Grade 7 English Journals

Your journal is one place I get to have a good in-depth "conversation" with you about the issues and ideas that come up in class and in the readings. It's not a private diary; I give you assigned topics to write about. But you have freedom of expression when you write, and no worry that you will be graded on the form, spelling, or grammar of what you write. I am interested in what you think and what you have to say, always. The school day is a busy one, though, so the journal is the one place we'll both always have time to "listen" to each other.

I take your journal very seriously, and spend a lot of time on it--as you will discover. It's my favorite thing to grade, and it will become your favorite thing that I grade.

Journal Rules:

A journal response is complete if you write a page--one A4-sized page. That's about 200-250 words, for those people who need word counts.
If you are absent when a journal is due, you should hand in the completed journal the class day AFTER the day you return to class. You can usually get the latest topic here online.
Once your journal is late, I'd rather good writing than quick writing. Late journals should be handed in as soon as possible, but with no deadline except the end of the quarter AND that I want good, thoughtful writing; once it's late, it's late, one day or one week.
Late journal responses count only for half credit.
If you handed in your journal on time, and a topic comes back to you with an "incomplete" written on it, you DON'T HAVE ANY CREDIT for that journal...yet. You can add to or re-write that topic. If you write more than half a page and hand it back in, it will be given a check that counts as late.
DO express yourself in the way you want to. If you draw a picture, make a chart, or write a poem in response to my assignment, I'll find a way to count that in the "half page" requirement.
Except for Journal #1 and the final topic of the year, one of your topic choices is always to write whatever you want to write. You are not restricted to the topic(s) I give you, even though most people will write on the given topic.

The Topics (This list grows as the year goes on.)

#1: Introduce Yourself
Here's the place to more formally introduce yourself to me. Tell me about your…

PAST: Your family, where you were born, where you've been, etc.
PRESENT: Describe yourself. What kind of person are you? What things do you like? What things do you dislike?
FUTURE: What are your plans for the future? Career plans? What would you like your life to be like in 10-15 years?

#2: Giver Survey Topics
Respond more deeply to one or more of the topics on the Giver Pre-Reading Survey.

#3: Giver Choices
Write on one or both of these topics:

Imagine you are an Elder, but in our world, not Jonas's. You've been watching the members of your English class very carefully. What Assignments would you give them? (Remember, select jobs/careers in our own world, not from the book.) List class members' names, and describe what Assignment you'd give each one, and why.
Imagine someone has invented a Memory-Removal Machine. Would such a machine be popular? What would people use it for? Would you use it? You might want to write this journal in the form of a story.

#4: More Giver Choices
Write on one or more of these topics:

Did you like the ending of this book? Many students think that it provides more questions than answers. Did Jonas and Gabriel survive their trip? Did they reach Elsewhere? Did they die? Here's your chance to write the ending you prefer. Continue the ending beyond the last sentence of the novel, and tell what happens next.
Write a story about the future. Imagine our world in the future, like Lois Lowry did, but your version can be positive or negative, and you can feature any characters or situation from your imagination. Write your story.
Discuss rules: Are rules a good thing or a bad thing? Does your life work better because of the rules you have to follow, or are the rules just annoying?

#5: Free Topic
Every once in a while, I give a free topic, where you can write what you want. Tell me what's on your mind...about your latest interests...something that's happened to you lately... Tell me about it!

#6: A Story from Snake-stone Elements
Write a story featuring...a fossil called an ammonite...a woman carrying a baby at night...an accident at a swimming pool...a piece of paper torn in half with part of an address on it...a grave. [This journal has a paper that goes along with it, with these things illustrated.]

#7: Parents, Families, Adoption
Write on one or more of these topics:

Should adopted children know that they're adopted, or should parents just not tell the child and raise him or her as their own?
Your best friend's parents say to you, "Your best friend is adopted...but don't tell! It's a secret." Do you think your friend has a right to know he or she is adopted? Would you tell?
What difference does being adopted make? Is there some special thing you get from biological parents...or are love and affection and caring for a child more important than biology? As James's mother says, they chose him when he was a baby. Biological parents don't get to choose their children. Does that mean adoptive parents might be even better than birth parents?
If you are not adopted, and you found out tomorrow that you actually were adopted, do you think you'd try to find your birth mother (or father)? Why or why not?
If you are adopted, what does your experience make you feel about James's feelings in The Snake-stone?

#8: Poem
Write a poem about something or someone you care about, using language which you feel expresses your true feelings, of at least 25 lines.

#9: Then or Now? City or Country?
Write on one or both of these topics:

Compare life 100 years ago to life now. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which life would you prefer, life back then or life now?
Compare living in a city to living in a small village in the countryside. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which life would you prefer, the city or the village?

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Last Updated: July 2009