Label . Label . Label

Writers Workshop is probably my favorite thing to teach during the day. Most kindergarteners come in barely knowing how to write their name properly, yet alone a full sentence! It can be a challenge to jump into Writers Workshop, but it should be done the first few weeks of school! I start writers workshop the 3rd full week, so my kinders get into a routine first and then we can begin the exploration to becoming authors!

We start off by making our individual Writers Workshop folders. My students take them home as a project and decorate their folder with things they love and pictures of them and their family. I make labels for the inside, for easy use. Green = Still in Progress Red = Completed

We start by learning about the different types of papers and writing materials and where we can find the writing center in our classroom. We practice getting our folders and returning them to the correct basket where they belong.

In the beginning of Writers Workshop I like to begin the focus on labeling our pictures. This puts my kinders minds at ease. They always go on and on about not knowing how to write and instead of insisting that they try to sound out the words they are saying I simply tell them to LABEL their picture.

I like to introduce labeling in a fun and silly way so we can refer to it all year long!!

We begin by labeling the teacher!! We do this using post it notes that I label ahead of time.

After we label the teacher, I put up my drawing. I also photo copy my drawing for each child to have the exact same drawing in front of them to label along with me. We go through each item in the picture and say it over and over to hear the beginning sound of that word. We look at our sound map to help us incase we don't know the sound of the letter.

 

My kiddies LOVE LOVE LOVE to use the sound map. We have a poster size version on magnets for me to move around the room anytime we need it. I also give the kids a copy of their own sound map, they color in and make "their own". They keep it in the Writers Workshop folder. It is there to help them figure out letter sounds and them better writers. We also say our sound map chant every morning while doing our calendar routine!

When we finished labeling the teachers drawing my kids colored in the drawing and were encouraged to add their own details to the picture, like a frog sitting in the pond and label the new additions.

Here is a freebie for you to enjoy!! This is the letter I send home to my students parents. I like to try to make the directions for decorating the folders as clear as possible. The folders are meant to spark ideas of topics during Writers Workshop.