We have some budding writers in kindergarten! We have been doing independent writing during Writing Workshop and are learning how to create books about events from our own lives. We have also been doing interactive writing together as a class, learning how to write and build complete sentences. We have been practicing writing and spelling our kindergarten "snap" words correctly as we write sentences. Whenever the kids are getting ready to write new words that aren't snap words, we have been practicing the rubber band strategy. This is a great strategy for you to use at home with your child when he/she asks you how to spell words.
- Pretend to hold a rubber band.
- Say a word aloud slowly, stretching the rubber band. Repeat several times.
- Isolate and say the beginning sound, writing a letter for that sound.
- Repeat for the remaining sounds in the word, rereading and putting together sounds as they are recorded until all sounds are represented.
This is called "invented spelling," and research shows that the more experience children have in exploring our language and word patterns in this way, the more skilled and confident spellers they become.
Below is an example of some of our interactive writing. We compose the sentences together on the SmartBoard, taking turns writing letters, leaving spaces, practicing directionality, writing snap words, among many other things. As we compose a sentence on the SmartBoard, the kids are also composing the same sentence on dry erase boards. Many of these interactive writing projects become class books for us, and you may see some of them come home with your child.
As your children blossom into writers, it is so important for us to celebrate and praise their writing...even when their writing is actually an approximation or an attempt at writing. It is so fun for me to watch your children grow into confident and capable writers!
