Saturday, August 2, 2014

Saturday Sayings: It's That Important



First grade has changed considerably in the 20 years I've been teaching it.  I believe that's a good thing.  Even though I've never taught kindergarten, I believe the same is true for that grade level.  This is an oversimplification, but in many classrooms, it's gone from naps and snacks to being a miniature version of first grade.  Some might argue that our littlest learners aren't experiencing enough of that important play they used to get.  I would tend to agree with some of this argument, but that topic is for another day.  Instead I'm interested in something else I wish kindergarten students were getting more of.  

For many years I've been wishing for more writing in  kindergarten classrooms.  I don't mean worksheets.  I don't mean filling in the blank or finishing a prompt either.  I wish these young ones could choose their own topics and freely write small moments about their lives.  I wish they could write persuasive letters about topics that are important to them.  I wish they could write how-to pieces explaining procedures that they're experts in.  I wish they could write free-verse poetry with their innocent and beautiful words.  I wish they could experience the power and accomplishment that comes from being writers.  I don't simply wish these things because it would make my job easier.  I wish it because I know that kindergartners are able to accomplish these writing tasks with the right daily supports and would benefit greatly as readers, writers, and thinkers if given the opportunity.    

I've kept my thoughts to myself about this topic for a long time.  I'm not a kindergarten teacher, so what do I know?  Melissa, a kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, gave me the boldness to speak up.  I've been admiring her writing instruction for a while now.  Recently she posted about the need for daily writing workshop in kindergarten, and I thought, "If she can say it, so can I."  This is an excerpt from her post.


I have two boys in kindergarten this year. It’s amazing how quickly the year goes by.  Prior to entering kindergarten if I had only one wish for my boy’s school year it would be that they have writing workshop. They have had a wonderful year in kindergarten. They have learned what it means to be a listener, a friend, a student, a reader, and many more important things, but they didn’t learn to be a writer.  

My kids did lots of worksheets that “prepared” them to learn about reading and writing. I do not believe worksheets teach kids anything about reading or writing. I think worksheets keep kids busy.

I think writer’s workshop should be happening in every kindergarten classroom, if we expect students to learn how to be confident readers and writers.

She mirrored my thoughts exactly.  Kindergarteners don't need to be prepared to write using artificial means.  They don't need to wait until they know all their letters.  They don't need to wait until they have better control of phonological awareness.  They need to write every single day.  I don't mean to insinuate that teaching five-year-olds to be writers is a piece of cake.  Since I teach six-year-olds, I know better.  From someone who's in the trenches though, Melissa proves that it can be done.  She's got credibility.  Even though I've never watched her teach, I imagine that she accepts and celebrates approximations.  At the beginning of the year, the writer who can only write a story through pictures is celebrated as much as the one who easily writes most sounds in words using complete sentences.  She understands the many levels of writing represented in a classroom and knows how to nudge each one to next appropriate steps.  The bottom line?  She knows that writing in her classroom will markedly influence the next twelve years of the lives in her care.  It's that important. 




Please visit Melissa's blog and read her whole post.  She's an expert at what she does.


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18 comments:

  1. What a wonderfully written post about the importance of writing in kindergarten. With daily modeling, the little ones can amaze us with what they are capable of writing and thinking!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Lori, yes they can and that daily modeling you refer to is definitely a key to their success.

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  2. As I often do, I am reading this through my high school lens. I am asking myself how I can give students more opportunities for authentic writing and thinking, and how I can avoid activities that purport to get them ready to write. Inspiring, as always, my dear.

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    1. Thank you Laur. I appreciate how you can find worthwhile nuggets in all my elementary posts.

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  3. Tammy you have a great point. My own daughter was much more interested in writing than she was in reading, even in pre-k. I just knew she would be an early reader, she wasn't...she was an early writer. When she got to first grade she pick up reading easily and excelled in it.

    One problem that would happen in my old school was if you mentioned writing to our principal, it kind of went overboard. It went from writing everyday to having a canned topic to write about. The other first grade teacher and I told her that it wasn't the best thing to do in the lower grades when you have reluctant writers, but we got vetoed. :(
    Kelly
    I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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    1. Kelly, your daughter is a great example of the importance of early writing. I'm sorry to hear about how it went overboard at your old school. We have to be authentic for sure.

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  4. I completely agree. I find it very hard to sit through meetings where K teachers are talking about how they can't teach writing because it's too hard. Hogwash! :) It's all worth it when that child brings their writing up to you and you read the sentence "my cat sleeps with me". They look at you with disbelief and say "you can read that?". They discover they have a new voice a new way to communicate. It's worth the effort! :)

    Not Just Child's Play

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    1. Miss Trayers, I love that. "They discover they have a new voice, a new way to communicate." It's hard to find that voice with worksheets or constricting types of "writing."

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  5. Tammy,
    Thank you so much for this post...it brought tears to my eyes! Melissa

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    1. Melissa, thanks for being such a wonderful kindergarten teacher.

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  6. Thanks so much for writing this post. I admire the way that you speak out each Saturday. It makes me feel like you are speaking directly to me. I, too, do not teach K. I don't have that talent. But the more writing that we have added to first grade, the more we see the need in K. And this upcoming year my school has decided to departmentalize K because it has worked for our other grades (that is a topic for another day). But there will be a whole writing class. I am excited to watch their writing unfold during our vertical meetings this year.
    Em
    Curious Firsties

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    1. Em, it sounds like this year will be an exciting one for you and all the young writers in your school!

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  7. I have been blessed to have first graders who had a K teacher that believed her students were writers. They wrote poetry, letters, and stories. What you say is so true and so important. One of my children started writing when she was three. I didn't really believe she was writing until she "read" what she had written. It was mostly scribbles going across the page, but it had meaning to her...I call that writing!
    Jenny

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    1. Jenny, yes even the scribbles are worth celebrating. That's what our great k teachers know. They celebrate and then nudge appropriately.

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  8. Couldn't agree more, Tammy! I taught a K/1 split for a few years and always had my Ks write each day on topics of their choice. They loved it and learned a lot!

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    1. Barb, yes it can be done! You are proof. :)

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  9. Well said, Tammy! I watched the K teachers at my old school grab onto Daily 5 and Writers Workshop after Kristi and I started it in first. They were veteran teachers, and at the of the year, they were so incredibly pleased with their Ks growth in writing. It can be done!

    Crystal
    Teaching Little Miracles

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    1. Crystal, sometimes all it takes is seeing it done in another classroom. You and Kristi were game changers. :)

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