Interactive JournalsHow to make your journal content-rich and creative

Purpose

Interactive Journals are intended to:Create a review “warehouse” for your ISU reading

Encourage active reading

Help you process what you read

Organize connections within the text

Organize connections between texts Encourage creative thought

Content Rich

What INFORMATION should be in my journal?

Quotations from the reading

Questions about the reading

New Vocabulary

Information about/examples of Literary Terms

Original writing

Outside connections

Personal thoughts on the texts

Journaling Methods

Writing

Sketch noting

Mind mapping

Charting

Collaging

Connecting

Other (let me know)

Writing

Plain recording of thoughts and ideas

Sentences

Paragraphs

Lists

Point form notes

Definitions

Traditional writing methods must be in your journal

Sketch Noting

Visual representations are added to text

Great method for people who are “doodlers”

Colorful “Day Doodle” is one example- imagine a character in the “Saturday” place with doodles and notes about him/her as a journal page.

Mind Mapping

Organizing notes around a central idea and brainstorming from that. Free-association note taking.

Often a theme, motif or image is the centerpiece with examples from the text, personal thoughts, connections to other pieces, etc- in the offshoots

Color organizing makes for easily identifiable thought streams

Charting

Charts and graphic organizer style layouts can include both text and sketches

CollagingPasting items into your journal where they can deepen meaning.

Pictures, copies of sections of text

The act of “collaging” an idea from text into a visual is a form of processing which deepens our understanding if done with purpose and intention. Keep your eyes open for “artifacts & ephemera” that might work in collage pages.

ConnectingAdding items (in any of the style methods) that relate to the current text

Poems

Songs

TED talks/You Tube videos/Feature films

Stories/novels/cartoons

Newspaper articles/world events

Art

These items will be useful when you create your presentation.

General Guidelines for Journals

Should be content rich!We aren’t adding doodles, collage, charts, etc for their own sakes. These are always used to process our current content and to add deeper meaning.

Should ALL incorporate traditional writing plus at least 2 other styles.

Should include color when possible to create more compelling visual organization.

Should be with you EVERY DAY. You never know when an idea will strike.