Writing time has always been one of my favorite times of the day in Kindergarten. It is SO much work and management at the beginning of the year, but the end of the year is SO worth it. I love, love, love the writing that they can do by the end of the year. I am SO proud of them.
I started reading this book this year:
I’ve used a variety of formats this year for writing, I started with papers in binders, and moved towards papers in folders, and then finally to little books. My kiddos were loving the little books, but I felt like I needed to move forward – their writing was getting a bit messy, and I felt like they needed more structure.
Here is what I came up with:
One of the ideas in the book was to create a page like the one on the right so the children can color in a box when they finished a page. When they start writing, they can open up their journal, look at the “What page am I working on” page and go directly to that number.
I made books with about 25 pages in it. I figured that would be enough even for my most voracious writers. So far so good!
Here are some writing samples from some of my kiddos.
“My dad is taking me to his work. We are checking places".”
“Aidan and Easton are playing star wars when we play star wars we are gonna fight.”
“I like to grow flowers and I like to go to the park. After April its my birthday”
“I love my mama. I love my mom because I kiss her and my dad tries to kill the fly.”
“Karishma was at my house playing go fish.”
“Football is so fun because football is fun to watch.”
“The three little bears have a house. Goldilocks and her mom.”
-Not sure what she was trying to say here!-
“She sees a house. She goes into the house and she eats the food.”
“The bears come to the house. The bears see Goldilocks. They are very mad!”
“Goldilocks was scared. The end.”
{Look at the bears’ angry faces! Priceless!}
I try to start each writing session with a quick mini-lesson or book. Sometimes the mini-lessons are planned in advance, sometimes they are made up on the spot based on what I see many children doing. (or even just a few!).
I try to dedicate at least 30 minutes to writing every day. At the beginning of the year, we may not write for 30 minutes, but we do write every single day. (or draw!)
We don’t share every day, but I try to get some sharing in at least once a week. We all sit in a circle and share our favorite piece. The children love to look back at all of the stories and share them.
I am always amazed when I look back at their pieces from the beginning of the year and compare them to what they are doing now. The kids are so excited to see those too!
I would love to hear how you support writing in your classrooms!
P.S. Did I mention how proud I am of these kiddos?!
