"My Kinders Can't Write!" The Importance of Independent Writing

I have used three different programs to teach writing in Kindergarten. Before the start of every school year, I ask myself how I am going to approach writing in my classroom. And how I can make it better. And how I can make them more successful. And how I can do writing justice. And how I can connect it to something meaningful for them. And how I can make it relaxing and empowering- not stressful and hard. And how I can do all of this without getting overwhelmed.

When we ask Kindergartners to write, we are asking them to do an amazing feat. Most children at 5 or 6 are just mastering- or even maybe beginning to GRASP- the letters of the alphabet. Let alone what those new symbols mean. Let alone how they sound. Let alone connecting the sounds in common words to their written symbols and to their varying fine motor skills and to their ATTENTION SPAN. By now, we've forgotten what we wanted to write and we need to begin again. Que movement, noises, pencil eating, scribbling. Que frustration. This, my friends, is why writing and Kindergartners make both teachers and students squirm.

It is also the reason why we give our Kindergartners starter sentences, or god forbid- have them copy sentences we have pre-written. I am of the belief that writing is always a creative endeavor. The argument is that sentence starters are easier for young children. Less questions, less movement, more quiet. However, writing isn't about finishing a sentence. We write to share an opinion or inform others of something worthy of knowing. We write to share our feelings and help others work through theirs. Writing is not about perfectly crafted sentences, dictionary spelling, and uniformity. Writing is, as a wonderful quote once explained, "a painting of the voice."And with our youngest students, it can be just that- a drawing, some labels, or a full blown paragraph. All of it must be considered writing.

Why I Almost Never Give Sentence Frames (and the rare instances when I do)

For my average, never-written-more-than-my-name Kindergartner, I do not provide sentence frames.
Why?! How do they start? Don't they cry? No. Here's my reasoning:

1. Sentence frames can, and often do, turn into a crutch, not a scaffold. Students who begin using sentence frames learn how to write the second half of sentences. They learn how to finish someone else's thought. They focus on spelling, sight words and letter and sound relationships. But writing isn't about adding the finishing touches. Not everyone starts their sentences the same way. Writing is about sharing your ideas in your way. If a child has age-appropriate speaking skills, in English or another language, and appropriate motor functioning, he or she can formulate a sentence from their own ideas. Writing is not about finishing a sentence. It is about creating an idea, organizing it in a way that makes sense, and transforming it down on paper. This is what students should be practicing when they write. Many children, when the sentence frame is no longer provided feel just as overwhelmed and unsure as a student just beginning to write at the start of the year. Is it possible to wean the student off of sentence frames? Yes. Is it unnecessarily hard for many? Definitely. 
2. We need to model that the goal of writing is sharing your voice, not just answering a question. Taking away the sentence frames allows students, because it forces them, to THINK.  We need to get back to the basics and think about why we teach writing to our students. We need to think about why writing is an important skill to learn. The process of writing should be introduced and reiterated to students each day as a way to share what is in your head on paper. Its a way to make your ideas permanent and gives you the ability to share them with many people over and over! We need to make sure we do not stress appropriate grammar, spelling, and form during the writing block. Writing topics and abilities are as unique as the person who creates it. That is what makes it so amazing.
3. Analyzing writing from students who do not use a sentence frame gives the teacher so much valuable information. We can see, of course, how our students are understanding grammar, spelling, word order, and word choice. We can see how they use punctuation. Yet, when students are writing totally independently, we can also see their idea formation, ability to stay on topic, amount and type of detail, ability to display their voice, excitement, or lack thereof, story organization, the list is endless. You can choose to look for specific traits each time you review their writing or you can see what "pops out at you." Because with independent writing, something will pop out at you. Sentence frames are limited, independent writing is unrestricted. 

When To Provide Sentence Frames

Like anything in teaching, there are exceptions. For children who are below grade level in speaking, motor functioning, and/or language skills, the sentence frame provides a model of appropriate speech patterns on which to build off of. It also allows this student to respond to questions on the same level of his or her peers but within his or her ability level- avoiding frustration. For these students, the sentence frames help them perform above their independent level; for students with age-appropriate speech and motor functioning, it provides an easy way out. 

Just keep this in mind:

We are providing sentence frames when necessary because their presence provides students that display below-level language and motor functioning with an avenue to share their ideas and participate in the curriculum successfully. 

Asking students with language and or motor challenges to create, organize, and then write down a sentence independently would create extreme stress and is likely to lead to a hatred towards writing. Point being: it is TOO HARD. Writing is a way of effectively sharing, not a struggle with letters and translation and grammar. Using sentence frames for these students allows them to participate in sharing their ideas and thoughts with others. Use your best judgment; you know best.

Isn't Writing Stressful for the "Average" Student Too?

