How Can My Child Become a Writer?

This is probably the most popular question I am asked as a kindergarten teacher. This might be a difficult task at home, but I always tell parents to keep it fun and fresh! At this time in their lives, it is so important to build their confidence when it comes to reading and writing. The best way to do this is to make it fun for them and to assist them if they are getting frustrated!!! At this point in the year, I tell my students to move on to the next sound if they are stuck on a specific sound. They don't know all of the "tricks" yet so I don't want them to stop on a sound for 15 minutes. The students LOVE to write about things that are important to them; family, friends, animals, video games, holidays, etc. Here are some tips for helping your child become a writer at home! Keep it fun and positive, and they will always enjoy writing time!

1. Play games with words. We love the "sight word slap" game..they have to swat those sight words with a fly swatter! You can find a TON of sight word games online or on www.pinterest.com
2. Stop and read the signs! The children are beginning to notice words and letters EVERYWHERE! Stop and allow them to identify letter sounds and sound out those words!
3. Enjoy writing! Our children notice our own habits at home. If YOU enjoy reading and writing, they will too! Write notes to each other, enjoy making a comic together, label things in your home (bedroom, backyard, etc.)
4. Allow them to write. I know it's so difficult to not redirect when your child spells a word incorrectly. However, allow them to hear the sounds within our spoken words and record the sounds THEY hear. It is okay to help them stretch out the words, but the more opportunities they get to be independent the easier it will be for them to become successful writers!

We have our Interactive Writing time each day. We write this story together as a class. The kiddos will write on their markerboards as I write on a chart. Mrs. Clark will always write in a different color so we can see the words or sounds THEY have come up!  

This is our Shared Reading big book this week. We are concentrating on quotation marks and other punctuation, sight words, and one-to-one correspondence! 

After all of our literacy activities, the students will write independently in their writing journals. Bryundra wrote "Pigs can jump!" She also used 6 different colors to give great detail to her illustration. :)

Alyssa was also a writing star today! We bragged on Alyssa's finger spaces, capital letter, and punctuation mark!

Aydan has read and written his favorite color words and wrote "I like fall!" on his markerboard... all before 8:30!!! :) 

Our word wall with our sight words!

This week we are working on adding -s or -es to our word endings.