With all that I’ve learned about the science of reading, I’ve made a lot of changes to my instruction this year. But some things never change.
In my writing book, Teaching Writing in Kindergarten, which was written 15 years ago and published 13 years ago, I list the Ten Guiding Principles for Teaching Writing in Kindergarten. In the video at the end of this post, you’ll observe almost all of these guiding principles. Because some things never change.
I suggest reading through the guiding principles before watching the video and perhaps afterwards as well. I think you’ll agree that these components of teaching kindergartners to write are still happening in my classroom (and still getting great results), even 15 years later.
10 Guiding Principles for Teaching Writing in Kindergarten
Establish and remain committed to a daily writing time of 25 to 30 minutes. I have done this all the years that I’ve taught kindergarten, including the many years I taught half-day kindergarten. Now, we have writing just four days a week because we have early release on Fridays.
Set high expectations for each student every writing period; have confidence that students will rise to meet these expectations. Kindergartners will try to meet your expectations, so set them high. Older students aren’t always as willing to do this; all the more reason to take advantage of the wonderful age you teach.
For the first six weeks of the school year, provide direct, whole group instruction in drawing, labeling pictures, and writing simple sentences, with the students copying your work onto their own paper. You will not see this in the video since it is now January, but you can see a video of this type of lesson here.
After the first six weeks, begin independent journal writing. Deliver most instruction through individualized mini-lessons based on individual needs and goals, rather than via whole group mini-lessons. Utilize the GLOW, GROW, SO formula: Acknowledge at least one positive aspect of the student’s writing (GLOW), point out how the student can improve upon his or her writing (GROW), and request that the student immediately try to implement the information or skill (SO). Accomplish this by circulating quickly and continuously among students during writing time. For the past several years, I have used student writing goals in place of GLOW, GROW, SO. Students know from the second writing time starts what their goal is and what they should focus on, rather than waiting for me to get to them and tell them what to do. Individual writing goals are very powerful.
Provide highly structured routines to support students in this early phase of learning to encode language. A key routine is providing a daily topic until students are truly ready to write well with their own topic choice. Providing a topic will help students be more successful with their writing. You’ll see in the video that on both days we are writing about read-alouds the students heard earlier in the day. This ensures that the students will have something to say and can get started right away.
Teach students at their individual skill level and encourage them to progress at their own rate with no ceiling of opportunity. Carry out ongoing assessment through the daily analysis of student writing to support your teaching. You’ll see with the individual goals that each student has a goal that is just right for them. At this point in the year, students are encouraged to spend the time writing rather than drawing and there are plenty of lines on the paper thereby ensuring growth in stamina and fluency.
To move students steadily along the continuum of learning, use Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development in combination with Bruner and Sherwood’s (1975) concept of scaffolding. Simply put, recognize what a student is capable of doing today and build upon that knowledge, using intentional, temporary, and flexible supports and approaches to teach new skills at the next higher level. It is crucial to expect a little bit more each and every day. Each student’s goal is in their zone of proximal development. I do not waste time trying to teach them something for which they are not yet ready.
Create closure each and every day. No student is permitted to be finished with writing until you determine that the student has worked up to his or her potential or to the expectations customized for that student that day. In the video, you’ll see that my method of bringing closure for students is to put a star on their paper. This also helps me realize who I need to get back to, who might need assistance, or who needs to spend some recess time working on their goal.
Keep parents informed about your classroom writing instruction and encourage the immediate and continual appreciation of the development of their child’s writing by sending students’ writing home on a regular basis. Underwriting—jotting down what the students’ writing says—helps parents understand their child’s writing development. This is not in the video, but I do send student journals home after they are filled up.
Publish student writing to stimulate enthusiasm, stamina, productivity, and a rapid increase in writing skills, and to celebrate all that has been learned. This has been eliminated due to teach work load. Additionally, this practice would not support SoR since students tend to write words above their reading level and reading them back in a published book might lead to guessing the words which is not a practice we want to encourage.
Teaching kindergartners how to write is probably the most challenging part of our job. Like a lot of kindergartner teachers, my teammate does not feel confident in this area. She readily admits that she doesn’t have a strategy for teaching all the subskills—pencil grasp, letter formation, formulating an idea and holding that idea and then writing the letters to record that idea, increasing confidence and independence, reading back what has been written, and on and on and on. She gets flustered and frustrated when so many students need her assistance at once, starts to rush, and ends up telling students which letters to write, thereby setting her students back most days rather than furthering their skills. Often, she’ll find other activities that “have” to be plugged in to writing time, just to avoid it.
She is well aware of all of this and thus has made becoming a better teacher of writing a main goal of hers this year. She is starting by not cancelling writing time, realizing that students need to practice writing every day in order to make steady progress. (She has given me permission to share all of this.)
Can I ask your advice on how to keep the kids writing quietly the whole time! Mine are quiet for the 1st couple of minutes and then it gets louder and louder. Your class seems to stay quiet the whole time!