Journal Ideas from the NNWP's Print Publications:

Daily Random Journal Prompt Generator

...annually to find ideas for their daily journals.

Since 2001, this collection of prompts (appropriate for journals and writers notebooks) has remained one of WritingFix's most popular features. Click on the image above to be taken to this amazing resources with over 500 free-to-use prompts.

In 2008, the Northern Nevada Writing Project published its fourth theme-based print guide for teachers. The Going Deep with Compare and Contrast Thinking Guide provides tools, strategies for writing, and complete lessons that encourage deeper thinking from student writers.

When teaching the writing process, you'll find many opportunities to have students do a little comparative thinking. The writing assignments that come after students think about similarities and differences goes beyond the bottom level of Bloom's taxonomy. This is the big point of the Going Deep with Compare and Contrast Thinking Guide; you can find out how to order a copy of this excellent resource by clicking here.

Below, you will find an example of a lesson from this guide that we believe works very well when students are exploring themselves creatively in their journals.

• I Used To Be But Now I Am Poems Nevada teacher Denise Boswell shares a compare and contrast lesson where students find similarities and differences in their own pasts and presents. Have students write rough drafts on their own paper, then copy (and decorate) their final poems into their journals.

In 1995, Teacher Consultants from the Northern Nevada Writing Project worked together to create the NNWP's first print guide for teachers: The Elementary Writing Guide. The Washoe County School District generously agreed to print 1200 copies of this 400-page resource to distribute among every elementary teacher in Northern Nevada's largest county.

In 2000, the EWG underwent a revision, which aligned the guide's original content to Nevada's new academic standards. A generous again from the Washoe County School District paid for the printing and distribution of the new guide.

In 2007, the guide was printed for the last time. The rising price of paper inspired the NNWP to began posting the EWG's contents on-line here at WritingFix. Here are two excellent journal resources from the guide.

• "Journals for Fluency" discussion, elementary journal prompts, and student samples First published in the 1990 edition of the EWG, here are six pages that provide a foundation for keeping journals with student writers.
• Dialogue Journals a variation for journal keeping, plus student examples of what a dialogue journal can sound like.

In 1998, Teacher Consultants from the Northern Nevada Writing Project worked together to create the NNWP's second print guide for teachers: The Secondary Writing Guide. The Washoe County School District generously agreed to print 500 copies of this 450-page resource to distribute among every secondary language arts teacher in Northern Nevada's largest county.

In 2004, the SWG underwent a revision, which aligned the guide's original content to Nevada's new academic standards. A generous grant from the Walter S Johnson Foundation paid for the revision and distribution of the new guide.

In 2007, the guide was printed for the last time. The rising price of paper inspired the NNWP to began posting the SWG's contents on-line here at WritingFix. Here are three journal resources from the guide.

• Introduction to journaling and a list of good journal topics First published in the 1995 edition of the SWG, here are two pages that provide a foundation for keeping journals with student writers.
• Additional journal topics Six additional pages of good journal topics, first featured in the 1995 edition, then expanded on for the 2004 edition.
• Coat of Arms assignment Here's a creative and personalized activity that can serve as a great cover for students' journals or as a page inside a journal.

Here's a great lesson from the collection of chapter book prompts that WritingFix began in 2006. This lesson is also featured at HistoryFix, and it requires students to create a fictional journal entry from the point-of-view of a small character who has witnessed a significant moment in history.

Lesson: Historical Journal Entries

Lesson's mentor text: Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad

Lesson's focus trait: Organization (using the journal format)
Lesson's support trait:Voice (capturing a character's perspective realistically)

Lesson summary: Writers will create a detailed journal entry from the point-of-view of a character who never actually existed.  The journal entry will be from a day in history that the writer has researched and found interesting facts about.  The journal entry will combine a character's voice and historical facts.

An Offer for WritingFix Users
Who Believe in Sharing:

The NNWP's Elementary Writing Guide and Secondary Writing Guide were printed for the last time in 2007 because of the rise in paper prices. It now costs the NNWP between $15 and $20 to print and bind each guide.

Eventually both guides' contents will be completely available and free-to-use here at WritingFix.

In the meantime, we are letting you in on a little secret: we have in our warehouse about 100 final copies of each guide to distribute to teachers who use WritingFix and are willing to share their own original classroom resources with us.

We are looking for original, teacher-created journaling tools, handouts and activity write-ups that we can share here at this page. If any K-12 teacher reads our submission guidelines, then sends us a one- or two-page resource we can share here, we will send you one of the last available copies of either Writing Guide.

Contact Desiree Gray, this page's host, if you have a creative journaling resource or idea to share that you believe matches our submission guidelines.