Writing in
Kindergarten
“Authors at Work”
Kindergarten Writing Standards
College and Career Ready Standards
▪ Handwriting
– K.W.2.1 Write most uppercase and lowercase of the alphabet, correctly shaping and
spacing the letters of the words. – REPORT CARD STANDARD
▪ Writing Genres: (Argumentative, Informative, Narrative)
– K.W.3.1.: Use words and pictures to provide logical reasons for suggesting that others
follow a particular course of action (Argumentative)
– K.W.3.2. : Use words and pictures to develop a main idea and provide information
about a topic . (Informative)
– K.W. 3.3 : Use words and pictures to narrate a single event or simple story, arranging
ideas in order. (Narrative)
▪ The Writing Process
– K.W.4 :Apply the writing process to –
▪ With support, revise writing by adding simple details; revise(edit) writing for format and
conventions. (e.g., correct spelling of simple words, capitalization of the first word of the
sentence)
Kindergarten Writing Standards (cont.)
▪ Conventions of Standard English:
Grammar and Usage/ Capitalization, Punctuation,
and Spelling)
– K.W.6.1a : Nouns and Pronouns – Writing sentences that include singular
and plural nounsK.W.6.1b : Verbs – Writing Sentences that include verbs
– K.W.6.1e : Usage – Recognizing that there are different kids of sentences
(e.g. ; sentences that tell something, sentences that ask something, etc..)
– K.W.6.2 ; Demonstrate command of capitalization, punctuation, and spelling
▪ K.W.6.2a : Capitalization – Capitalizing the first word of a sentence and the pronoun I.
▪ K.W.6.2b : Punctuation – Recognizing and naming end punctuation
▪ K.W.6.2c : Spelling – Spelling simple words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness
– Report Card Standards
What Does it Look Like?
How do we get them there?
▪ Pencil Grip
▪ Printing Line
▪ Stages of Writing
▪ Labeling Pictures
▪ Phonetic Spelling
▪ Sight Word Introduction
▪ Sentence Mechanics
Pencil Grip
What We Want in Kindergarten
Helpful Ways to Stabilize Grip
The proper pencil grip is key to ensure proper sizing
and spacing with letter formation and printing.
Types of lines
• Practicing these types of lines will help children’s fine motor skills
and pencil control.
▪ Handwriting
– K.W.2.1 Write most uppercase and lowercase of the alphabet, correctly shaping and
spacing the letters of the words. – Report Card Standard
– We use the printing line all year. Students are expected to be able to print their
letters correctly on a printing line.
Top line
Bottom line
Middle/Dotted Line
Basement
Letters on a Printing Line
We encourage all letters to be formed starting at the top!
Some letters are short (Start at the middle line and sit on the bottom line)
c
See the
difference!
a
v
n
Some letters are tall (Start at the top line and sit on the bottom line)
C
f
b
Kk
See the
difference!
h
See the difference!
Some letters go to the basement (Start at the middle line and go below the bottom line)
g j
Stages of Writing
Pre-Writing Pictures
•
•
•
•
•
Pictures tell a story
Pictures share an idea
Drawing People with details
Adding details to background
Coloring expectations
• Staying in lines
• Filling in the white spaces
• Using more than ONE color
• Using appropriate colors
Stages of Writing cont…
Labeling Pictures
▪ From the first day of Kindergarten, we begin working on stretching out words
and writing the letters that correspond with the sounds.
▪ After drawing a picture from a particular PROMPT, we encourage labeling.
▪ These “labels” will progress in accuracy as the student’s phonemic awareness
increases.
▪ We work on these “labels” as we develop into sentence writers
b
bne
bune
Quarterly Benchmarks
Quarter 1: Beginning Sound
Quarter 2: Beginning/Ending
Sound and some middle sounds
Quarter 3 & 4:
Beginning/Middle/Ending
Sounds
Phonetic Spelling
▪ Phonetic Spelling, also called “inventive spelling”, is the process in
which students spell words by matching up the sounds they hear to
the letters they write to spell the word.
▪ Teachers help children learn to write the same way parents and
families help them learn to talk.
▪ If we put our energy/focus into correcting each and every
approximation, the child will get discouraged and lose the desire to
write.
▪ Research shows us that heavy correction is telling the students
that spelling the words correctly is more important than the
MEANING and PURPOSE of their writing.
Phonetic Spelling
Examples:
btrfli
brd
picr
Eventually….
We do NOT want perfection of spelling to impede their writing thoughts and process!
Sight Word Introduction
▪ As we begin to introduce sight words at the beginning of
the year, we begin using those sight words to label and
build sentences.
