Easy Kindergarten Writing Differentiation

Teaching writing in kindergarten is such an adventure. Students arrive with a wide range of skills. Then, as you teach different writing skills, students grasp and take off with them at different rates. Throughout the year it can be difficult to target each student’s individual needs, while staying on pace with your curriculum. Today, I have a resource to share with you that makes writing differentiation a breeze!

Monthly Writing Journals

Writing journals are a great way to keep your students’ writing in one place. I like to use monthly journals, because I can target the skills that my students need at different points in the year. These journals make it so simple to swap out the writing focus from month-to-month! Here’s how they work:

This monthly journal download includes anchor charts, reference posters, writing pages, and covers. At the beginning of each month, print a class set of covers, along with any posters or charts that target skills your students need. Staple them together with several blank writing pages, and you have a writing center prepped for the month!

Writing Differentiation with Journals

Because these journals are made a la carte, they are so easy to change for each student. Place posters and charts in each journal based on what that student needs. Not every child will necessarily have the same tools in their journal for the month! Some students may need the alphabet poster all year because letter formation is a struggle. Others may not need that poster but will need the sight word chart front and center. Give your students what they need, and watch their writing skills soar!

Benefits of Monthly Journals

Giving students the reference tools they need has so many benefits. First, students can look up skills that they need to practice on their own. This saves you time and hassle. You can focus on conferencing with students, or teaching small groups, and they will be able to access their writing assignments independently.

Next, you will be more organized! Each month, simply collect the journals and pass out new ones. It will be easy to flip through and give your students feedback to help them grow. You won’t have dozens of loose writing papers floating around your room, or getting shoved in folders. Instead, each child has one, neat journal to keep up with.

The writing differentiation is one of the biggest benefits of using these journals. Growth in any subject comes from meeting a child where they are, and scaffolding their work until they can do something on their own. These writing journals do exaclty that, but they can be tailored for each child!

Click here to get started with monthly writing journals, today!