Dialogue journals are recommended in this digest for teachers who want to involve every student in a literacy practice that unites reading and writing and encourages thinking and reflection. The digest first explains that dialogue journals are useful because they use writing as a genuine means of communication between student and teacher. Dialogue journals then are defined as bound composition books in which each student carries on a private conversation with the teacher for an extended time. The history of these journals, which were first developed by a sixth grade teacher in California, is detailed, and sample teacher-student exchanges are also provided. The digest next explicates some of the benefits of dialogue journals to students: (1) they create a one-to-one relationship between student and teacher in which both academic and personal concerns are discussed; (2) they provide opportunities to use newly acquired reading and writing skills; (3) they allow students to engage in reflection about experiences and to think about adult problems, choices, and ideas; (4) they give students a chance to engage in natural uses of different kinds of writing--narration, description, argumentation, even poetry; and (5) they let students read a personalized text, that is, the teacher's responses. Benefits of dialogue journals for young children, less proficient writers, and ESL students are also discussed, together with a brief justification for the time required for teachers to respond to each student. Twelve references are appended. (SKC)