I’ve always loved to write and make up stories. During my years in the classroom, I tried to pass that “passion” on to my students. We wrote poetry, stories, all kinds of stories. And they had to keep a daily journal. Mondays were always about their weekend. Tuesday through Friday, I generally had a prompt written on the white board. Some days were free choice. Animals were often the main character. Some were naughty, some were well-behaved. There was always a conflict to be solved and a resolution required. Rat became a favorite character so we stuck with his adventures for a while.

    Journal Writing: sharing two entries involving Rat.  

     After the Pledge of Allegiance was said and while I took attendance and lunch count, made the announcements, the students were to write in their Daily Journal – 10 sentences minimum, which increased as the year rolled on, and an illustration had to be included. We would have a brief discussion on the prompt before they began their writing. When time was up, I’d ask for volunteers to share their entry. Kids love to share their work so eventually I had to set up a “sharing schedule.” At the end of the school year, I asked the students if I could keep one entry from their journal. They could choose which entry to give, they could choose to give me one or not. I said to them, “Maybe one day I’ll put all these entries together and they’ll get published.” Hasn’t happened yet, but what was given to me is precious. I still have them. I still have all the prompts, my prompts. I taught 4th and 5th grades, many times a combo. I also taught 3rd grade but that was early on in my career.

     This student – Ryan – named his entries “The Many Adventures of Rat.”

     PROMPT:  Rat. Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet eating porridge. Rat came along with Spider and stole Miss Muffet’s porridge. How? Why? Should there be a punishment for this behavior? What would be the punishment? Draw a picture. 10 minimum.

     Ryan’s entry.  

     First of all, Spider wanted revenge. This morning, Miss Muffet almost broke one of his legs. So Spider went and got his friend Rat. They made a plan. Rat used his sewing skills to make a waffle costume. Rat put on the costume and went to yell at Miss Muffet, “We want revenge! We want revenge!” But it didn’t work. Miss Muffet didn’t care. So Spider used his cooking skills to make a pumpkin pie. They went to Miss Muffet and threw it at her and stole the porridge. But then, Miss Muffet caught them and poured porridge on them. It was still warm. They got their punishment! The End. 

 

     PROMPT:  Rat is having an argument with Venus Fly Trap. It seems Venus ate Rat’s pet fly. How did this happen? How can you help work this problem out? Draw a picture. 13 minimum.

     Shalaya’s entry.

     It’s not Venus’ fault because Rat knows that Venus Fly Trap eats flies. Rat should not have let his pet fly roam free. He should be responsible for his pet. His fly was named Flammy. It all happened when Rat’s fly was flying over Venus. Venus could not help it. She was hungry. So the unspeakable happened. She just snapped and ate Flammy. She did feel guilty afterwards. I could help by talking with them and getting Rat a new pet fly. Also, I could get Venus a bucket of flies so she would leave Rat’s pet fly alone. Rat would still miss his old fly Flammy but he would love his new one too. Venus would love the food. They’ll live happily ever after.

     ***I hope my students continued to write. Not just journal writing but of all sorts of writing. I always enjoyed reading their entries. They made me smile.