Encourage your children to incorporate note taking into their reading activities. Novels, short stories, and even poetry will take on new meaning as they record profound quotes, funny quips and new vocabulary.
Note-taking should not become a tedious, overwhelming task. It should not impede, but enhance your child’s reading experience. Initiate the process with manageable goals. Inspire your child to record one quote that they find particularly interesting. If your child is young ( late elementary), he could search for an unfamiliar word in his reading.
Obtain a simple but distinct notebook or journal for your son or daughter. This will become their companion as they read. My experience has been that this journal should be unique, something your child will treasure. Title a page with the title of their present book and begin utilizing it immediately.
Your child’s reading journal will prove to be an invaluable tool. They will turn to it as they write book reports, study for literature tests, prepare for Advanced Placement tests and ready themselves for college entrance exams.
“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” - Sir Francis Bacon
Some good thoughts. Maybe a way to start this with very young children would be to have them draw their own picture of something important that happened in a story.
I have my 4th–6th graders starting their own journal, and the 7th and 8th graders doing a blog. They have to write 5 times a week. I know it’s hard for some of them, but it’s good to make them start! They have to write enough to make it easy to write. I’ve been a journal writer since the 3rd grade, which is a nice time to start. Mrs. P, when the kids are little, you can have them dictate their stories and ideas to you. You can write down the words and even draw a few pictures for them. Once they are old enough to express themselves, they can draw pictures or write on their own. If you read a lot to your children, they will get frustrated because their spoken vocabulary is so large compared to what they can actually write.
Great post. Glad you’re back! Hope you had fun in CO.