Quiet Hour Journals is a great activity when you can't stand the noise in your room any longer. It's also a fun way to get your students writing and focusing on proofreading skills. I've used this activity with fifth through eighth-graders with equal success at all levels.

Directions:

1. Give each student a sheet of 9" by 12" construction paper. Have them fold it in half to form a booklet cover.
2. Instruct each student to take five sheets of looseleaf paper, fold them in half, slip them inside the cover, and staple all the pages together.
3. The Quiet Hour Journal is now completed and ready to go.
4. Give each student ten bingo chips and these instructions:
   • For the next 60 minutes, no conversation is permitted. All communication is to be done via writing. Write any message or question in your Quiet Hour Journal and pass it to your intended recipient.
   • The recipient is to read your entry and respond in kind.
   • If the recipient catches any proofreading mistake you made, he/she may take one of your bingo chips.
   • If anyone catches somebody talking, he/she may take one of your bingo chips.
   • If at any time you run out of bingo chips, you may no longer participate in the activity.
   • At the end of 60 minutes, the person with the most bingo chips will be awarded a small prize.

I like to participate with my students during this activity. Sometimes, I am called upon to settle a dispute. If a student challenges another's proofreading correction, I act as a moderator, communicating with them through my journal. If the challenger is correct, he/she may take back the lost bingo chip plus one of the student's chips who was challenged. This makes for more careful initial writing and proofreading.