LEFT SIDE

   RIGHT SIDE

Drawings, notes, diagrams, observations,word clusters, focused free writes, webs, predictions, unknown vocabulary, etc. go on the left-side of the DEJ.
These items are the unknown components of a lesson - in other words, they are the guesses - the "uncooked" elements that go into a lesson.

The right-side is reserved for the "cooking" of new information.

This is the side that gets the processing or the FIX-Up part of the DEJ.

These tips might help you get started:

1. Sometimes you may want to give prompts to be written on the left-side.
2. You may want to use separate spiral notebooks for each subject or you may have students tab certain parts for certain subjects.
3. The double entry journal can be used to set goals, test hypothesis, extend concepts and evaluate new information.
4. The double entry journal can also serve as a basis for longer pieces that evolve during writing workshop.
5. When students articulate connections, they learn and understand information better. The double entry journal quickly tells teachers what students have or have not learned.
6. In doing any research projects, the double entry journal serves as a place to set their own research goals, form questions to which they would like answers, and take notes in answer to their questions.
7. The double entry journal can serve as a "holding tank" for data to be used later on.