The quick answer is, of course! Isn't it stressful for YOU? When you need to organize YOUR thoughts and pick the right words and phrases to make it sound just right? There is a certain, productive amount of stress related to writing.

This productive stress is what helps us to ask ourselves the questions: Who is reading this? What would they like to hear? What do I want to say? Which words should I choose? Is this sentence making sense? Will this make the reader laugh? Should I add more detail? This is the good stress. This is the stress that creates a writer who understands his or her audience and can tailor their writing to be the best that it can be. This is the writer that is proud of his or her work.

But can Kindergartners really do this? To their own degree, yes. We can model these questions as we teach the children how to write in our mini-lessons. Maybe for a week, the students will focus on the question, "who will read this?" They will then learn to tailor their writing for peers, authority figures, younger children, etc. 

My point about stress is this: If a student isn't ready to use letters and words in their writing, they shouldn't be doing it. It doesn't take away stress to copy a sentence frame. They will be copying someone else's words without meaning. Doing something we don't understand can be stressful. Their writing should reflect what they can do: pictures and a few labels. If the student is ready to use letters and words in their writing, they should be doing so at their level. That may mean choppy, hard to read sentences. But they are their sentences. They reflect this author and his or her abilities. 

I understand the use of sentence frames to reduce stress in students, especially in the beginning of the year. But we have to make sure we know when and when not to use them. Is it just because we want this project to be uniform, cute, and readable? Wouldn't we rather have work reflecting the abilities of the children, so we know what needs to be taught next to advance their skills? Is the sentence frame even helping students who cannot yet read or use those words in his or her own writing or speech? On the other hand, is it necessary or just restrictive for students who can already write? Take time to think about that and how it relates to your own students and classroom environment.

So Now What?

First, you have to be prepared to see some pretty dicey writing pieces. And not just dicey- varied. Incredible variation. And like mentioned above, they will shock you! Some of the "average" students will shine like a star in their creative endeavor of writing. Likewise, some of the "above average" students will piece together a very bland, short, and feelingless piece due to anxiety or disinterest. I call this not knowing just what writing is for and the power that it has! Now you know what you need to teach your students, even the ones who can "already write." Writing, actual writing, in a Kindergarten will take time, much positive support, a quiet and relaxing atmosphere, clear directions and high expectations, and a clear and uncomplicated mini-lesson. MOST OF ALL, it takes your confidence. They can do this, so they will. Your confidence will reflect on them and they will believe in themselves! Whatever their writing pieces have to look like to represent their ability, so be it. But they can do it!

Here's K using finger spaces between her words
in her free-write journal!

Here's my friend B sounding out beginning sounds!

There will be more specific posts on writing to come! 

It is such a valuable and magical time of the day. 

Share your thoughts in the comments and stay tuned! 

Happy Holidays From 143!

Here's a look at the centers and activities we did during the crazy month of December! We studied Kwanzaa, Hannukah, and Christmas in social studies and force and motion in science. And SOMEHOW, we managed to continue doing both literacy and math centers, too!

Some math centers:

Ten frame recognize and write (we are TRYING not to count the dots and to use our recognition skills to tell the number, only then can we count to check)

Sorting addition equations by sum

Roll, record and compare 

And of course, we have a write and wipe 1-20 practice center each week so that we are sure our numbers are recognizable, easy to read and write.

Number sequencing

Whole group, we practiced our classifying and describing skills as we manipulated different shapes. We then used the chart to recognize and discuss patterns between shapes that are alike.

Literacy Centers

143 is becoming a classroom full of readers! Whether we are reading sight word books, on-level texts or above-level texts,  all of my students are working on their CAPs, sight words, and reading skills. Go Bees! Here are a few of our centers that work on these skills when the students are NOT at the reading table with me. 

CVC write and wipe practice cards. Everything's more fun with EXPO markers...

Cookie Monster sight word grab, say and write. Don't grab the Cookie Monster! He'll steal all your words!

So simple, and so beneficial. Here, I typed two letter word combinations so the bees could practice hooking their letters together to blend and read and also to practice reading words with all of the common vowel sounds. We practice each day at the reading table to improve our fluency! We also have a large chart at the rug that children who feel confident enough reading can try to read to the classroom.

Sight word word search for the "I'm done!" 's

This is a medial vowel sort using pictures of common items. Love that children can work with a partner and finish as a team!

For my highest readers, we are working on reading and recognizing real and nonsense CVC words. Here, they are sorting these words into their correct cookie jar and recording them appropriately on paper. 

At the reading table, I use this whiteboard to write down unknown or trick words in the text we are reading. We preview them and then review them after the book is finished. I use a book stand to hold it up as we read so the students can use it as a reference.

