writing

I love to write. Almost as much as I love to read. I like to put my words onto paper (or the screen) and reflect on what has come out of me. Whether writing is being used as a form of entertainment and creative expression or to compose professional documents, I simply love it. I also learn best when I am able to write down how I am processing information or picking out key details in texts. Words are, therefore, pretty important in my life - whether I am writing them or reading them.

Today I finally had time to do my first unstructured writing activity with my students. A prompt was put out there ("What did you do this week?"), but I did not hold my kinders to it. What I really wanted was them to experience putting words (letters) on paper and expressing themselves through writing. Last year, this activity would have resulted in a flash flood of tears from more than half of my students. Today, I was blown away.

As I walked around the room and asked students what they were writing about I was pleasantly surprised by what I found on their papers. Every single student had written letters. Better yet, nearly a fourth of them had written actual words! They used the high frequency words from our last two weeks of school (I am), they read the room (without prompting, I might add) and wrote the words that they found on the walls, they wrote words that they have seen frequently in books (the), and one even sounded out words to the point that I could actually tell what he was trying to write. These little guys are on fire! 

I wish that I had remembered to take a picture of a couple of the samples before I left school, but I have filed them away in data folders so that I can track their growth throughout the year. I am planning on doing a monthly free write assignment where they can write about whatever they want. I will hopefully have the time to do unstructured writing more often, but I want at least one sample that I can keep each month to tuck away. 

It has been a great week and an excellent Friday. I cannot wait to see what next week brings!