ENGLISH

WRITER'S NOTEBOOK

The relationship between a writer and their notebook is a special one. It’s a place where any thoughts, ideas, sentences, poems, facts, drawing or flashes of brilliance can be safely stored, with the hope that one day they may be the impetus for further development. I have notebooks dating back to my schooling days which I treasure like precious jewels. To me, these notebooks act as a time machine. I can randomly pick one up and instantly be transported to another time in my life. And who knows, I may come across a nugget of an idea from 2007 that could now inspire me to write a story in 2017!

Writer’s Notebook is a tool in which the students have opportunities to store ideas, or ‘seeds’, which may inspire further writing. In her book Something to Declare, Julia Alvarez says, “The writing life is a life with all the windows and doors opened” (1999, p.282). That’s what notebooks help students do: use the world around them-their own lives and perspectives-as a supply of writing ideas.

As Aimee Buckner says in her text, ‘Notebook Know How: Strategies for the Writer’s Notebook’, “The purpose of a notebook is to provide a practice writing. It’s a place for them to generate text, find ideas, and practice what they know about spelling and grammar.” (2005, p.5)

Whether it’s as a whole class or individually, the Writer’s Notebook is being used in the homerooms as an ongoing resource for writing inspiration. Students are encouraged to bring in anything that may act as a ‘seed’. It could be a Wiggles concert ticket, a feather found on a bush walk, a map from a family holiday or a photo from a special event. These ‘seeds’ may not necessarily be used immediately, but can be easily accessed when a student is in need of a writing stimulus.

I’ll leave you with a quote by a student from Ralph Fletcher’s book ‘A Writer’s Notebook’. “A notebook is where you keep dew drops from a dew drop morning. It’s where the sun sets. It’s the wind in your face at the beach looking out over the water. A notebook is where you’re playing with your dog. It’s where you have dreams about walking on rainbows. It’s where the good feelings and bad feelings spend the night.”

I couldn’t sum it up any better!