Last week, Gretchen Bernabei, in tandem with the Texans Arts Council, hosted the first journal writing camp for junior high and high school students, and Bernabei said it was a hit. The camp lasted for three days, and each day was around two and a half hours.
“I gave them each a composition notebook to start with, and the first thing we did was go to the back and compile a list of memories,” she said. “Then I asked them to pick one and tell me all about that memory through writing.”
After five minutes of writing, all the students wanted to share their memories, which they did. Then she asked them to draw their memory, which they also did, and shared.
“I had them all choose activities and things in their life to write about, and then they have a little bit of their family culture and history to keep. I wanted them to write about themselves, where with school, they’re usually learning about the world or literature,” Bernabei said. “We did a bunch of different activities, and they never repeated anything.”
On a screen, Bernabei showed them passages her daughter, now 34, had written when she was little, and who was inside the old school house with them. Bernabei said this seemed to speak to them.
“I also had them trace their hand with a crayon and write their name underneath, and then I asked them to go home and have someone older to trace their hand over it, and then a younger person to trace their hand smaller,” she said. “Each hand is a different color, and it’s a great memory.”
She taught them one lesson, the ba-da-bing, and most of the class said they couldn’t wait to use it in school, because they were wanting more instruction about writing.
The students evidently enjoyed themselves, and each wrote a little something about the three-day camp.
Pax Barajas: I have more friends and I got smarter. I learned new writing skills. I liked putting all my memories in my journal.
Violet Boenig: The best thing in my journal was when we wrote about our gold star moments.
Suri-Juliette Vargas Espinosa: We learned what a ba-da-bing sentence is. It strengthens my writing and makes it more interesting.
Davis Faires: I think learning the ba-da-bing sentence will improve my writing.
Lilah Iris Ferguson: My mom asked me if I wanted to go to Journal Camp, and I said no unless one of my friends does it with me. Now I’m never going to stop writing in my journal.
Eileithyia Gonzalez: My favorite was the telephone paper, when we wrote about a phone call that changed our lives.
Wyatt Green: I liked putting stickers in, along with the memories that made me.
Harley Kubenka: The thing that has made a change for me is hanging out with these people. Now I’ll know them.
Kinsey Grace Martin: The best thing I did in my journal was the day we did stickers and wrote about them. Also, the ba-da-bing sentences can help me with STAAR.
Michael Martin: I liked drawing pictures in other people’s notebooks, and listening to other people’s stories.
Falcon Victoria Robertson: My favorite thing was putting stickers on the pages and writing labels for them.
