writing stories kindergarten

How to Teach Narrative Writing for Kindergarten and First Grade: Step by Step

Narrative writing is often one of the first forms of writing kindergarten and first grade students do. This is because writing a personal narrative, or writing about our own experiences, is often less challenging than other form of writing. Still, teaching young children how to write narrative pieces can feel overwhelming. Here is how to introduce narrative writing step by step in a first grade or kindergarten classroom from a classroom teacher.

Are Your Students Ready for Narrative Writing?

Are your students ready to dive into narrative writing? Before you begin writing a personal narrative, it’s important to make sure your students are already comfortable with a few other things. Here are the things to teach before you dive into narrative writing.

• Letter sounds – Your students don’t need to know all of their letter sounds, but they need to know enough so they can easily sound out simple words . If your students can’t yet stretch and tap out some words, they are not ready for this type of narrative writing. Instead, it’s more important to focus on strengthening their letter sound, segmenting, and blending skills. This doesn’t mean they can’t draw a picture of a personal experience and have you write a caption for them (which is a valid form of narrative writing), but having them attempt to write their own sentences without a firm letter sound foundation is simply not a great use of time. So, make sure they have a solid letter sound foundation first.
• Illustrations- Although most students are comfortable drawing, we shouldn’t just assume that they are. Instead, it’s very helpful to take some time to discuss the importance of illustrations. (After all, illustrations enhance the story.) You can explore the illustrations in some favorite picture books, and even take some time to practice drawing different objects, people, and animals. The more details students can convey through their pictures, the easier it will be for them to use those illustrations to support their writing.
• Sentences – Lastly, before diving into narrative writing, it’s important to spend time teaching your students the basics of sentence writing . Do yourself (and their future teachers) a favor, and take at least a full week to develop their understanding of sentences. If you’re teaching first grade, you can even go a bit further if they’re ready for it. (Learn how to teach your students about basic sentences and going further with sen tences .)

Step 1: Introduce Beginning, Middle, and End with Mentor Texts

Okay, so now your students are ready to dive into personal narrative writing. The first step is to spend some time reading some mentor texts together. I personally prefer to read realistic fiction texts. Some of my favorites are Jabari Jumps , Jabari Tries , and Anything by Ezra Jack Keats (because who doesn’t love Peter!).

Discuss how every story has a beginning, middle, and end. Make an anchor chart together for students to refer to. Each time you read a story, have students retell the beginning, middle, and end. ( Read why mentor texts matter here. ) Taking the time to show them good narratives makes it so much easier for them to develop their own.

Step 2: Draw It Out

Once we’ve read and retold some narrative stories, it’s time to give it a try. Planning writing is so important, so we start there. First, talk about potential topics. I always tell my students to think about things they do often, such as what they do before and after school, on the weekends, or on special days like birthdays. Then, I model drawing a beginning middle, and end of a personal narrative. I talk through each step and we make sure that the series of events are consecutive and go together. This is where picking something that is routine can be helpful- such as getting ready for school. After I model, I have students draw their beginning middle, and end. If possible, it’s really helpful to allow them to pair up with a partner and tell about their pictures. This helps them find the words for their story.

Step 3: Label It

After they have drawn their beginning, middle, and end, I model labeling each of their pictures. We talk about how, when we label, we only need 1-2 words. This is helpful because typically writing a personal narrative will span over many days, so the picture and the label helps them (and me) remember what they’re writing.

When my students are labeling, I ask them to tap out their words and try their best with spelling. I do not spell words for them. This is because I am able to learn a lot about where they are in their literacy journey and understanding by what they can write on their own and how they can write it. For example, if a student writes “et” for eat versus “ete”, I know that the second child is aware that “et” is a short e so there needs to be something else that makes e say the long e sound.