▪ Spending an adequate amount of time on building
sentences is KEY!
▪ As mastery of building sentences with our sight words
increases, we begin copying the sentences that we build.
MODELING and GUIDED sentence writing!
Sight Word Introduction cont…
▪ The first word we introduce in Kindergarten is “red”.
▪ We use the word ”red” to label pictures we draw of red
items.
▪ We continue this process with other color and number words
▪ Example:
red
OR
red apl
Sight Word Introduction cont…
▪ As we continue to introduce more high frequency (Lightning Words), we
can use those words to build sentences.
▪ Word Introduced: I, see, like, red
Build a Sentence using the words
I
see
red
.
I
like
red
.
Sight Word Introduction cont…
▪ Eventually we will begin copying the sentences we build.
Sentence we built.
I
see
red
.
Students copy on their own
We do encourage our sight words to be spelled correctly. These
words are displayed on our class Word Wall for that purpose.
Sight Word Introduction cont…
▪ As our sight word knowledge and phonetic spelling expands, so does our
writing!
▪ Students will eventually break away from having to build sentences, and be
able to come up with sentence on their own!
▪ This is a slow and crucial process! Mastery of each level is key before
moving on.
I ate barbeque.
It was delicious.
Sentence Mechanics
▪ Throughout all the processes previously mentioned, it is
imperative that we are introducing and reviewing sentence
mechanics.
▪ Sentence mechanics that are expected in Kindergarten
are:
– Uppercasing the first letter of a sentence, as well as the
pronoun “I”
▪ All other letters in the sentence should be lowercase
– “The CaT is oRangE.” vs. “The cat is orange.”
▪ We also talk about how names should be uppercased.
– Spacing between words (we use the term, “finger space”)
▪ “Iseered.” versus “I see red.”
Sentence Mechanics
cont…
– Using an appropriate ending mark (period, question
mark, exclamation point)
– Spelling simple words phonetically
– Sentence should include a noun and a verb.
▪ “A dog” versus “A dog can eat a bone.”
– Sentences should make sense!
– *Words in the sentence should be written
correctly on a printing line
Going Beyond the Standards
Expanding Expressive Tool (EET)
Informative Writing Standard
• Originally designed for speech purposes to assist students in
expanding their vocabulary and explanation of an object.
• We have carried EET over to our writing utilizing the EET “dots.”
• In Kindergarten at Silver Creek Primary, we focus on 4 dots.
?
Eye
What does it
look like?
Blue
What does it
do?
White
Where do
you find it?
Question Mark
What else do I
know?
Expanding Expressive Tool (EET)
• We introduce the dots in this order, one at a time.
• This process helps the students get a good grasp of different sentences
they can write given a certain topic.
• These dots help teachers not have to hear, “I don’t know what to write” 
?
Eye
What does it
look like?
Blue
What does it
do?
White
Where do
you find it?
Question Mark
What else do I
know?
Expanding Expressive Tool (EET)
?
Eye
What does it
look like?
Blue
What does it
do?
White
Where do you
find it?
Question Mark
What else do I
know?
Narrative Writing
▪ K.W. 3.3 : Use words and pictures to narrate a single event or simple story,
arranging ideas in order. (Narrative)
▪ Prepare your child by having them ORALLY narrate a single
PERSONAL event. Encourage them to use words that
demonstrate a beginning, middle, and end. (First, Next, Then,
Last)
Argumentative Writing
– K.W.3.1.: Use words and pictures to provide logical reasons for suggesting
that others follow a particular course of action (Argumentative)
▪ Prepare your child by having them ORALLY “argue” an opinion
or thought. Encourage multiple reasons for their opinion. (other
than “I like it” or “It is the best”. )
Suggestions for Home –
Help Build their Confidence!
▪
Provide or designate a special writing spot
–
Stock with writing supplies!
▪
Work on Pencil Grip – PINTEREST or Google for other ideas
▪
Color and Draw!
–
Get a Notebook: Let child choose or you provide the prompt.
▪
Practice types of lines so students can gain good pencil control
▪
Phonetic Spelling Practice
–
▪
Provide authentic writing opportunities to spark their interest and make those real word connections
–
▪
Use the dry erase board your child received at Camp Kindergarten. (Also at Dollar Tree)
Party invitations, grocery lists, etc…
READ, READ, READ,
–
Reading exposes students to general vocabulary, word study and content-specific vocabulary.
▪
Show them you have an interest in writing. It will carry over to them! They will value what you value!
▪
Introduce the printing line BEFORE KINDERGARTEN! – PRACTICE!
–
(name first because it has the most meaning)
Suggestions for Home –
Help Build their Confidence!
Questions???