Writing with Sentence Stems

But no more than 20% of the time

In my kindergarten class, we write four days a week for 20-30 minutes. Friday is early release, so there is no time for our usual writing. Most days, I provide a topic (something from our read aloud or weekly theme) and the students write independently in their journals. My aide and I circulate around the room and help students with their individual writing goal(s).

Once a week, the topic I provide is a sentence stem. The sentence stem is two to four words that the students will copy over and over again while writing their ideas. A sentence stem typically contains several high frequency words and that is one of its benefits. Another reason to use sentence stems is because less energy is required for sound-letter correspondence which means more thought and energy can go into spacing between words, bumping the line, letter formation, spelling sight words correctly, fluency, or other skills the students know as their writing goals. Sentence stems are an especially effective scaffold for students who are still working on “think of an idea and write it down” or “read your writing” back to yourself or the teacher.

On sentence stem days, I gather the students together and model the group of words that they will write over and over again and how to add onto them. We may do some quick heart word work, as we did with the word love. I remind them to put a period at the end of each idea and demonstrate how to continue writing across the line, even if their idea ends before the line does. Before sending them off to write, I erase everything except the sentence stem I want them to copy.

Though sentence stems are helpful and make writing easier for children, I caution against using them more than once a week or for more than about 20% of students’ writing opportunities. Kindergartners need to mostly be formulating their own sentences and carefully listening to words to segment the sounds. If there are not enough opportunities to do so, they will quickly lose their confidence and you will have a room full of kids who cannot get anything down on paper without your constant guidance.

You see, I need kids to get writing down on paper, preferably without a lot of direct help. I then look at their writing and determine teaching points and, if they are able to “do” their writing goal for several consecutive days, decide on a new goal for them.

Again, using sentence stems frees up some mental energy that students can then devote to their current writing goal, as shown in these writing samples.

Current writing goal: Make all finger spaces the right size.

Current writing goal: Write neatly. Without a daily reminder of what his goal is, this student’s writing is almost illegible. I’m trying to stop the habit of messy handwriting before it becomes his modus operandi.

Current writing goal: Try to spell sight words correctly. This particular sentence stem wasn’t all that helpful in advancing this student’s writing.

Current writing goal: Use talls, shorts, and hang-downs (i.e., pay attention to letter size).

Current writing goal: Bump the line (set letters on the line; they shouldn’t be floating away).

Current writing goal: Think first; try not to erase so much.

Current writing goal: Use spaces between words.

Current writing goal(s): Start with a capital, then use mostly lowercase.

Current writing goal: Write faster. This goal can give students more confidence and help them stay on task.

In case you have not seen this post, I start individual writing goals mid-year. You know that overwhelming feeling you get when you look at student writing and see ten things that need immediate attention? Having a specific goal keeps each student as well as the teacher focused. My aide and I approach a student during writing time and say, “What’s your goal?” They usually know it and state it. We then look at (mostly) only that aspect of their writing and give them related feedback and tips for improvement. It allows us to block out everything else about their writing and quickly move on to another student. This is how we provide individualized instruction to 27 students in 20-30 minutes.

Other sentence stems:

I see…

I can…

I can see…

I do not see…

I am…

I have…

I do not have…

I like…

I do not like…

Do you like…

I went to…

We do not…

I do not have 100…

I can see one..

I know how to…

I hope you find this post helpful. Teaching kindergartners to write is hard work!