ABSTRACT
Getting children to write entries in a journal is a good way of developing the confidence of struggling writers, especially if they know that their writing will not be formally assessed. It gives them the opportunity to choose what they want to write about and to develop their skills of self-expression without having to worry about whether/not their work is going to reach a satisfactory standard. Introduce the idea of journal writing. Explain that one can use a journal as a record of events, in the same way as one use a diary, or you can use it to express one's thoughts and feelings. Some children who are confident writers will find it easy enough to choose for themselves what to write, but others will need prompting. When you read a pupil's journal, do not mark it as you would any other piece of writing. Instead, write a comment, which is a response to the ideas the pupil expresses.