Step 3. Write a First Draft

Once my students have labeled their pictures, I model how to write a first draft. I model looking at my picture and label and them using it to write a sentence. When we read narrative writing and create our anchor chart, we talk about using transition words like first, next, and last. We use these words when we retell the stories so they are already familiar and comfortable with them. So, we write first and then a sentence about our first picture. For example, “First I put on my shoes.” I model this for the beginning, middle, and end. One important thing is to add some mistakes in your writing. (This is important for step 5.) I tell my students that I am going to make some mistakes, and we don’t have to worry about them yet because this is just the first draft.

To start, I only ask them to write 3 sentences. One for the beginning, middle, and end. Although eventually we’ll work to writing a introduction and closing sentences, at first I keep it simple. I would much rather my students confidently write 3 sentences than push them to do more before they are ready.

Once I’ve modeled, I have my students write their draft. I will write the transition words on the board for them, or encourage them to look at the anchor chart. As they write each part, they check it off so they can make sure they include each one. Drafting typically takes a full day, sometimes too. Again, I do not spell words for my students at this stage. I want to see what they can do on their own. Plus, it is important for the next step.

Step 4: Editing Your Draft

After everyone has written their first draft, I introduce the idea of editing. Together, we create this anchor chart of the different editing marks. Then, we look back together at my first draft. We read each sentence together, and I let my students tell me what mistakes they see . I make sure to have at least one of every common mistake in my writing.

Once we’ve edited my writing, I show them how to rewrite my story to a final draft. We talk about going word by word so we don’t miss any important changes.

Step 4.5: Sit and Edit TOGETHER with Each Student

Once they have helped me edit my writing, I sit with each and every student and help them edit their story. I ask them to read me the story. This is important because I want to make sure they can understand and read what they wrote. After they read the whole thing, I make sure to compliment them on a few things they did really well. Then, we go through sentence by sentence and talk about what things we can fix. I make sure they understand why any changes need to be made. Once we’ve finished, I give them a paper to write their final draft on and they get started right away while it’s fresh in their mind.

If you’re wondering, yes, this takes a long time. Sitting one on one with 25 students takes many days. Sometimes a full week, but this is the most valuable time in the writing process because it gives me a window into where they are, gives me a chance to focus specifically on the areas the student needs, and allows me to encourage them in the areas they’re doing well. Often times, this turns into a one on one mini lesson on capitals, certain spelling patterns, punctuation, etc. It is time well spent, even if it means that it takes 3 full weeks to complete a writing piece.

If you’re also wondering what the other children are doing, that is a great question. It really varies, but typically I meet with students while the rest of the class is working on literacy centers . I also might work on editing writing when they’re working independently on their inquiry work or morning work . Really, any time is fair game. Any time I have a few minutes, I’ll grab a student to edit their writing.

A helpful tip: If your students struggle with tracking when they’re rewriting a rough draft to a final draft, this works like a charm. Cut a piece of construction paper in half, cut a little window, and that’s it! This allows them to only focus on 1-2 words at a time. As time goes on, you can make the window longer, if you want.

Step 5: Publishing and Celebrating

The final step is letting students enjoy the fruits of their labor! After they have all finished their final draft, we take time to share our writing. The first time, I typically have them partner up and share two stars and a wish . Long before we begin narrative writing, I like to share this video about Austin’s Butterfly with my students. It helps them understand the purpose and benefit of getting and giving feedback. We practice giving feedback often, so this is not a new thing for our class. After they share their writing with a partner, I ask willing students to share some of the stars and then some of the wishes they received.

As we continue, sometimes I ask students to share their writing in small groups, with the whole class, or sometimes on Seesaw for their parents. This step is so important, though, because it allows them to feel a great sense of completion and accomplishment.

I typically tape or staple the two drafts together so the students can see the progression of their work. They always love to see what they started with and where they ended up! They also enjoy checking off their self assessment when they’re finished.

Step 6: Going Further

You might be wondering, if or when we make more detailed changes. When I first introduce narrative writing, we stick to 3 sentences and just fixing surface errors. With the next writing piece, I encourage my students to add a topic sentence or more details. Each time we work on adding more and more until they have created a story with an introduction, beginning, middle, end and closing sentence. I also encourage them to expand their sentences and add more details. I would rather my students take it slow and really feel confident than to rush and their teacher next year to have to reteach all of this.

