With so many benefits as a result of journaling, it’s no surprise that many teachers are now considering ways to incorporate the practice into daily classroom routines. Journaling has been proven to improve learners’ writing skills, focus, and even mental health! With so many activities out there, it can be hard to know which ones are going to engage your learners effectively. That’s why we’ve listed 17 of the most exciting journal activity ideas that are sure to get your students enthusiastic about writing!
1. Recycled Art Journals
A great way to introduce journaling to your class is to get them to create their very own journal from scratch! This simple craft will turn old pieces of artwork into a new and unique book for your students to journal in!
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2. Math Journaling
Improve your student’s enthusiasm for math by starting a math journal. These can be adapted for any age and are a great way to improve mathematical writing and investigation skills.
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3. Open-Ended Question Prompts
Open-ended questions are the perfect stimulus to get your students thinking and writing. These types of writing prompts are great to get kids journaling about anything from their favorite holiday or animal to discursive topics like school uniforms or homework. This can be great to get your students to practice their argumentative writing skills.
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4. Zentangles
Of all the art journal activities, this is definitely the most relaxing! This activity is perfect for students of all ages and they can spend as much time on it as they choose. There are no rules except that each shape must be filled! This activity is a great way to get creative and refocus!
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5. Growth Mindset Journal
Promoting a growth mindset within the classroom has so many benefits for students. Keeping a growth mindset journal is a fantastic way to encourage reflective thinking and resilience. You could dictate a topic for each journal entry or just leave it to your students to reflect on what they want in each entry.
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6. Gratitude Journaling Activity
This printable gratitude activity is a great way to focus your students on the happier things in life and improve their reflective thinking skills. Your students will be prompted to think of all the things they are grateful for and record them however they choose; either by drawing a picture or writing about them.
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7. Printable Reading Journal
Reading journals are a fantastic way to get your students excited about reading. You could keep this journal either individually for each student or as a group reading journal that each child can contribute to. Children will love the chance to write about their favorite characters from books and make reviews and recommendations.
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8. Floor Book
A floor book is a type of classroom journal that records student learning during activities. Each journal entry can include pictures, pieces of written work, or even artwork and quotes from students. These are super fun to create and your students will have fun looking back through their books at the end of the school year!
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9. Summer Journal
Make sure your students are still working on their writing skills over the Summer vacation! Your students can get creative as to how they complete this fun activity over the break and then they bring it back on their first day of school to share with the class!
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10. Journaling Jar
A journaling jar is a fun way of making journaling prompts available to your students. Fill your jar with a collection of writing prompts that you have picked or you could ask your students to create some prompts.
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11. Roll and Write
Roll and write activities are perfect for getting your kids to write fantastic creative stories. Some students find creative thinking to be a challenge so this is the perfect way to build up those skills along with their writing skills.
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12. Whole Class Writing Journals
Whole class journal activities are perfect to inspire and excite your students for writing time; proving to really help those who struggle with creative writing. Select a creative writing prompt and each student can write a journal entry with a short story!
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13. Sticker Story Bag
The creative possibilities are endless with these sensational sticker-story journals! Mix up the stickers you place in each bag every week and see how creative your students can be in creating unique storylines! In the end, you could read the stories together and students can see all the different ways the story could pan out.
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14. Bullet Journaling
The concept of bullet journaling has been around for a while. Instead of lined pages, bullet journal pages are covered in dots which allow the writer to decide how best to use the page depending on what they are writing.
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15. Journaling in an Interactive Notebook
An interactive notebook is a way for students to merge what they have learned in a lesson with their own thinking. In each journal entry, students can reflect on what they have learned and then write about how it applies to them or something else they know about. This encourages deeper thinking and learning skills which is fantastic!
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16. Nature Journaling
Nature journaling activities can be varied depending on your students and their interests. Taking your students outside is beneficial in so many ways! This activity is perfect for keeping them focused and learning whilst they are outdoors.
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17. Create a Class Birthday Diagram
This bullet journaling idea is a great data-handling activity to help improve mathematical writing skills. Students can discuss the best way to display their data and then create eye-catching charts to show the birthday dates celebrated within the class.
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