Inside: Discover ways to support young children in drawing and labeling pictures during the emergent stages of writing in kindergarten. Why I Teach Drawing and Labeling Pictures With all that you have to teach in kindergarten, you might wonder how (or even why) someone would take the time to teach children how to draw. You […]
Writing Center Activities for Beginning Writers
Inside: Discover 7 writing center activities that your beginning writers can use independently during your literacy block or choice time. The Need for Writing Center Activities Once again, my kiddos surprised me! I wasn’t sure if offering writing center activities during choice time would make sense for 5-year olds. I didn’t think my active little […]
Retelling Stories with Story Maker Mats
I once saw a kid-written sign in a classroom that read, “Stories Happen Here.” What lucky kids! I knew this meant that they weren’t just being read stories, they were also inventing and retelling stories. I immediately wanted to know how I could create this kind of environment in my classroom. And was sure it […]
Halloween Tap and Write Reader Freebie
Talk of Halloween costumes usually begins as soon as the October calendar goes up! I always tell the children not to spill the beans on their costume as I looooove to be surprised! (aka: let’s not go there quite yet!) But here we are a week before the big day, so it’s time to open […]
4 Ways to Teach Beginning Writers to Spell Words
Inside: Help your beginning writers become more independent, by teaching them 4 strategies that that they can use to spell words. Beginning Writers Need Spelling Strategies When it comes to reading, sounding out is not the only strategy we teach children to use when figuring out an unknown word. There are several others, that work […]
Kindergarten Writing Assessments that Show How You Grow
Inside: Use these kindergarten writing assessments to create a Show How You Grow book to monitor fine motor and writing development across the year. Kindergarten Writing Assessments That Show Progress Over Time Finding kindergarten writing assessments for young children, who are just beginning to put pencil to paper, can be tricky. Many years ago, I […]
5 Steps to Teach Number Writing Using Formation Rhymes
Inside: Follow these 5 steps to teach number writing using formation rhymes that follow a fine motor path. Don’t Forget to Teach Number Writing! It’s so easy to fast forward through math instruction and forget to spend time on number writing, only to find yourself reteaching “3” in the middle of a place value unit. […]
Kindergarten Name Writing: The Missing Steps
Inside: Discover the missing name writing step, that I overlooked and skipped when I first began teaching kindergarten. Practice Before Instruction Name writing is one of the first things taught in kindergarten every year. A quick Pinterest search reveals a slew of ideas on how children can practice their names through copying, tracing, or building, […]
