Leap Into Literacy Kindergarten
October/November
The Connection Between Reading and Writing Workshop Units
Getting Started for the Emergent Reading If/Then Unit
Get your ducks in a row:
Gather emergent storybooks, songs, chants and rhymes for read-aloud and for shared reading.
Put your read-alouds and shared reading books from the last unit in buckets on the tables and add in anything your are currently reading. Some teachers label them with stars so on the books and buckets so these books will be easy to read throughout the year.
Add some level A/B books and if you have some early readers, those students can transition to book baggies that are filled with books at their independent levels.
Partnerships should be strategically assigned. For example, pair conventional readers with conventional readers, ELL students with students who are strong in language, as well as social pairings of students who get along well and are around the same level.
What Do I Need to Prepare For My Writers?
- Prepare a letter for parents explaining that students can bring in pictures or objects that trigger a good story. Parents can also help children realize that there are stories all around them in their lives. They can help by encouraging their children to story tell and prompt them to recreate events.
- Make sure you don't skip read-aloud or shared reading because students need to hear stories to write stories. It will help if you read personal narratives such as The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco or Shortcut by Donald Crews.
- As you prepare booklets for students, keep them coverless and save the covers for their published pieces. This way students will spend more time on the content of their story and not lose precious writing time by making their covers beautiful.
I Am Reading by Kathy Collins and Matt Glover
This book illustrates how young children read books and make meaning of stories. What a way to spark a love of reading at a very early age! "It's vital that we support young children's reading in ways that nurture healthy reading identities, that foster an attraction to books and a love of reading, and that teach them how make meaning in any text they choose, whether or not they can read the words.
-Kathy Collins and Matt Glover
Concepts About Print
Heinemann's Online Writing Resources
Use the code WUOS_K to register your bundle.