writing for readers

From adding detail earlier in our narrative writing to our current focus on elaboration- such as character feelings and exact words- the children have been transferring techniques and author's craft we've studied into their writing.

The writers have had to put it all together, using our check list from the beginning of our unit and taking on new writing challenges. This has been hard and rich work. All children have added more to their writing, have practiced writing a lead, have zoomed in on character feelings to bring their stories to life, and are writing more sentences with independence.

Our final celebration of our work will be the recording of the children reading their stories. They will have their draft and final piece to read from. Our narrative unit began by cultivating a culture of storytelling and practicing telling our stories like storytellers to our community oval. It will end with a final piece and a recording of each powerful and expressive story.

"It seems your unit has come full circle. No, full oval" - B. Shelley

Early in the week children were invited to use sticky notes to show a feeling. They wrote the feeling on their sticky note and put it on the page in their story, then used the feeling in their writing.

ZM feels sad getting ready for school so early in the morning.
LS thinks cutting into a piece of clay to try and get a toy egg is hard work and made her feel tired.
OH said going to Lynn's house made him feel super excited!
BP felt scared taking the magic carpet.
SP was excited for his practice.
IA felt happy when we welcomed Sam to our class.
CB was excited to go to a birthday party!

 

 

 

We are helpful reading partners and helpful writing partners. Using our visuals, children spent an entire writing workshop offering feedback and editing their work. They were surrounded by vowel charts and check lists, tools and sticky notes. One partnership said that they had enough time to check almost every word for a vowel in their writing- making their stories easier to read!

 

 

 

The children used pictures and words to bring their draft to life. There was an important part of their writing we needed to zoom in on- the beginning. Writers use the beginning of their stories to invite readers in. We noticed techniques used in some of our favorite stories; sound words, feeling, and exact words. For example, it wasn't one night it was one dark night. We practiced reading and hearing these beginnings and decided which beginnings made us want to read more.

Using white boards we practiced writing different beginnings for SH's story, using sound words (flip, flap) and detail (One day, instead of First). The children then used strips of paper to write new beginnings and tape them to their draft.

For two children the word invitation stood out during our mini lesson and they wrote an actual invitation instead of a lead or beginning! We saved their invitations to use in future dedications or when starting a non fiction piece with a question. We must celebrate all of the wonderful Kindergarten writing moments.

 

 

our big words

This week the children have continued to develop their language and speaking and listening skills through reflection and representation. Much of our learning and work together connects to our growing understanding of community. We have explored the words community, love, kindness, peace, and togetherness. Our conversations and reflections connect to our school's philosophy around inclusion and equality. We will continue to empower and strengthen our community through rich read alouds and active engagement.

On Monday we read the narrative Martin's Big Words. The children were captivated by the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In this narrative we learn how Martin Luther King used powerful words to advocate and create change. I invited the children to think of their own big words. Many of the Kindergarteners shared words we have explored throughout the year. Other children said new words.

 

 




Throughout the week we pulled from their big and powerful words. During morning meeting I reread their words and one child chose the word we would work with. I introduced the word cultivate and the children responded to the question, How can we cultivate _________ ?

Our ideas continued to connect back to Martin's Big Words. We can cultivate love by listening to one another, helping when someone needs a hand, welcoming everyone in, using kind words, and sharing feelings of love. The children used pictures, labels, speech bubbles, and symbols to show ways we can cultivate our big word. On Tuesday, we noticed moments when we cultivated love in our classroom. We celebrated the little and powerful choices we made.

How can you cultivate love? 
What will happen if we all try to cultivate love? 
How does this connect to Martin Luther King's story?

 

On Wednesday one community member chose the word sharing. This was a little more challenging to represent, because for some children the word went beyond sharing materials.

 

 

On Thursday our chosen word was really a short sentence a child had written on Monday. Their sticky note had three words; You and Me.

How can we cultivate feelings of you and me? 
What does that look like in our classroom? In our school? 
These words connect back to our exploration of togetherness, community, and inclusion.
All are welcome here, you and me.

We can cultivate these big words and feelings everyday. Here is a small collection of photographs showing how we cultivated you and me this week.

We can cultivate you and me by reading together and listening when it is our partner's turn to read. We cultivate you and me by sharing our work and being open to feedback from peers.

 

 

We cultivate you and me by building together.

We cultivate you and me by welcoming Megan into our classroom and being ready for her to teach, learn, and work with us.

 


We cultivate you and me by recognizing all of the hard work we do as a community and celebrating our social and emotional accomplishments in many different ways.

This week we celebrated making kind choices over an afternoon snack of pancakes and syrup. It was a joyful and delicious end to a week full of powerful reflection. May we all learn from the children and cultivate big feelings and words everyday in simple and beautiful ways; saying good morning, welcoming someone to work with you, or sharing a smile and a meal with friends.

 

 

 

book talk power

We have been studying the patterns in books to help make our reading stronger. Readers understand the books they are reading. One way to build understanding is to study the pictures and words, notice the repeating parts, and think about how the book ends. We can use patterns to help us read unknown words, retell important parts, and introduce books!

This week we strengthened our pattern power and book talk power. The children practiced introducing their books to their peers, reading the title, stating the pattern, and sharing a part of the ending. We then practiced with a partner and used the patterns to play a game, Guess What's Next!

Our reading workshop has been rich with opportunities to explore the structure of books and to develop our comprehension skills within the text.

Practicing introducing a favorite book to the community

The title of this book is ____________
On every page ___________
There's a surprise in this book at the ___________

 

Using the pattern to play Guess What's Next with a reading partner!