If you’d like the template that I use for personal narrative writing, you can find it in my free resource library for email subscribers . Click the picture below to find it. You can also read more about my year long writing curriculum here .

You might also enjoy:

3 Ways to Build Confidence in Your Developing Writers

Free At Home Parent’s Guide for Supporting Student Writing

Why Strong Sentence Skills Help Students Produce Better Writing

The Easy Way to Teach Students to Expand Sentences

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Free Kindergarten Writing Prompts

Storytelling is an important skill that helps children put their thoughts into words. It can be difficult for very young children to just tell a story though. They need some guidance. Better yet, they need a prompt that will set their imagination soaring. That is where story starters come in.

Free Kindergarten Story Starters:

Kindergarten story starters need to be simple enough that any 5-year-old could finish the thought. However, you do not want them to be too simple. The best story starters will have young children reading or writing several sentences. It gets the ball rolling for them, and inspires them to build their storylines. Try some of these free kindergarten writing prompts with your kindergartener this week.

50 Story Starters for Kindergarten

• If I flew to the moon, I would
• I went to the end of a rainbow, and found
• If I were 10 feet tall, I could
• My favorite season is______, because I can____
• You won’t believe the strangest thing I have ever seen. It was
• One time I took my teddy bear on an adventure. So, we
• If I owned a big boat, I would
• The best part about kindergarten is
• When I am 100 years old, I will
• I found $1000 on the road, so I
• When I grow up, I want to
• The craziest dream I ever had was
• If I could live under the ocean, I would
• If I could be any animal, I would
• I think 5 years olds should be allowed to
• I am a superhero and this is what I can do.
• Jack took me up the beanstalk and we
• Once, I snuck onto Santa’s sleigh, and then
• If I were as small as an ant, the world would
• What was your best day ever? What made it special?
• Where would you live if you could live anywhere in the universe?
• A genie promised me 3 wishes, so I chose
• My favorite color is______, because____________________
• My bedroom is so cool because
• My dad has taught me
• If I could build a house, it would
• I just got this super awesome, kid-sized car, and then
• If I could go into space, I might
• My grandmother always
• When I was a baby, I
• The best part about my neighborhood is
• The worst day ever was when
• In the winter, I
• I bet you never knew I could
• What is your favorite story? Can you tell it to me?
• If I were a farmer, I would grow
• Last night, I dreamt
• If you were trapped on a desert what 3 things would you want to have with you?
• Once upon a time, there was
• When I went to the zoo
• I was digging a hole, and then I found
• I cast my line into the lake, and then
• I walked backwards for two days, and then
• My sister made me
• The coolest toy ever would be
• If I could live in a movie, I would 
• If I were a parent, my kids would
• If you could design a vehicle what would it be?
• My favorite gift ever was
• The first memory I have is

Interactive Kindergarten Writing Prompts

If you have a little one that enjoys some hands-on learning then you’ll LOVE our new Interactive Writing Prompts Bundle! With 200+ Kindergarten Writing Prompts you’ll have everything you need to teaching writing over the entire year. Featuring no-prep writing activity pages, each sheet includes a helpful word-page, a starting sentence, and an engaging picture for students to write their responses. Best of all, these pages can be cut out and placed inside a notebook to create a lasting keepsake or writing portfolio for the kindergarten year.

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Sweet for Kindergarten

Teaching resources, freebies, and ideas for the Kindergarten classroom

200 Engaging Writing Prompt Ideas for Kindergarten or First Grade

Writing is a fundamental skill that lays the foundation for communication, creativity, and expression. Introducing writing prompts to kindergarten and first-grade students fosters their literacy development and sparks their imagination and critical thinking abilities. However, coming up with creative prompts can sometimes be challenging for educators and parents. To alleviate this challenge, we've curated an expansive list of 200 writing prompt ideas tailored specifically for Kindergarten or First-grade students. All of these prompts are based on a common theme, holiday, or season, so you can easily insert them into your writing plans all year long!

