Foster Your Little Shakespeare

Our school held a kindergarten curriculum information session. The session provided parents with some helpful information about writing expectations. At the beginning of the school year, the focus was on an idea not the writing. Expectations have shifted. Our teachers briefly discussed what they expect and do not expect from kindergartners.

A kindergarten student should be able to perform the following functions when writing:

Proof work. Kindergartners should reread their work and self-monitor for meaning and structure.

Use upper and lower case letters. A sentence begins with an uppercase letter. Upper case letters should not be present in the remainder of the sentence unless it is a proper noun.

Use spacing. Use your pointer finger to create a space between words in a sentence. Make sure letters within a word are close together.

Use punctuation. Convey a complete idea using punctuation. They should mark the end of their idea with an explanation mark, period or question mark. Also, they should use punctuation to separate ideas.

For example,

Wrong: I like to go the park and play with my friends and play kickball.

Correct: I like to go to the park. I like to play with my friends. I like to play kickball.

Construct idea. Students should construct an idea using multiple sentences; explain a picture with more than one sentence.

Spell sight words correctly. The kindergarten sight words should be spelled correctly. Students should use phonics to spell unknown words. Each word should have a beginning, middle and ending sound. They were very quick to point out not all words will likely be spelled correctly as this would not be a realistic expectation. They further stated that some sounds are developmental (e.g. sh, ch and th).

Draw detailed pictures. Students should illustrate with detail. Their pictures should reflect on their sentences and provide additional information. No stick figures!

Check work. Students proof their work before, during and after the writing process to check for the meaning and structure.

Related Posts:

• Kindergarten & 1st Grade Writing
• Proper Letter Formation
• How to Hold a Pencil
• First Grade Rubric
• Handwriting Helps Boost Your Brain