High School Student Journal Topics
Writing in journals can be a great way for students to generate ideas for a creative writing workshop. In writing journals, students can also respond to essential questions and explore concepts from reading or class discussions. Use a variety of student journal topics to allow students to enhance writing skills and explore literary techniques.
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Sensory Detail
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Giving students images, sights or sounds that they can journal about is an effective way to inspire creative writing. Often, a teacher will give all students one object to observe with all the senses, then ask them to journal about their observations. When students use sensory detail in journaling, it becomes a part of their writing practice and is more likely to be included in more formal types of writing.
Comparisons
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Similes, metaphors, analogies and allusions are all ways of comparing situations or objects within a narrative that make writing more expressive. Journal topics that include similes and metaphors often ask students to compare one situation to another similar situation, or to compare a person's feature to an object. Skillful incorporation of similes, metaphors, analogies and allusions is an important technique in sophisticated writing.
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Descriptive Writing
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Descriptive journal entries focus on incorporation of adjectives and other terms to accurately and completely describe an object or situation. Often, in descriptive writing, a teacher will ask students to journal about something simple like a day on the beach, or their morning ritual. Then, students will return to their entry to read what they've written with the goal of incorporating more description than before. Descriptive writing can include similes and metaphors as well as sensory detail. The goal is to describe a situation so completely the reader feels as though they are taking part in the writer's journey.
Responsive Writing
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Responsive journaling is when students respond to an open-ended question with the goal of exploring their own ideas and perceptions through writing. The questions might range from philosophical to specific literary response questions. In the latter, students might respond to a particular aspect of literature, such as character or plot development. The goal of responsive writing is for students to develop their thinking and practice writing as part of that process.
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References
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