This center is for my struggling readers. The students attempt to read the word at the bottom of the present and then use the image "peeking out" from the present to help them check their answer by giving themselves a clue. Then, of course, we record our answers.

This is a writing mini lesson we completed that we were so proud of! The students were asked to take the common items on the left of the board and create a creative make-believe story on the right using the character from the left. This activity followed the reading of the book Spoon about a spoon who doesn't believe he can do anything special and discovers he actually can do things other utensils can't!  The kids decided a doll would make a pretend home out of her box she was sold in, salt would practice being a shaker and shake to music, pencil would have trouble writing because he is so ticklish each time someone picks him up and lamp would have a hard time playing video games because his light would shine in the way of the screen. So creative!

Here's an activity we do whole group during our 25 minute phonics review each day. We so far have only used the three box Elkonians but will soon use four. I will say a cvc word, the students will segment the word aloud using their fingers for help and then write the word the best they can. I like to mix up real words (which many of them memorized) and nonsense words to see their true skills!

Here's our CVC word bingo again! I find the boxes are a great visualization of the segmentation of each word. The students pick up a letter at random and segment each word on their card to see if the letter belongs in any space. When you fill up the card, you win!

A little holiday CVC building!

This was a super hard center for my first grade readers. I found I still needed to sit with them so that they could successfully complete the task. The students were to pick up a word card, read the word and sort the word by long or short vowel sound. They then recorded the word on their sheets. 

I found these cards needed some teacher direction as well, at least for the first use. The students were asked to say the first word, spell it with magnetic letters and then change that word to make the second. I did not yet worry about vowel pairs in the center of the words (i.e. ai in rain). This student made RAN (rain) into rake (RAK). Very soon some of my students will be using these cards with the expectation to create the vowel pairs and use sneaky e as an ending. 

Some holiday rhyming... every things more fun when its themed...

Plural and singular nouns sorting. The students had to look for ending s and had to read the word and visualize how many it represents. This was a new center and was very helpful for me to see who understands, in both verbal and written language, the meaning of plurals. 

Holiday word syllable sort

Weaving Kwanzaa mats! This was surprisingly difficult for them! Yet I found that they all enjoyed it and it was great for noticing and continuing patterns and, of course, for fine motor skills!

We decided to do a book study on The Gingerbread Boy and read five different texts. This was the activity we completed after reading the first book. While they were completing the sequencing activity, I played an audio recording of the story to aid them if they forgot which character followed which. This also helped them remain quiet and focus on the task at hand.

Here's our comparison chart we used to keep track of the differences between each of the stories and also notice any similarities. At the very end of our unit, and very close to break, we chose whether we would be a gingerbread boy or girl and completed a biography. We learned what a biography is and then wrote about what we would look like as a gingerbread person and what we would fear and lastly, where we would live. Some students flipped over the paper and wrote a story about their gingerbread person.

Lastly... of course, we made gingerbread from scratch! This time, we covered the floor with excess butcher paper for protection for the rug. We use the fair sticks (popsicle sticks with their names) to choose who pours or mixes what. Then at the end, we pass around the bowl so that everyone can take a turn making our creation!

The next day, we use frosting and decorations to make our gingerbread boy or girl and then watch The Grinch  and eat them... if we want!

Writing

I was noticing that while our writing is coming along well, our illustrations are suffering (greatly..). Our people are still mainly a big circle head and stick arms and legs. Yet our writing says so much more! So we read the book Tilly and focused on the drawings and how realistic they seem. I then modeled how to draw people using oval shapes and we discussed how our drawings currently look very flat. I placed a piece of transparency over the book and traced Tilly's body with ovals, when we were finished, I took off the transparency and showed them the realistic figure. Then we all tried on photocopies of the page with our own transparencies! Let's hope we use this strategy when we are back from break!

During our study of Christmas, we read The Grinch and discussed how and why the Ginch feels the way he does about Christmas. We learned how Christmas is not a holiday celebrated by giving presents, but for being thankful for family and friends and showing them how much we care. To include the Ginch in this holiday, we brainstormed ideas on how we could make the Grinch grin! Here are a few!

"Give him candy!"

"Make funny faces!"

"Buy him a dirt bike"

For the crazy month of December, we study force and motion and at the end of the unit, we do discovery stations. Four stations are set up around the room where the students can discover and experiment with gravity, force, speed, and friction. The students have a recording sheet where they can draw pictures of what happened at the station or write using words and phrases they know.

Friction station... is it harder to push on the rug or the laminate floor?

Force and motion of spinning objects

Experimenting with gravity and speed of items dropped

Using ramps to increase speed and measure distance. The goal was: we have to work as a team... this was harder than you think!

When we come back from break, we will be exploring habitats and teamwork and beginning to practice segmenting and writing four sound words with blends and digraphs! Get ready Bees!