Creating Writer's Notebooks

I love, love, love my writer's notebook! It is the place I put mementos that I cherish, stories that are in my heart, poems that echo in my mind and many other items that mean something to me. Students need to see what Writer's Notebooks are and what you do with them. The Amelia Bedelia books are ideal for introducing this type of writing.




Writer's Notebooks are a treasure chest of stories and ideas. To help remind students of this I give them a poem typed by by Brad Bogart. Students glue this into the cover of their notebook and then decorate their notebook. Then I use contact paper to cover and protect the notebook.

Writer's Notebook Poems by Brad Bagert

After we decorate our notebooks we take a look inside mine. The students and I sit on the carpet and take a stroll through the favorite pages of my own notebook. My goal with this day is to create a desire for them to write and save ephemera for their own notebooks. (If you would like a detailed post about what can go inside a notebook Ruth Ayer's at Two Writing Teachers has written a wonderful post about it.) Writer's Notebooks are a great way to rejuvenate writing in the classroom. It certainly changed mine four years ago!