Kid Writing in Kindergarten

When we engage in writing activities in kindergarten, we find that the students experience a deeper level of engagement when they are interested in the topic. After we came in from our Halloween parade, The students were talking excitedly about all of the cool things that they saw. We used this as an opportunity to develop our literacy skills. We invited the children to draw a picture of something that they enjoyed from the parade, and we gave them the paper that had room for a picture on the top and lines for writing words on the bottom.

Kid writing, also known as developmental spelling, involves stretching out the sounds in the words that they want to write.  The students are encouraged to listen closely to the sounds and write down the letters that correspond with the sounds.  While we do sometimes tell the students how to spell words correctly, we often let them write what they hear.  In this way, they develop confidence in their ability to write, and they also move closer towards cracking the code of text.  Engaging in writing activities in kindergarten leads directly to improved reading skills.

We enjoyed having parents in the classroom during the writing activity, and the students were very proud to share their beautiful work.