Last year (and the previous 3-4 years) I have been thrilled with my writing station.
Introducing the writing station
I start the year by simply adding the words to the wall.
At the beginning of the year, I have a few mini-lessons on how to use the writing station.
We go over the “I Can…” cards and options.
Then… for the most part… I get out of the way.
At the beginning of the year, we spend a lot of time just labeling and coloring. That is A-OK with me. We are in kindergarten… that is where we are at.
At the end of the month, I simply swap out the cards and response pages. SIMPLE!
SIDE NOTE: The Crayola Erasable Pencils are the BEST! I buy one pack at the beginning of the year and they last me the whole year. They sharpen BEAUTIFULLY which is great for my pencil OCD~ness! You can see them HERE.
Stretching as the year goes on!
As the year continues… I nudge them. I might whisper to a student… “Oh… I see you are going to the writing station. I can’t wait to see what you do there!” I brag on those who do more. “Yesterday, I saw Miss T writing a sentence at the writing station. It makes me so proud to see her stretching herself as a writer. If you are going to be going to the writing station, I wonder if you can stretch yourself too?” Boom! Done! They are all stretching themselves.
Sometime in March, this started happening in at the writing station. One student started writing about Upward Basketball and it pretty soon… EVERYONE wanted to write a basketball-themed book.
You probably noticed all of the colored pencils. They’re great for coloring AND they can easily be erased.
There you have it… I am all about making my stations engaging and challenging… but for my sanity, they have to be predictable. Done and done! I don’t have to explain this station each month. I just add engagement by swapping out the resources.
You can find the whole year’s worth of writing stations by clicking HERE.
15 Comments
I purchased this at the end of last year and can't wait to use it next school year! Thank you for your suggestions on how to use it in the classroom!
Around April I added the books to the writing station and they did an amazing job! I would let those who made books share with the class and that helped encourage them to write books too. Next year I will add the books sooner! I love this station. Thanks Deedee!
LOVE!!! My kids love this station. I love how easy it is and I don't have to explain much after the first month. Thank you for this wonderful resource!
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Hello Deedee,
I have a question about the writing center cards that are hanging on the wall. Do the students take those down or do they remain on the wall when they are being referenced? Like when they are labeling a response sheet, etc.
Thank you for all of your wonderful materials.
Hi there!
No, my students never take the cards down. There is a single page version for the whole month that they can look at if they want something close in hand. I hope that helps!!
Does this go along with Lucy calkins?
This is a center. It is not a curriculum.
How do you store your writing centers? Do you use the monthly tubs for centers?
Hi Susan!
I put all of the cards and the blackline masters for the year in one bin. Then I can easily swap it out at the end of each month 🙂
Where did you get the “What I can write about” pictures/banner from? I absolutely LOVE that!
I made them. They were part of our Writing Through The Year Writers Workshop Curriculum. We have since revised them a bit. You can find them with this link:
Writing Through the Year
I teach first grade. Most of the kids entering my room did labeling all throughout kindergarten. Do you state how to start off the year with first graders that are ready to write?
Kelly, I taught kindergarten. However, every kindergarten student went to this center at the first part of the year. AND every one of my kindergarten students could write by the end of the year. So first grade students should all be writing at the beginning of the year. This center will be perfect for them.