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Journal Topics Grade 8 Journal Rules:
#1-- Introduce Yourself Here’s the place to more formally
introduce yourself to me. Tell me about your… PAST: Your family, where you were
born, where you’ve been, etc. PRESENT: Describe yourself. What kind of person are you? What things do you like? What things do you dislike? FUTURE: What are your plans for the
future? Career plans? What would you like your life to be like in
10-15 years? #2-- Perfect Student/Perfect Teacher First, define what a perfect student
should be. How does a perfect student
behave? What does a perfect student
do? What qualities does a perfect
student have? Second, define what a perfect
teacher should be. How does a perfect
teacher behave? What does a perfect
teacher do? What qualities does a
perfect teacher have? #3-- The World’s Problems What do you think are the worst
problems in the world today? If you can, try to rank them (worst, next worst, next worst, etc.). Also, try to say what you think the
main cause(s) of each problem is. Then, try to think of something that
can be done about the problems you have listed. #4-- Sharing Feelings For this journal, pick three days in
the coming week, and for each day, write a feeling you had that day. Say what the feeling was, what situation
caused it, and how you feel now about it. #5-- Memory Department Store First, imagine there is a Memory
Department Store—a place where you can buy (and sell? and trade? and repair?) memories. For your
journal, design an advertisement for this memory store. NOTE: Here, the “more than half of one page” rule does not apply. Use a whole page of your journal, but just draw and write the advertisement. You don’t have to write paragraphs. R.U. READING UPDATE week. Look
at the Reading
Workshop page for the Reading Update requirements. #6-- Assignments for Your Friends The children in The Giver,
when they are 12 years old, receive their Assignments for life. Look at the students in your class as if you
were an Elder. Pick some people in the
class, and tell what their characteristics are, and what their Life Assignment
should be (based on their characteristics).
If you want, you can include yourself; what are your characteristics,
and what Assignment should you receive? #7-- Rules Free-write on the
topic Rules. If you need ideas, here are some
questions you can answer: Do rules make
life easier, or harder? What are the
important rules that affect your life the most?
Are rules & laws necessary or unnecessary? Why do we have rules, if it is our human
right to be free? Think about The
Giver, too. Are their rules good or
not? #8-- Stories Choose ONE of these topics: A. Write a
short story about the future of our world.
It can be a story of a better world, or the
story of a future where things have gone wrong.
It can be funny or serious. B. Continue The
Giver beyond the last page. Write,
just as if the book is continuing, what happens to Jonas and Gabriel in the
moments—or years—after the last sentence of the novel. R.U. READING UPDATE week. Look at the Reading Workshop
page for the Reading Update requirements. #9-- Unit Overview Topics—Pick
one or more to write on: A. Is our
world perfect?—Describe how a world with war, poverty, starvation, violence,
and pain can be thought of as the best kind of world to have. B. Your
Ideas—Describe something new you learned or thought about while reading The
Giver or working during this unit. C. Sameness
Is Here—Write about the dress and behaviors of
different groups you know of. (Examples:
skateboarders, socialites, jocks, nerds, etc.)
Think of clothing, haircuts, ways of talking, etc. Are people afraid to be different? Would a TRUE individual just be laughed—or
pushed—out of this school? D. Agree or
disagree, and discuss—Some people in society shouldn’t
be allowed to have children. E. Make Up Your Own Journal—Write your own journal topic about The
Giver and/or its ideas, and respond to your topic in a journal entry. R.U. Reading Update week. See the Reading Workshop
page for the requirements of a Reading Update. |