Running head: WRITING IN KINDERGARTEN 1

Standard 4: Content Knowledge

The teacher understands the central concepts; tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s)

he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline

accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.

This research paper outlines how to teach writing to kindergarteners using a form of writer’s

workshop. It gives in detail step by step how to use writing workshop as a learning experience

that assures students master the content. The writing workshop is flexible so that it can be

modified to address the central concepts of a given lesson and provides students with a structure

with which to follow. For this reason, I believe this paper addresses Standard 4.
WRITING IN KINDERGARTEN 2

Teaching Writing in Kindergarten

Aaminah Durham

Wesleyan College

Author Note

This paper was prepared for EDR 390, taught by Mrs. Wendy Hamm
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Teaching Writing in Kindergarten

Teaching writing in kindergarten appears to be a daunting task. Most students of this age

cannot write in a way that is clear and legible to the eye. At their grade level, they are still

grasping their letters and letter sounds and learning to identify sight words. Asking them to write

seems to be asking too much. However, the goal for my unit is to have students do a combination

of writing, dictating, and drawing in which they tell the reader their opinions about a book.

Therefore, the goal of this research is to outline the methods that effectively teach writing to

kindergarten students. These methods should also help students develop skills they can use in

other areas and in future work.

A familiar and well-noted method presents itself in writing workshop. Writing workshop

gives the teacher the opportunity to model writing for the students as well as interactive writing

in which the students are involved in the writing process. Angela Behymer outlines six steps in

writing workshop and spends 30 to 45 minutes a day focusing up. This time includes journal

writing, a mini lesson, and sharing time. “One of the teacher’s first instructional tasks is to make

students aware that the writing process occurs in stages” (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011). The six

steps Behymer outlines introduces kindergarteners to a simplified version of writing in stages.

The first step consists of drawing. Behymer (2003) considers drawings to be an

“excellent prewriting organizer” (p. 85). She suggests using markers because it is enjoyable and

relaxing to students. It also allows the teacher to “see the process that the child used when

writing, because the child crosses out the wrong letters instead of erasing them” (Behymer, p.

86). The second step is guided phonics-based spelling or “kid writing” in which the teachers help

students one-on-one to listen for the sounds in words. After easier sounds are mastered, students

are encouraged to listen for more difficult letter sounds. It is essentially considered guided
WRITING IN KINDERGARTEN 4

writing (p. 86). The teachers can use this as an assessment of sorts as you can see what letters

and sounds students need extra help on. “If the child does not recognize any sounds, he or she is

encouraged to draw magic lines. These horizontal lines serve as a placeholder” (Behymer, p. 86).

The third step is adult underwriting. During this time, the teacher writes the student’s

story beneath theirs with proper spelling and grammar. Behymer notes that many believe that

student’s writing attempts should not be corrected (p. 86-87). Behymer is of the belief that this a

good time to praise student’s attempts with their spelling and compare their writing and the

teacher’s (p.87). The fourth step involves the minilesson where the class comes back together.

The teacher can use her judgement of students’ daily work to decide where to focus the

minilesson on phonics and literacy skills that will strengthen student writing. This step also

allows students to share their stories from the author’s chair. “The other children are encouraged

to ask questions, make comments, or draw connections about the writing from the child authors”

(p. 85).

The fourth step is sharing time with partners and a step that can be tricky to manage.

Students should understand that this time should be used to share their journal writing and ask

questions about their journal entries and writing. The fifth step is the publication step involves

revising and editing and one that Behymer considers to be ongoing. Kindergarteners do most of

their revising and editing during the actual writing time. “Rather than revise and edit each piece,

I encourage the children to attempt new writing projects” (p. 87). The writing is then composed

into a book or posted on a bulletin board. Behymer feels that by using these writing workshop

steps, she has three opportunities for explicit instruction. “My first opportunity is at the point

when the child writes as we are sounding out. The second is when we are doing the adult writing,

and the third opportunity is during the minilesson” (Behymer, p. 87).

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Journal writing is a major part of writing workshop. Therefore, it is important to explore

effective interactive journal writing with kindergarteners. It is first important to note that any

graphic work is considered writing at this grade level. In an article by Susan White Cress (1998),

she gives the example of a teacher who described journal writing in her kindergarten classroom.

“All graphics were termed writing so that that the children would think of themselves as writers”

(p. 14). The goal of journal writing is to help students gain independence, but Cress notes that as

students gained independence, they seemed to lose creativity. To counter this, methods to inspire

creativity in writing were implemented so that students can make a connection that writing is a

form of communication.

One of these methods is dialogue writing. Dialogue writing fosters a teacher-child

relationship and gives the student and audience for their writing. “Questions or statements

written by the teacher or the child help children realize they can communicate with an adult on

paper” (p. 15). As the student continues to respond to the teacher’s prompts, they form a story.

This lays the foundation for students to write personal narratives. This activity also gives a sense

of meaning so students are more likely to remember any skills learned.

In kindergarten, we want to get the wheels of metacognition turning so we encourage

students to think about their thought process. At this grade level, it is best to have student’s talk

about their writing. An article by Geralyn Jacobs (2004) presents research showing that having

kindergarteners talk about their writing produced better results in independent writing over time.

“At the beginning of the year, this writing consisted primarily of drawing, progressing as the

year went on to the addition of letters and short words. By the end of the study, some of the

children were still primarily only writing short words, while others were beginning to write

sentences and very simple stories” (p. 19).

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The goal in teaching writing as grade level increases is to make independent writers.

Writing workshop, journal writing, and reflecting on writing allows kindergarteners to develop

skills that will be of great importance when becoming more independent in their writing. The

combination of interactive writing, receiving feedback on writing, and being provided the

opportunity to talk about their writing allows students to make connections as to why reading is

important. Students should be motivated to use writing as a way to express their creativity

without feeling that it is to difficult.

WRITING IN KINDERGARTEN 7

References

Behymer A. Kindergarten writing workshop. Reading Teacher [serial online]. September

2003;57(1):85-88. Available from: Literary Reference Center, Ipswich, MA.

Vacca RT, Vacca JAL, Mraz M. Content area reading: literacy and learning across the

curriculum. Boston: Pearson; 201ADAD

Cress S. A Sense of Story: Interactive Journal Writing in Kindergarten. Early Childhood

Education Journal [serial online]. September 1998;26(1):13-17. Available from:

Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

Cress S. A Sense of Story: Interactive Journal Writing in Kindergarten. Early Childhood

Education Journal [serial online]. September 1998;26(1):13-17. Available from:

Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA.

Jacobs G. A Classroom Investigation of the Growth of Metacognitive Awareness in Kindergarten

Children Through the Writing Process. Early Childhood Education Journal [serial

online]. August 2004;32(1):17-23. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich,

MA.