Interactive Writing in Kindergarten
Sharing the Pen to Promote Engagement (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 0: Foundation for LiteracyStage 1: Beginning Literacy
Ages:
3-7
Grade Range:
PreK KFood Groups:
Primary:
Motivation for Literacy
Secondary:
Writing Processes & Strategies
Transcript
One of the most powerful tools that I use in my kindergarten class is interactive writing, and it's a great way to teach reading and writing. Interactive writing starts with an authentic experience. It could be an outing, it could be a story that we've read, it could be a visitor who's come to our classroom. We sit down and talk about the experience and we decide what we're going to write. Sometimes we might be writing a list, sometimes we might be writing a procedure, sometimes we might be writing a letter to someone. And we start the writing, the teacher has a good knowledge of what the strengths of her children are, she knows who knows beginning sounds, who knows high frequency words, and she invites the children to come up and share the pen with her. And some children might be able to add the beginning letter, and some children might be able to write a whole word, and we share the pen back and forth until the piece is finished. And as we're composing the message we are constantly re-reading. Because we've composed the piece together and we've practiced re-reading it so many times by the time the piece is finished all the children can re-read it very confidently. The message is left up on the wall and the children come back and revisit it and practice their reading, and it's so meaningful to them. Because we write for a variety of purposes there's examples of interactive writing at various places throughout the classroom, which the children can revisit. And I really like to take photographs of the children engaged in activities and have them write about it in small groups. I find this very effective and very meaningful.
Activity Objective
The goal of Interactive Writing in Kindergarten: Sharing the Pen to Promote Engagement (Virtual Tour) is to help students develop an understanding of the features of written language, including how text is organized and how letters and words work.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Interactive writing might include letter writing, procedure writing or making a list.
- Concepts of print include text directionality, spacing, function of letters, punctuation.
- Provide explicit teaching in how books are organized, where to start reading, and what the symbols on the page mean.
- During interactive writing, guide the process of writing and provide appropriate pacing and instruction when needed. Have students participate by adding punctuation and writing words.
- Provide interactive writing opportunities for whole-group and small group instruction.
- At higher grade levels, interactive writing can also involve the features of various text types.
Other Recipes by this Teacher
Picky Puppet: Promoting Phonemic Awareness
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Making Apple Sauce: Learning Procedure Writing in Kindergarten (Virtual Tour)
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Personal Browsing Bins: Building Interest in Reading in Kindergarten (Virtual Tour)
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StarFall Center: Learning and Applying Letter-Sounds in Kindergarten (Virtual Tour)
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Interactive to Independent Writing: Learning and Applying Concepts of Print (Virtual Tour)
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