My Thoughts: A Freewriting Journal

By Gail Schafers and Janet Morey

My Thoughts is a powerful, student-friendly introduction to freewriting--an approach that helps learners develop fluency, confidence, and personal voice without the pressure of grades, correction, or rigid structure. This collection includes 74 visually rich, open-ended writing tasks, each pairing a brief prompt with a colorful, evocative illustration that sparks imagination and lowers the affective filter. Students are encouraged to fill the page with words, sentences, observations, feelings, and ideas, discovering that they have far more to say in English than they realized.

The prompts range from simple personal reflections to more inventive, story-like scenarios: How do you feel on a rainy day? Describe an adventure you would like to have. What is your favorite game and how do you play it? Why are people afraid of snakes? The illustrations invite interpretation, humor, curiosity, and creativity, making the writing feel like play instead of an assignment.

A unique feature of the book is the small space provided on each page for a brief teacher response. These short notes--such as "Is this true?", "What a beautiful scene ", or "Very funny "--offer encouragement, establish rapport, and validate students' ideas while keeping the focus on expression rather than correction. This format builds trust, reduces writing anxiety, and helps students experience writing as a form of communication, not evaluation.

Ideal for warm-ups, journaling routines, literacy-based ESL classes, and creative writing workshops, My Thoughts invites learners to take risks, explore ideas, and find joy in expressing themselves on paper.

Key Features74 freewriting tasks designed to build confidence, fluency, and expressive writing skills.Each prompt includes a colorful, engaging illustration that stimulates imagination and lowers writer anxiety.Open-ended tasks suitable for beginning through intermediate writers in ESL, EFL, and developmental writing contexts.Prompts that encourage personal expression, storytelling, reflection, and creativity.A small space on each page for brief teacher comments that motivate and support without overshadowing student voice.Ideal for warm-ups, journaling programs, literacy classes, creative writing sessions, or substitute-proof lessons.Supports writing development without grading pressure, focusing on ideas, voice, and comfort with the writing process.Encourages sustained writing practice that improves vocabulary, sentence formation, and written fluency over time.Recommended Pro Lingua Learning TitlesWriting Inspirations - Ellen Rosenfield - Provides visually engaging prompts that spark creative and reflective writing across levels.More Thoughts - By Janet Morey, By Gail Schafers - Offers additional freewriting prompts and illustrations that extend the writing practice established in My Thoughts.Write Choices - George Yule - Supports clear, structured writing development through accessible lessons on organization, clarity, and style.Talk and Write - Andrew Weiler - Combines short readings with guided speaking and writing tasks that help students develop ideas before putting them on paper.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0866473505
• ISBN13: 9780866473507
• Release Date: March 2013
• Publisher: Pro Lingua Learning
• Length: 104 Pages