When I tell people I teach kindergarten, they often ask me, "How do I do it?" Imagine that you are teaching five-year olds how complete paragraphs can be written. Yes, our superpowers are patience, perseverance, as well as the ability to bend at waist level for long periods. These are my top kindergarten writing tips, which I’ve accumulated over the years.
1. In context, teach letter formation
Two birds, one stone. The basics of writing letters are essential for kindergarteners. This can be accomplished by using a sentence as a context. Writing letters is difficult for students who practice it in isolation. Show proper letter form while teaching capitalization, spacing and punctuation.
2. Always practice
Engage your students in meaningful writing right from the beginning. Talking is the best way to teach kids how to communicate. We know that kindergartners are proficient at this skill. Even if they have to write a lot of letters or scribble, they learn how to write. They must start somewhere. We provide them with the tools and time to draw and write each day.
3. Sight words, sight words, sight words
Students must be able spell and read many anchor sight words to improve their sentence writing skills. I use songs, chants, word walls and song to help students spell sight word words. For example, I sing like to "It’s A Small Word." LI-KE spells like. L-I-K–E spells …. . They will be well-equipped with the words they need to structure a sentence.
4. Encourage invention of spelling
Invented spelling means that words are written exactly as the beginning writer hears them. The problem with spelling mistakes can hinder creativity and continuity. Students will not want to write complex sentences. Kindergarten teachers serve as detectives. They can easily decode sentences such as "Ilik pesu, is kem (pizza/ice cream)".
5. Do mini lessons
Kindergarteners can keep their attention for as long as a fruit flies. It is because they have a short skill to learn before writing journal entries. These lessons can be used to teach narrative, opinion writing and how to write a topic sentence.
6. Interactive writing is a great option
Interactive writing is an example of good examples. This is when the student and teacher share the pen. One student is responsible for the teacher’s news. Students are then called up to the whiteboard to assist in sounding out words and placing appropriate punctuation.
7. Choose topics that are meaningful
Kindergarteners should love their families, friends and themselves. Let them use their journals to discuss the topics that interests them. Sentence starters confuse kindergarten students. It is okay if they keep the same topic for a while. It’s like reading the same book repeatedly. They build confidence
8. Cross-check the curriculum
Writing and reading go hand-in-hand. Writing is a great way for students to express their feelings or send a message to a character. You can combine science and writing with informational text reading and drawing or labeling a photograph.
9. Remember punctuation can be difficult
Kindergarteners often add periods to the end of lines or words. It is hard to teach kindergarteners how to think in complete sentences. Their thoughts are endless. I remind them that their writing needs to answer the question "Guess" if they want it to be complete.
10. Share, share, share
Allow students to share their writings with other students. Kindergarteners will have less chances of expressing themselves if they are given more opportunities to do so.
Kindergarten writing isn’t for the faint-hearted. The joy of writing kindergarten is not for the faint-hearted.
