Skip to content | Contact Us | Email | Site Map | Home

Texas Adult Education Standards and Benchmarks
for ABE ASE and ESL Learners

Lesson Plan Bank

ABE/ASE LESSON PLANS

---

Texas Adult Education Standards
Lesson Plan

Before you begin

Title: Guided Journaling

Setting: ABE/ASE

NRS Level(s):

Level 2: Beginning Basic Education
Level 3: Low Intermediate Basic Education

Open entry/exit: No

Context: Academic

Standard(s): ABE/ASE Convey Ideas in Writing

Benchmark(s): 1.2, 2.2, 4.2, 4.3

Objective: To develop students’ ability to express their feelings in writing.

Materials: Overhead projector or chalkboard/chalk; writing prompts (questions, poems, music); individual journals, pens, pencils

Estimated time needed to prepare for this lesson plan: 5 minutes

Estimated time needed to complete this lesson plan: 15 minutes, once per week

The Lesson Plan

Introduce the lesson:
Begin discussion by asking the class to reflect on their most memorable summer experience. Ask students how many have ever written about memorable experiences? It is likely that many students have not thought about documenting their thoughts and feelings. Point out to students that journal writing is a way to write in a safe context and capture experiences that they can refer back to at some point in their lives.

Teach the lesson:
Explain to students how to use the appropriate verb tense when writing about past events. Display forms of verb tenses on an overhead or chalkboard to demonstrate the proper usage of verbs.

Practice the lesson:
Twice per week, each student will be asked to write in their journals. These entries will be “guided” by a prompt from the teacher. Students’ journal entries should be drawn from individual experiences. Some sample prompts are: “Write a memory of a birth or birthday party”, “”Write a memory of a holiday celebration”, “Write about a gift you have received from a child”, “Describe an important ritual or tradition”. Poems, quotes, and music can also be used. Since the actual act of writing is important, students will be given the option of writing “I don’t know what to write” if the prompt does not solicit a response. The student can begin writing to the prompt at any time.

Students may have the option to edit their responses. All versions, however, remain in the journal. The guided journal entries will be used for grammatical explorations. For example, memory writings will provide foundation for exploration of past tense. Class will be given (or find) writings from other writers in the same tense for comparison and analysis.

Assess the lesson:
If a student chooses, he/she can turn their journal in to the teacher. The teacher will not edit the entries but might make note student’s weak areas and address in a different format.

Apply the lesson to the real world:
Students should gain confidence in being able to express their thoughts in writing for other purposes such as letters to children’s teachers, or memos and reports at work.

Submitted by: Melanie Mayeaux

---