Kindergarten Writing

Kindergarten Writing Resources

Also see the Kindergarten Writing Strategies & Project Ideas section below for more ideas.

NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program - A free curriculum to help students write their own novel. It was created to support students participating in National Novel Writing Month which is held every November, but it can be done any time of year!
WriteShop Primary - A gentle program for introducing writing skills to beginning writers.
Jot it Down! - A Brave Writer publication by Julie Bogart, written for use with students ages 5 to 8. Read more about the Jot it Down stage in the author's framework of writing development. Jot it Down has 10 fun creative project ideas. Sold as a digital download only.
Don't Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades: 50 Enthralling and Effective Writing Lessons - Even reluctant writers are likely to find engaging lessons in Don't Forget to Write, a book for creative writing. See the publisher website for lesson titles.
FCRR Student Center Activities: Kindergarten and First Grade - Free!
ReadWorks.org - Free! ReadWorks offers a large collection of online articles with open-ended response questions so student can write about what they read. The articles are filterable by grade level reading ability. ReadWorks also provides Article-A-Day text sets students can use as resources for writing personal books of knowledge. Free account registration is required.
Spectrum Writing Workbook Grade K - Spectrum Writing is a popular supplemental workbook series. The grade 1 book is 128 pages.
TinkerActive Kindergarten English Language Arts
Building Writers (Learning Without Tears) or Learning Without Tears Kindergarten Bundle
Thoughtful Learning English Language Arts Books - The student handbook for Kindergarten is The Writing Spot Buddy Book. It does not include assignments, but those can be found in the Writing Spot Teacher's Guide available for free online. Find out more in the Instructions for Using the Teacher's Guides.

Handwriting

Phonics Workbooks

Phonics workbooks give students a chance to practice phonics skills through writing. Many students will need to gradually build their writing stamina with handwriting practice first, before they are ready for any additional written work.

Workbooks such as these are optional. They are designed as a way to review reading instruction and are not intended as initial reading lessons.

Writing Strategies & Project Ideas

Dictation - Students often will be able to describe something, but then have trouble remembering what they have just said when attempting to write it down. Fortunately, dictation can help; just slowly repeat their words back to them as they write.
Drawing - Drawing (or another visual creation like a collage) can provide a great entry point into writing. Try asking students to write about their image and then prompt them for more details. For example: "Tell me more about what is happening here," or "What is this character thinking?" Writing Strategies by Jennifer Serravallo has 18 activities involving drawing, plus many other ideas as well.
Games - Try checking Pinterest for "writing games" as a starting place for ideas.
Handwriting & Copywork
Lists - Of Bugs, toys, cars, and more! List can be an easy way to get kids writing.
Picture or photo labeling - Students can practice writing and create a photo journal at the same time!
Sand writing or shaving cream writing - Using fingers instead of a pencil can be fun for young students whose hands tire quickly.
Scribing - A young child's ideas are usually quite a bit more sophisticated than their spelling ability and writing stamina, so a parent can act as the student's scribe.
Speech Bubbles - Remove or cover the words from a comic book or graphic novel and have students create their own story or dialogue.
Words for wordless picture books - Learning A-Z is one resource for wordless picture books. Ask in the library for help and more ideas.
Rory's Story Cubes - These are fun oral storytelling games, but they are also helpful for sparking creative writing. Older students may write their stories out themselves, but younger students could create illustrated wordless picture books or dictate their stories for a parent to write down. Choose from many different story cube sets.

Positive Feedback

Praise can be a lot more motivating and effective that red correction marks! Check the CRC Positive Feedback page for 10 suggestions about positive things to look for in your student's writing.