I love starting my week by joining the kindergarten class for journal writing. Even after all my years of teaching, I still get excited to see five-year-olds beginning to grasp the letter/sound connection. This year’s class is full of budding readers and writers, and every week there seems to be another breakthrough. On Monday, in preparation for journal writing, the teacher had children pair up and tell each other a story. Since there was an odd number, one child paired up with her teacher. After they told each other stories, the teacher wrote her partner’s story on the easel: “Ella is getting her tonsils out on Thursday.” The class read over the sentence, then enthusiastically moved to the tables to start writing the stories they’d just told.
At the tables, the kindergarteners went after their writing with a passion. Children who needed help sounding out every word a few months ago independently wrote about going to their grandma’s house for sleepovers, building with Legos with a sibling, or engaging in special family experiences. One of the skills they’ve been working on is leaving a space between each word. Using a popsicle stick “space invader,” many students succeeded.
Once journal pages were filled with writing and a drawing, students gravitated to the other side of the room for free choice with toys. A small group of children near the book shelf lined up colorful plastic cones and plastic squares with these letters on them: F O T H E B A F E R E L U K U B C The message they composed was: “For the bad fairy look under the cones.” When they didn’t have all the letters they needed, their teacher suggested they make their own with small squares of paper. This idea was met with great enthusiasm as they rushed across the room to complete this task.
Later in the the week there were additional letters written to the bad fairy, and the bad fairy responded that she wasn’t a bad fairy, she was just sneaky. At the time of this writing, it seemed like there might be further correspondence with the kindergarten fairy. Regardless if note writing with the fairy continues, these kindergarteners are well on their way to claiming the title of writer. It’s inspiring to see their enthusiasm, which is a direct outcome of being an emergent learner immersed in such an encouraging and supportive environment. I look forward to the wealth of stories that these kindergarteners will bring forth in the near future.