200 Writing Prompt Ideas Based on Themes

Writing about me.

• Draw a picture of yourself and write your name underneath.
• Write about your favorite color and draw something that color.
• What color are your eyes? Who else has the same color eyes?
• Describe your family. Who do you live with?
• Draw a picture of your house and describe what it looks like.
• Write about your favorite room in the house. What do you like to do there?
• Write about who lives in your house and what they do.
• Write about your favorite activity to do at home. Is it playing with toys, reading books, or something else?
• Write about something special or important in your house. Why is it special to you?
• Write the names of your family members and draw a picture next to each name.
• Describe what your family likes to do together.
• Write about a special memory you have with your family.
• Write about a time when your family helped you.
• Write about a family tradition that you enjoy.
• Describe your favorite outfit. Draw a picture of you in your outfit.
• Describe your friends in school and something fun you did together.
• What is something you're good at? Draw a picture of yourself doing it.
• Write about a time you felt really happy.
• Write about something that is special about you.

Writing About Animals

• Write about your favorite farm animal.
• Write about feeding the animals on the farm and what they like to eat.
• Describe the sounds different animals make on the farm.
• Describe baby animals you saw on the farm and what they were doing.
• Draw and write about your favorite zoo animal.
• Write about the sounds the animals make.
• Draw and write about what a zoo animal eats.
• What are the animals doing when you visit the zoo.
• Imagine you are going to the zoo. What animals do you hope to see?
• Write about your favorite Arctic animal and why you like it.
• Imagine you're a polar bear. Write about a day in your life in the Arctic.
• Write about how Arctic animals take care of their babies in the cold.
• Write about your favorite ocean animal. What does it look like, and why do you like it?
• Imagine you're exploring the ocean. Write about the animals you see and the adventures you have.
• Describe a whale swimming in the ocean. How big is it, and what does it do?
• Imagine an ocean animal parade. Write about the animals you see marching underwater.
• Write about your pet. What is its name? What does it look like? What do you like to do together?
• If you could have any pet in the world, what would it be? Describe your dream pet and why you would like to have it.
• Imagine going on an adventure with your pet. Where would you go? What would you do together?
• Write about how you take care of your pet. What do you feed it? How do you play with it?
• Write about your favorite forest animal and why you like it.
• Imagine you are walking through the forest. Name and describe the animals you see and hear.
• Draw and write about your favorite rainforest animal.
• Write about what kinds of birds are flying in the sky.
• Imagine you are walking through the rainforest. Name and describe the animals you see and hear.
• If you could be any rainforest animal for a day, which one would you choose and why?

Writing About Places We Go

• List your favorite fruits and vegetables you see at a supermarket.
• What do you do at the grocery store?
• What foods would you put in your cart at the grocery store?
• Write about how you help your family when you go grocery shopping.
• Write a grocery list for your family.
• Write about a farmer you met and what they do on the farm.
• Describe what a typical day on the farm might be like.
• Describe a chore you might do on the farm, like collecting eggs or milking cows.
• Write about an adventure you had on the farm, like exploring a barn or riding a horse.
• Make a list of things you might find on the farm and write about them.
• Describe a day at the beach. What did you see, hear, and feel?
• Write about building a sandcastle. What did it look like? Who did you build it with?
• Write about finding seashells on the beach. What shapes and colors did you discover?
• Write about seeing crabs, fish, or other sea creatures. What did they look like?
• Write about taking a walk along the shoreline. What did you see?
• Write about your favorite food to eat at a restaurant. What makes it delicious?
• Create your own menu for a restaurant. Draw pictures of the food items and write their names.
• Draw a picture of your favorite restaurant. What does it look like from the outside? What type of food is served?
• Imagine going to a restaurant for a special occasion, like a birthday or anniversary. Write about the celebration.
• Imagine you're at a restaurant. What would you like to order from the menu?
• Describe what you see at the farmers market. Are there fruits, vegetables, flowers, or other things?
• Write about a trip to the farmers market. What would you like to buy? Write about what you would choose and why.
• Write about your favorite fruit or vegetable at a farmer's market.
• Pretend you're selling something at the farmers market. What would you sell, and why? Write about your stall.
• If you could pick any flowers at the farmers market, which ones would you choose? Write about your favorite flowers.
• Write about your favorite subject in school and why you like it.
• Describe what a typical day in school is like for you.
• Write about your favorite game to play during recess.
• Where would you like to go on a trip? Draw a picture of that place.
• Imagine you are going on a fun adventure with your friend. Describe where you would go and how you would get there.
• What do you like most about traveling? Write or draw about it.
• Describe what you would pack in your suitcase for a trip.
• Write or draw about a time when you traveled with your family or friends.
• Draw your favorite vehicle and tell us why you like it.
• Describe how you travel to school every day.
• Imagine you are traveling far away. Would you take a boat, airplane, train or car?
• Write about a trip you took in a car or bus.
• What vehicle do you want to ride in? Describe what the vehicle looks like and draw a picture.

