Tovani's Double-Entry Journals and the 'Quote Card' Modification

In Reading Cris Tovani's book, I have already encountered several strategies that I would want to include in my teaching, as well as strategies I have already experimented with.

Tovani makes a valid point when she states on page 19 that "we've got to find ways to make students carry more of the thinking load in our classroom."  I have been in some schools where the process of writing an essay becomes such an over-structured exercise of fill-in-the boxes, that it is no longer challenging for students.  It is no longer about the excitement of their own discoveries, but rather about finding information to plug into some organizer that has already been created by the teacher.

I think Tovani's simple structure of the double-entry journal is an excellent way to structure students thought, while still placing the onus on students to make that thought worthwhile and provocative.  Double-entry journals are explained through an inset on page 12 and a graphic on page 13, and is the very first page on the appendix on page 124.  However, I have experimented with a slight modification.

Instead of recording the textual quote and reaction to it on notebook paper, try using index cards.  These index cards can then be collected by the student to be used as a reference point when writing an essay.  If the quotes are interesting enough for the students to select them for further examination, chances are they might spark an idea they would like to explore through writing.

I have found that often student who struggle with organizing ideas in their heads have an easier time organizing ideas by physically moving those ideas around on a desk-top or (my favorite) a giant post-it sheet.  These "quote cards" are manipulative objects that represent ideas, and can serve as the 'pieces' of an essay structure.  Eventually, the quote card system can be developed so that students automatically include such information as contextual information (who, what, when, where) as well as analysis (why), thus providing all the necessary components for a well-developed essay.