Writing

Articles & Links~

Conferring with Young Writers
Pre-K Writing (Dr. Brian Kissel article resource bank)
Pre-K Writing Center
Pre-Writing Activities (letter formation)
Pre-Writing Activities for Preschoolers
Promoting Preschoolers' Emergent Writing (NAEYC)
Write the Room in Pre-K
Writing Center for Preschool and Pre-K

VERTICAL ALIGNMENT-WHAT I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN:

“Oral Language Connections: Written language, at every level, goes through the oral language system. Developing a solid foundation in oral language is essential for learning to read and write.”

LETRS for Early Childhood, pg. 27

While we won’t dig deep into the science of teaching writing in the LETRS PD until unit 10, we all understand that dictation, pictures, and attempts at print are considered appropriate writing tasks for our age students. (TSG Obj 19) Not only are students expected to write their name clearly in Kindergarten, they are guided through the writing process. Students must understand the foundation of that process so they can be successful writers in the future. A simple anchor chart showcases that foundation nicely for us and validates the idea that all children have a story to tell.

If you can think it, you can say it.

If you can say it, you can write it.

Anchor Chart Ideas

Emergent Writing: Long Range Plan (RWI-2017)

Fine motor development, oral language, and storytelling are the stepping stones to writing development in Pre-K during the first trimester. During the first several months teachers intentionally create opportunities for their students to strengthen their hand & arm muscles, cross the mid-line during gross motor experiences, and work on their pencil grip through art experiences. Teachers provide students a plethora of opportunities to talk about themselves and their family life as they engage in meaningful conversations. During the third and fourth story reads teachers support students as they retell and dramatize stories.

Photo's of writing experiences link

Shared Writing

Late in the first trimester, and throughout the second trimester, is the time for teachers to model the writing process during shared writing experiences.

Writing stories is about ideas, plots, story language and letters.
Young children’s attention is brief at first but this increases as children learn more about the task.
Children must learn how written language works so they can become independent writers.

In shared writing the teacher acts as the scribe and takes on a teaching role. He/she helps the students develop and organize their ideas and encourages them to elaborate or focus their text on a single topic.

Shared writing is an important part of the preschool curriculum and is more than just writing a text in front of the group. The purpose is to for the teacher to model the thought process involved in writing as the children watch. A shared writing experience teaches children how to organize their thoughts, shows them how what we say can be written/read, and provides them a model for their own writing. As the teacher writes, she explicitly ‘thinks aloud’ the process he/she uses when composing a text. The teacher models print and word concepts, how to use supports in the room (alphabet charts) to identify sounds in words and/or to write a letter, how shapes can be used to draw recognizable figures, etc. as he/she verbalizes his/her thinking (meta-cognition).

For Pre-K students it is important to include visuals that can help them recall what was written. There are several ways we can incorporate shared writing activities throughout the day.

drawing a simple picture story (first trimester), drawing a simple picture story and labeling it with simple letters/words (second trimester), drawing a simple picture story with simple sentences (third trimester)
writing a simple sentence and adding an illustration
utilizing to a graphic organizer (thinking map, web, story map, etc.) to organize thinking
modeling the ‘stop and draw’ engagement strategy as you read the story time book (second read comprehension strategy)
thinking out loud as you write for a purpose (creating a list of items needed for a project, creating a turns list for centers that are full, writing a thank you note to a special visitor, etc.)
introducing a writing experience at a center/interest area during center introductions/morning meeting

Reflection questions:

What writing models are you already providing students?
How might you incorporate on, or more, shared writing experiences each day?

Interactive Writing-"share the pen"

Interactive writing is an instructional strategy where the teacher and children collaboratively compose and construct a written message.
Interactive writing is a powerful tool in helping young children make connections between writing and reading.
Interactive writing is base on oral language. The process is infused with meaningful talk. They learn that what you say can be written down and that what you write can be read.
As children gain control of the interactive writing process, the area of focus shifts from concepts about print (space, left to right/top to bottom) to recording sounds in words.

VERTICAL ALIGNMENT-WHAT I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN:

Narrative writing is a focus of instruction in Kindergarten. The more experiences PreK students have with telling their stories, drawing representation of their stories, and labeling/writing their own narratives the more ready they will be to do the work that is expected of them in Kindergarten.

I encourage you to take a moment during your choice time to step off to the side and look around your classroom. Notice your students writing behaviors:

Are students currently engaging in writing activities in the interest areas?
What types of writing activities are they engaging in?
Are students using the materials provided (clipboards, paper, writing utensils) in the interest areas?
Are the students using their phonological awareness skills (phoneme isolation, phoneme segmentation) to label their work?

Writing Center

Authors Chair in Pre-K - Create an opportunity for students to share their stories with the class by adding time for 'authors' to share their stories. Students place the work they created in the writing center in the authors chair (or designated spot) if they want to read it to their peers.