Writing About Holidays

• Write about your favorite holiday.
• Draw and write about what you do on Halloween.
• Describe your favorite holiday tradition.
• Write about something special you do on Christmas.
• Write about your favorite Thanksgiving food.
• Draw and write about the Easter bunny delivering eggs.
• Describe a special gift you received on your birthday.
• Write about your family's traditions on New Year's Eve.
• Draw and write about a fun activity you did on the Fourth of July.
• Write about the decorations you see during Hanukkah.
• Draw and write about a Valentine's Day card you made.
• Draw and write about the decorations you see during Christmas.
• Describe the colors of the flags on Independence Day.
• Draw and write about the eggs you painted for Easter.
• Write about the best present you ever received.

Writing About Seasons or Weather

• Draw a picture of your favorite kind of weather and write about why you like it.
• Describe what the sky looks like on a sunny day. Draw a picture.
• Draw a picture of yourself in different weather conditions and write one sentence for each.
• Write about your favorite season and what the weather is like during that time.
• Draw a picture of a rainbow and write one sentence about what colors you see.
• What is your favorite season? Why do you like it?
• What is something you like to do in each season?
• Describe a fun outdoor activity you like to do in each season.
• Write about your favorite thing to do during summer vacation.
• Describe what you see outside during a sunny summer day.
• Write about your favorite fall activity, like jumping in piles of leaves or going to the pumpkin patch.
• Draw and write about your favorite fall food, like pumpkin pie or apples.
• Write about your favorite winter sport, like sledding or ice skating.
• Describe what animals you see in the winter.
• Draw and write about your favorite thing to do in the spring.
• Draw and write about your favorite spring flower.

Writing About Food

• Draw and write about a meal you would like for breakfast.
• What did you have for breakfast today?
• How do you make your favorite breakfast?
• Would you rather have pancakes or cereal for breakfast? Why?
• Write about a time when you tried a new breakfast food. Did you like it?
• Describe your favorite fruit and why you like it.
• Draw and label the colors of a rainbow using different fruits.
• Draw and write about a fruit you've never tried before.
• Write about your favorite fruit to have for breakfast and why you like it.
• Draw and write about a fruit salad you would make.
• Write about a vegetable you enjoy eating and how it tastes.
• Draw and write a list of all the vegetables that are green.
• Write about how vegetables help us grow big and strong.
• Draw and write about a vegetable you would like to grow in your garden.
• Write about a vegetable you would like to eat for dinner tonight.
• Name three meals that have meat in them.
• Draw a picture of your favorite meat.
• Write about cooking a dinner and what you would serve.
• Write and draw about a backyard cookout. What would you grill?
• Draw and write about your favorite type of bread.
• Write about a time you had pasta for dinner.
• Draw and write about a sandwich you would make for a picnic.
• Draw and write about your favorite dairy product (e.g., milk, cheese, yogurt).
• Draw and write about your favorite way to enjoy milk (e.g., with cookies, cereal).
• What foods do you put cheese on? Which is your favorite?
• Describe the different flavors of ice cream you like.
• Describe your favorite snack. When do you eat that snack?
• Write about your favorite snack to eat at school.
• Make a menu of different snacks you would like to try.
• Make a list of your top three favorite snacks and explain why you like them.
• Write about a snack you would bring to share with your friends at school.
• Draw and write about your favorite ice cream flavor.
• Write about a special dessert you had for a holiday or birthday.
• Draw and write about your favorite candy.
• Draw and describe your favorite dessert.
• Write about a time you helped bake cookies with your family.
• Draw and write about your favorite drink.
• Describe what your favorite juice tastes like.
• Write about a drink you like to have with breakfast.

