WRITING | murraykinder

What Kinder writing looks like...

Your child will start writing in our class, if he hasn't already. The early stages of writing are both exciting and intimidating for beginning writers. There are many steps in the writing process. Here are the basic steps so you can begin to encourage and help your beginning authors at home.

Picture Drawing

Say: "Tell me about your picture." "What's happening in your story?" "What's happening here?"

If your child can't think of anything, point to part of the picture and say, "Tell me about this part."
Repeat your child's story back as one complete, simple sentence. i.e. Your child says, "playing at the park", you repeat, “I like to play in the park with my friends.” Get his "OK" on your dictated sentence and write it under his picture or words, so you don't forget. (As child progresses, try to vary the sentence structure.)

Writing Words

Assist your child with “sounding out” words.

Make the sounds of the word. If a word has 3 sounds, make those three sounds for your child.

For example, if your child can only get the initial "B" sound in bat, ask her "Do you hear any other letter sounds in the word ‘bat’?" and when you say "bat," stretch out each sound.
Allow your child to write what she/he thinks the letter(s) are. If your child writes c instead of k, or g instead of j, don't correct him/her. That is perfect at this stage.
If your child has no idea what letter makes the sound, let him write any letter and keep going (it happens, it's normal, it's okay! ).

Sight Words

If you come to a word in your child's story that is a Sight Word we have gone over in class or a word she already knows (for example, you know she can identify the word "the" in print), say, "Where have you seen that word before?"

Writers are also Readers

As your child finishes his/her writing, have her read it back to you as you point to each word together. Reading his/her own writing is a huge step of your child's progress into becoming literate.

Have fun with this process! When you make writing a special and enjoyable time, your child will learn to value him or herself as a writer!

Mrs. Murray's Kindergarten

Lempster Community School

What Kinder writing looks like...

Your child will start writing in our class, if he hasn't already. The early stages of writing are both exciting and intimidating for beginning writers. There are many steps in the writing process. Here are the basic steps so you can begin to encourage and help your beginning authors at home.

Picture Drawing

Say: "Tell me about your picture." "What's happening in your story?" "What's happening here?"

If your child can't think of anything, point to part of the picture and say, "Tell me about this part."

Writing Words

Assist your child with “sounding out” words.

Make the sounds of the word. If a word has 3 sounds, make those three sounds for your child.

For example, if your child can only get the initial "B" sound in bat, ask her "Do you hear any other letter sounds in the word ‘bat’?" and when you say "bat," stretch out each sound.

Allow your child to write what she/he thinks the letter(s) are. If your child writes c instead of k, or g instead of j, don't correct him/her. That is perfect at this stage.

If your child has no idea what letter makes the sound, let him write any letter and keep going (it happens, it's normal, it's okay! ).

Sight Words

If you come to a word in your child's story that is a Sight Word we have gone over in class or a word she already knows (for example, you know she can identify the word "the" in print), say, "Where have you seen that word before?"

Writers are also Readers

As your child finishes his/her writing, have her read it back to you as you point to each word together. Reading his/her own writing is a huge step of your child's progress into becoming literate.

Have fun with this process! When you make writing a special and enjoyable time, your child will learn to value him or herself as a writer!

What Kinder writing looks like...

Your child will start writing in our class, if he hasn't already. The early stages of writing are both exciting and intimidating for beginning writers. There are many steps in the writing process. Here are the basic steps so you can begin to encourage and help your beginning authors at home.

Picture Drawing

Say: "Tell me about your picture." "What's happening in your story?" "What's happening here?"

If your child can't think of anything, point to part of the picture and say, "Tell me about this part."

Writing Words

Assist your child with “sounding out” words.

Make the sounds of the word. If a word has 3 sounds, make those three sounds for your child.

For example, if your child can only get the initial "B" sound in bat, ask her "Do you hear any other letter sounds in the word ‘bat’?" and when you say "bat," stretch out each sound.

Allow your child to write what she/he thinks the letter(s) are. If your child writes c instead of k, or g instead of j, don't correct him/her. That is perfect at this stage.

If your child has no idea what letter makes the sound, let him write any letter and keep going (it happens, it's normal, it's okay! ).

Sight Words

If you come to a word in your child's story that is a Sight Word we have gone over in class or a word she already knows (for example, you know she can identify the word "the" in print), say, "Where have you seen that word before?"

Writers are also Readers

As your child finishes his/her writing, have her read it back to you as you point to each word together. Reading his/her own writing is a huge step of your child's progress into becoming literate.

Have fun with this process! When you make writing a special and enjoyable time, your child will learn to value him or herself as a writer!

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