reflections · Straight from the Classroom

Try Reflective Notebooks This Year: Straight From the Classroom

Leah Thomas

Estimated Reading Time: Two and a half minutes (498 words)

Primary Audience: 2nd-12th grade writing teachers

This year, I’m transitioning from Kindergarten back to second grade. One thing that’s getting me excited about this grade-level change is the opportunity to bring back reflective notebooks. 

Why It Matters: Reflection plays a vital role in the writing process and helps writers grow and improve. The reflective notebook routine is a quick way to bring more reflection into your writing workshop.

What You Need: 

  • Small notebooks (I used composition notebooks cut in half) emphasize the brief nature of these jots 
  • A timer
  • A collection of reflective questions, on chart paper or digital slides. Click here to get a copy of my slides.

The majority of these questions come from Brian Kissel’s book, When Writers Drive the Workshop: Honoring Young Voices and Bold Choices (2017), but some are improvised, like: “How are you feeling about our upcoming writing celebration?” 

A quickwrite page that I display when kids engage in this practice. It shows two options for questions and a three minute timer.
The slide I display while students write in reflective notebooks.

How It Works: Once a week, at the beginning or end of writing workshop, I invite students to reflect. The entire process takes less than five minutes. Kids sit on the carpet with their reflective notebook while I display two options for kids to respond to. Because reflection is a challenging and vulnerable practice, it’s important that kids have choice in what they share with me. After reading the questions, I set the timer and encourage kids to keep pencils moving for the full three minutes.

To differentiate, consider the following options instead of written responses:

  • Videos on Flipgrid
  • Speech-to-text assistance
  • Drawings 
  • Prompt partners to discuss reflective questions

What I Learned: The reflective nature of these questions elicits more advanced and introspective responses than I’d expect from second graders, offering insights into their struggles and identities as writers. Take a look at some examples from student journals. Click to enlarge photos as needed.

“How has a mentor author helped you this week?”

The author of "Saturday" has really helped me add sound words and repeating words.
The author of “Saturday” has really helped me add sound words and repeating words.
Last Stop on Market Street" has help a lot, it's very detailed.
Last Stop on Market Street” has help a lot, it’s very detailed.

“How are you feeling about yourself as a writer?”

I'm feeling really good about writing because I get better at writing every day!
I’m feeling really good about writing because I get better at writing every day!
I grow as a writer because I keep writing so you can get better.
I grow as a writer because I keep writing so you can get better.
I feel okay about writing. I might need help. But I might be fine for now. Love, [name].
I feel okay about writing. I might need help. But I might be fine for now. Love, [name].
"I feel bad because it is hard."
I feel bad because it is hard.

“Are you ready for our writing celebration?”

Yes, because I know that writers never give up on their writing and I'm a writer, too!
Yes, because I know that writers never give up on their writing and I’m a writer, too!
I feel okay but pretty nervous, also excited to share my story, I feel like I worked hard on my writing.
I am confident in my story because I have been working on my story for a long time. I’m proud.

Each page showcases the challenges, successes, craft, and stamina of these second grade writers. As you can see, I read and respond to each student’s reflections.

The Bottom Line: These notebooks aren’t just for me. Reflection fosters personal growth and improvement for the writers themselves. I look forward to returning to second grade this year and learning alongside reflective writers.

Go Deeper: Check out the book I mentioned in this post by Brian Kissel for more reflection tips. It’s one of my favorite books about writing workshop!

Kissel, B. (2017). When writers drive the workshop: Honoring young voices and bold choices. Stenhouse Publishers.

Discover more from TWO WRITING TEACHERS

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Unknown's avatar

Published by Leah Thomas

Leah Thomas is passionate about honoring student voice and identity through writing workshop and early literacy. She believes that for children to see themselves as writers, they must be trusted with autonomy and supported as they explore their writing processes. By centering intentional identity development, foundational skills instruction, and a brave classroom community, Leah nurtures young writers as they grow in both skill and craft. The Gateway Writing Project strengthens her belief that teachers who write are better writing teachers. Leah slices at leahthomaswrites.wordpress.com, and you can follow her on LinkedIn and BlueSky: @LeahThomasWrites.

4 thoughts on “Try Reflective Notebooks This Year: Straight From the Classroom”

  1. Leah, what a great post. I love those sweet reflective journal entries and your nice responses. I can see how these would be very helpful to the students, and I love the half-size composition books. Have fun in grade 2 this year! It was one of my favorite grades to teach.

    Like

Comments are closed.