Writing About People

• Write 3 things you know about a community helper. Draw the community helper.
• Which community helper do you want to be when you grow up?
• Write about someone you know who is a community helper.
• Would you rather be a doctor or baker? Why?
• Which community helpers keep us safe?
• Write about your teacher and what you like most about them.
• What do you want to be when you grow up? Draw yourself in that job.
• Write about a superhero you admire.
• Describe someone who helps you at school.
• Pretend you're a chef. Describe what you would cook.
• Write about a police officer's job to keep people safe.
• Imagine you're a construction worker. What would you build?
• Draw and describe what a mail carrier does.
• What does a farmer do on a farm? Write about it.
• Pretend to be a pilot. Where would you fly?
• Think about being a librarian. What books would you recommend?
• Draw and write about a person who makes you laugh.
• Write about a person you want to thank and why.
• Write about a friend who shares toys with you.
• Describe your best friend.

Writing About Activities

• Draw and write about your favorite sport to play or watch.
• What sports do you watch on TV? What is your favorite team?
• What sport do you want to try?
• Pick a sport. Write about what you need to play that sport.
• If you could play any sport with your friends, what would you play and why?
• Describe your favorite game to play with friends.
• Draw a picture of your favorite board game.
• Write about a game you like to play outside.
• Tell a story about a game you played with your siblings or friends.
• What game do you want to learn how to play?
• Draw a map of the park and label the different play areas.
• Draw a picture of your favorite thing to play with at the park and write about why you like it the best.
• Write about your favorite park. What makes it special?
• Write about a time you felt proud of something you did at the park.
• Write and draw a picture of your favorite part of a birthday party.
• Write about a game you like to play at birthday parties.
• What do you like to eat at a birthday party? Draw it and describe what it tastes like.
• Describe your favorite toy. What does it look like? What can it do?
• Write about a toy you like to play with outside.
• Write a list of all the toys you like to play with at home.
• Draw a picture of your dream toy and write about why you want it.
• Write about a time when you shared your toys with a friend.
• Write about a book you like to read or a movie you like to watch.

Using Picture Prompts to Encourage Independent Writing

The best independent writing activity for Kindergarten that I've used are picture prompts! Picture prompts can help students become more confident in writing independently by giving them a picture to write about. I started using these picture prompts during my whole group lesson and  writing center  to help my students start writing sentences independently. By providing visual cues and encouraging creativity, your students can succeed with writing independently! 

Read more about this Independent Writing Activity: Using Picture Prompts here!

Related Resources You May Like

You can also find this  Picture Prompts Writing Activity on Teachers Pay Teachers here .

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I hope this list of writing prompt ideas for Kindergarten or First Grade helped you create engaging writing lessons or center activities!

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100 Best & Fun Kindergarten Writing Prompts for Kids

• Narrative Writing Prompts
• Essay Writing Prompts
• Research Prompts
• Funny Writing Prompts
• Poetry Prompts
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• Animal Journal Prompts!
• Deep Emotions Prompts
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The best kindergarten writing prompts are the ones that are thought-provoking, funny, and interesting. They encourage your children to think in different ways by answering questions that are unconventional and engaging.

Your kids can also learn to improve their writing construction, grammar, and understanding of tenses and verbs with the right prompts. They can improve their writing abilities, innate comprehension, and pattern detection when making the right answers to prompts.

