Introducing Writing Workshop in Kindergarten

Learning how to write is a huge part of kindergarten. Your students will master everything from proper pencil grip to letter formation to simple sentence writing…all in one year! The job of a kindergarten teacher is huge. Today, I have some ideas for you on introducing writing workshop in your classroom!

Who is a writer?

The first thing that should be established with your students is that they are all writers. Discuss who a writer is…it is anyone who writes! Every student in your class will develop writing skills at different paces, but the each hold the ability to grow into a fluent writer over time. When I launch writing workshop in my class, I ask students to raise their hands if they have ever drawn a picture and labeled it with words or letters. I ask them if they have ever written their name. Each of these things are examples of writing, so they all are already writers!

What do writer’s write?

Start writing workshop by teaching students what writers write. Brainstorm a list of things that people write down on an anchor chart to hang in your writing center. It’s important to help students understand that writing can encompass so many things! Grocery lists, thank you notes, pictures with labels, stories…anything can be considered writing! If you are using your pencil to communicate your thoughts, you are writing!

Additionally, establishing what writing is for your students early in the year will help boost their confidence. They may not think of themselves as writers yet. But, picking up a pencil and putting anything on paper makes you a writer.

Stages of Writing Workshop

When you first introduce writing in your kindergarten classroom, many of your students will still be working on letter formation. Some will already be able to write the letters that are in their first name. Others will be unable to write any letters at all. You will be teaching individual letter formation throughout the year, so there is no need to emphasize that right away. Simply ask your students to draw a picture of everyone who lives in their home. Ask them to write the name of each member of their family by writing any letters they hear. Invented spelling is a large part of kindergarten writing. It builds on phonemic awareness!

Over time, the next phase for kindergarten writers is drawing a picture and writing a simple sentence to describe it. Invented spelling will still be a large part of this phase. As students learn to decode CVC words and memorize high-frequency words, they will be able to spell more and more words.

As students build up to writing complete sentences, ask them to look back over their work. We do not ask kindergartners to edit their writing for spelling, unless it is a word they know how to spell. Instead, ask your students to read the sentences back to themselves, and point at each word as they say it. It’s common for young writers to omit words as they are writing and not realize it. They may be saying a sentence that has four words, but they only wrote three. Creating a habit of looking back over writing each time they write something will help them as they get older and revise and edit larger pieces of writing.

Using these tips, writing workshop will start strong in your classroom! The goal is to foster a community of writers who love to express themselves through writing, and have confidence in their ability to grow. Writing includes a lot of skills that kindergarteners are working to master at the same time: fine motor skills, spelling, letter formation, etc. Have patience, and move slowly. Before you know it, you will have a room full of confident writers!

Want more writing ideas for kindergarten? Check out these posts!

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