Writing . Portsmouth , N.H. :

Heinemann, 1994.

Cooper, Charles R. Evaluating Writing: The Role of Teacher's Knowledge about Text

Learning, and Culture . National Council of Teachers of English, Ill. 1999.

Gauthier, Lane Roy. “Academic journals and small groups: Confluencing strategies for

content area comprehension in middle school.” The New England Reading

Association Journal. 39.2 (2003): 23-28.

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within . Boston :

Shambhala, 1986.

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don't you dare read this, Mrs. Dunphrey. New York : Simon

& Schuster, 1996.

Soven, Margot Iris. Teaching Writing in Middle and Secondary Schools: Theory,

Research, and Practice . Boston : Allyn and Bacon, 1999.