SplashLearn: Most Comprehensive Learning Program for PreK-5

SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

Here are more educational resources for your preschooler to master writing!

10 Narrative Writing Prompts

Narrative writing prompts are highly popular among kindergarten kids because it helps them understand how to think deeper about a topic. They can improve their writing and reading abilities while simultaneously collecting their thoughts when they get the right kindergarten narrative writing prompts. You can also get a sense of their innate creative abilities with the right opinion writing prompts kindergarten questions. 

1. If you could get one ability in the whole wide world, what would it be?   

2. If you were asked to make up a new flavor of chocolate, what would it be?    

3. Your mom and dad ask you to plan your next vacation. Where do you go?    

4. Do you have a sibling? Do you love spending time with your sibling?    

5. Do you have a hobby? Why do you enjoy it?    

6. At recess, I like to _.     

7. What’s your favorite subject at school? Why do you like it?

8. Have you ever had a dream that felt real? Describe it.

9. What’s your favorite song? Why do you love that song?   

10. What is your least favorite activity at school? Why do you not like it?

10 Essay Writing Prompts

You can use the right informative kindergarten writing prompts to encourage your kids to write essays that are highly detailed. It’s important to help them write coherently and with purpose when they share their thoughts and opinions within the essay style. 

1. Write about your collection of educational toys . Why do you love your toys? Do you like sharing your toys?     

2. What’s the best way to apologize to someone? When do you say sorry to someone?  

3. Where was your last vacation? What things did you see there?

4. Have you tried a new food that you liked? How did you feel?

5. Why do kids go to school? What do kids learn at school?

6. Is there something new you learned in math ? What was it?

7. Talk about the importance of learning to read better.

8. Do you have a pet? What do you love about your pet?

9. If you could meet Santa, what would you ask him? What presents would you want your friends to get?

10. If you could be a teacher for a day, what would you teach your class?    

10 Research Prompts

You can make the process of improving your kids’ writing by having them research subjects that they love. You can make them research topics such as biology, history, and math, with interesting prompts that get them thinking. The best research-driven kindergarten writing prompts can show your kids the importance of continuous learning. 

1. What’s the largest animal in the world? Why did it become that big? 

2. What is the role of collaboration in our society?

3. Why do we get sick, and how can we prevent it?   

4. Write about the states of matter.

5. What happens when it rains? Where does the water go?

6. Research your family’s history. Where were they from?     

7. What does your family do when you’re at school?   

8. What are the steps that go into making clothes?

9. What is snow? Why does it snow in the winter?

10. How does an animal hibernate?      

10 Funny Writing Prompts

You can pick out the funniest kindergarten writing prompts and have your kids laugh and write at the same time. You can make them chuckle as they write and help them unlock their inner comedian. Funny prompts also alleviate the stress of learning how to write in kindergarten, as it is a more casual writing exercise.

1. Imagine every vegetable you dislike is served to you for dinner. What would be your reaction?

2. What would you do if you were the President of your own country? What would be your first act as President?

3. What if your house was suddenly transformed into a Lego block house? What funny things would you experience?  

4. Write a funny short story about a unicorn and a tiger.  

5. Can you come up with funny, made-up words? What would they sound like?

6. A dolphin swam into the deep ocean and met a shark. What would their conversation be like?

7. Write a funny poem about your favorite cartoon.

8. Write a story about the journey of a talking carrot.

9. Imagine that you walk into a toy store, and every toy has a different accent. What would they talk about?

10. Write a funny story about the adventures of a flying dog.

10 Poetry Prompts

Poetry is an excellent form of self-expression, especially when kids love to rhyme silly words and things. If your kids love singing and dancing, then having them write poetry can be a fruitful endeavor. Poetic kindergarten writing prompts can be great tools to improve grammar, sentence construction, and pattern recognition. 

