We had an exciting week in Kindergarten. I started with our very first lesson, working with the students on where and how to sit, as well as beginning our conversation about why writers write. They enjoyed hearing Bear Has a Story to Tell, by Philip C. Stead, and we talked about what a story is and what readers find in stories. These kindergartners knew that stories have people or animals in them, that stories have pictures and words, and that stories tell about something that happens. This understanding is the foundation for becoming writers themselves. They know how books go. And they are not afraid to try their hand at picture book-making :)
After the first lesson, we set them free with paper, pencils, and crayons, asking them to draw or write a story about their own lives. We did get a full spectrum of stories, from a few imagined tales of dragons and monsters, to many more pieces on birthdays, tea parties, baseball games, family trips, and on and on.
Here is one student's story of a birthday party. When I asked him to tell me the story, he started naming who was there, with "BF" standing for Best Friend. I nudged him to tell me what was happening in the story, and he added that as his friends were singing "Happy Birthday" to him, he was blowing out the candles on his cake.
Set the bar high, and students will reach and stretch and believe...and WRITE!On the second day, we decided to offer the students the choice to use paper that had been cut and stapled to make small "picture books". We only used two pieces of paper, so the writers did not feel overwhelmed with lots of pages and white space to fill. After reading one chapter from Silly Lilly and the Four Seasons, by Agnes Rosenstiehl, the kindergarten writers were fired up and ready to make their own books! You can see below that one writer in particular really used Rosenstiehl's book as a mentor text, approximating her work with some outstanding effort.
By the end of the week, the writers were becoming familiar with the Writer's Workshop routine. I began moving around the room with my clipboard and observation sheet to try to capture some of the stories being written. Several students held their books in their hands and "read" the pictures, telling detailed stories with rich language and a sense of beginning, middle, and end. Below is one student's work; she started with "Once upon a time me and my sister...." and kept right on going with an elaborate story. She used "...and then..." several times and included words like "accidentally". These are indications that she is already a storyteller who understands how stories go and who possesses a voice rich with word choice.
So, what's next??
This week we will begin with Lesson 5, which we did not get to last week - Supplies and Using Resources Around the Room. I will read A Perfectly Messed-Up Story, by Patrick McDonnell to get us started.
We will continue with the following teaching points, mixing product lessons with process lessons:
Remember, writers can work on a piece or book for as long as he or she wants. There is no expectation of beginning and ending a piece of writing within a day, or even two days. What is important is that you are talking with students individually and learning how they are thinking as writers. I will tell our students each day how authors mostly start working on a book, and then keep working on it until they finish it. In our classrooms, we ask the writers to let us know when they have finished a book so that we can conference with the writer and celebrate his or her story!
It's time for me to get working on lesson plans for this coming week :) I am so excited I can hardly sit still...
All Kids Can Write! The proof's on the page!
If you are doing this work in your classroom and would like to share, feel free to leave a comment here, or use the hashtag #allkidscanwrite to join the conversation!
This week we will begin with Lesson 5, which we did not get to last week - Supplies and Using Resources Around the Room. I will read A Perfectly Messed-Up Story, by Patrick McDonnell to get us started.
We will continue with the following teaching points, mixing product lessons with process lessons:
- Writers plan their writing by thinking about their stories like a movie in their minds before they write.
- Writers learn how to move from activity to activity and place to place within the Writer's Workshop.
- Writers learn that illustrations should fill the page and add details to their stories.
Remember, writers can work on a piece or book for as long as he or she wants. There is no expectation of beginning and ending a piece of writing within a day, or even two days. What is important is that you are talking with students individually and learning how they are thinking as writers. I will tell our students each day how authors mostly start working on a book, and then keep working on it until they finish it. In our classrooms, we ask the writers to let us know when they have finished a book so that we can conference with the writer and celebrate his or her story!
It's time for me to get working on lesson plans for this coming week :) I am so excited I can hardly sit still...
All Kids Can Write! The proof's on the page!
If you are doing this work in your classroom and would like to share, feel free to leave a comment here, or use the hashtag #allkidscanwrite to join the conversation!