Kindergarten Writing
Course Description
Writing is a meaning-making process that requires the synthesis of skills to effectively communicate. K-5 students are immersed in daily opportunities to explore, inquire, practice and apply writing strategies and skills in a variety of genres. Cultivating writers who write with the reader in mind is guided by the connection between reading and writing process to convey authentic messages. Self-selected writing topics guided by positive, specific feedback ignite the joy and passion to grow as lifelong communicators.
The kindergarten units begin with helping children approximate writing by drawing and labeling first in all-about books and then in stories. The first unit, Launching the Writing Workshop, acknowledges that most children will be labeling their drawings—and the letters in those labels will include squiggles and diamonds. The second unit, Writing for Readers, helps children write true stories—but does so fully aware that the hard part will be writing read-able words. By the later kindergarten units, children are invited to use their new-found powers to live writerly lives. In How-To Books: Writing to Teach Others, Unit 3, students write informational how-to texts on a procedure familiar to them. In Persuasive Writing of All Kinds: Using Words to Make a Change, the fourth and final unit in the kindergarten series, students craft petitions, persuasive letters, and signs that rally people to address problems in the classroom, the school, and the world.
Grade Level(s): Kindergarten
Related Priority Standards (State &/or National): K-5 Missouri Learning Standards & ELA Priority Standards
Essential Questions
- How does a writer know his/her writing is clear?
- What makes an interesting narrative?
- How do authors begin & end their stories?
- How do authors convey sequence?
- How do writers organize their ideas to aid comprehension?
- Who is the audience and why does it matter?
- How does an author's choice of voice, tone and mood affect the audience's perception/understanding?
- Why does one write an argumentative piece?
- Why is my argumentative writing worth reading?
- How do my experiences impact my opinions?
- Where do ideas for writing come from?
- How do writers organize their ideas?
- What makes an effective argument?
- How does a writer know his/her writing is clear?
- Why does one write an informational/explanatory text?
- When does one write an informational/explanatory text?
- How do writers choose relevant facts?
- What determines accurate information?
- How does one know a source is credible?
- How does one know an author is credible?
- How does an author's choice of voice and register affect the audience's perception/understanding?
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas
- Writing clearly is essential to effective communication.
- Details enhance a narrative.
- Appropriate transitions enhance continuity.
- Narratives have a variety of organizational structures.
- Narratives are written in a variety of forms.
- Audience and purpose influence a writer's choice of organizational pattern, language, and literary techniques.
- Expressing an opinion is a right that is to be valued and respected.
- As our experiences change, so can our opinions.
- Researched evidence supports a strong opinion.
- Appropriate transitions enhance the continuity of writing.
- Informational text is characterized by a formal style.
- Well-chosen facts are specific to the topic, relevant to the audience and logically presented.
Course-Level Scope & Sequence (Units &/or Skills)
- Unit 1: Establishing the Writing Workshop
- Unit 2: Show & Tell: From Labels to Pattern Books
- Unit 3: Sentence Structure
- Unit 4: Writing More with Different Genres
* The above adjustments to scope and sequence are pending Board approval on August 22, 2022.
Course Resources & Materials
- Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing: A Workshop Curriculum
- Sonday System Essentials
- Heggerty Phonemic Awareness
Date Last Revised/Approved: 2013