the "writing lady"

The first three hours that I am in my classroom is the literacy block. We do literacy activities for three hours, and I have never seen writing incorporated into this time. I know that there is a "writing lady" that comes in once a week to work with the students. They write one to two sentences in their writing journal, which I try to look at each time I am there. I think it is great that the students are able to work with her on writing, but I do not think that they should only be writing during this one hour per week.

Sometimes the students are asked to turn their papers over and write a sentence if they finish their work early. The students always feel very uncomfortable doing this, and almost every one of them complains or immediately says that they can't write a sentence. I think that if the students were asked to write more often they wouldn't be uncomfortable attempting to do so. I think it is very important, especially for this age level, that students expect writing to be a part of their daily routine. As kindergarteners, they should be encouraged to share their ideas (and do they have a lot of ideas!) on paper. Here, they can explore and tell stories, two things that they all love to do. But instead they are afraid, and most of them groan when they hear that the "writing lady" is coming. So, what is really not working as far as writing instruction in my classroom is that it is almost non-existent in their daily schedule.

What I do think is working though, is that when students are asked to write, they are encouraged to draw a picture first. This helps them to plan what their sentence (or sentences) is going to be about. A lot of kids hear that they have to write and they quickly respond that they don't know what to write down. Allowing them to brainstorm with a picture is a great way to get ideas flowing and spark imagination. From there, they can write about the idea that the drew, making it a little easier to make a concrete sentence.