1. Make a poem about the sun and the stars.  

2. Write about your day in the form of a poem.

3. Write a poem about your favorite color.      

4. Make up a poem in a completely new language. Try and make it rhyme.

5. Write a poem about a frog singing in the water.

6. Can you write a poem about ordering off the kid’s menu?

7. Write a poem about words that rhyme with cow.

8. Create a poem about your favorite breakfast foods.

9. Make up a poem about running in the yard.    

10. Write a poem about your city, talking about its landmarks, history, and fun places to explore. 

10 Fiction-Themed Writing Prompts

Introducing fiction-themed fun writing prompts for kindergarten kids can be helpful in driving more secondary processing writing. They can prepare a range of nuanced answers based on prompts that are specially designed to make them think outside their normal stimuli. 

1. You’re a part of the Peppa Pig universe, and you can talk to Peppa. What would you say to Peppa?

2. You can take a magical vacation anywhere in the world. Where would you go and how would you get there?

3. You’re sitting on a magical boat that can fly across the skies. You suddenly stop at the moon. What do you see? What happens next?

4. You’re in the school bus and stopped at a red light. Suddenly you find that the tires have turned into Swiss cheese. What happens next?   

5. You’ve brought two sandwiches for lunch but your friend forgot to carry his lunchbox. What do you do next?

6. Imagine that you’re a historian and have found the first material of the earth. What do you do?   

7. You’re learning how to swim, and suddenly, the water turns into green jelly. What do you do? Do you continue swimming?   

8. Imagine that you get to design a school from scratch. What new things would you add?   

9. You need to make a completely new flavor of ice-cream. What would it be?   

10. You’re riding a unicorn when suddenly you meet a rabbit. The rabbit asks for a ride to the market. What happens next? 

10 Animal Journal Prompts!

Animal-themed creative writing prompts kindergarten assignments can help your child excel in the domain of imaginative writing. They can also apply many of the grammatical rules they’ve learned when writing about their favorite animals. These prompts are also excellent if your child loves animals naturally. 

1. Why do you love your pet? What are some of its qualities that you love?

2. Imagine that you can now talk to fish. What would you ask them?

3. A caterpillar takes a trip to the mall. What does it see?

4. You spot a cat walking on the edge of a tall building. What does it do next?

5. Is there a cartoon animal that you love? Write about them.  

6. My favorite farm animals are _.

7. A monkey escaped the zoo. Oh no! What happens next?

8. You are riding on top of an elephant in your city. What do you see?

9. Your guinea pig can now fly. Where does it go?

10. Write a story about a tiger losing its stripes. What does it do next? How does it find its stripes? 

10 Deep Emotions Prompts

You can start talking about the emotional complexities of relationships and friendships with the right writing prompts for kindergarten kids. These can also help them focus on their inner thought process when it comes to dealing with emotions.

1. How do you feel when you talk to your friends? Do you feel appreciated?

2. How do you feel when you pet your cat?

3. What are some of the things that make you happy?    

4. How do you feel when you see your friend hurt?  

5. What was your last dream about? How did you feel?

6. What’s your favorite part about being at home?   

7. How do you feel when you are surrounded by your friends?    

8. Talk about the last time you felt sad. What made you feel sad?    

9. Write a letter to someone who made you feel bad. Talk about how they made you feel.

10. What are five things that you are thankful for? Talk about them in detail.     

10 Journal Writing Prompts

The right kindergarten journal prompts can help your little ones excel in improving their writing skills. You can provide the right kindergarten writing prompts and have your kids talk about their thoughts and feelings. The best kindergarten journal prompts are the ones that ask your child to go deeper into their processing side. 

1. What’s your favorite stuffed toy? Talk about your favorite teddy bear.  

2. What do you feel when you get a hug from your parents?

3. Have you made someone feel special? What did you do?

4. I love my family because _.

5. I can make the world a better place by _.  

6. My daily routine involves _.

7. I plan on taking a vacation to _.  

8. I love my dog because _.  

9. When do you feel appreciated by others?

0. Why do you love animals? Talk about how animals make you feel.   

10 Descriptive Writing Prompts

The best part about descriptive writing topics for kindergarteners is that kids can fully express themselves without limitations. They can process complex information from the prompt and write out their thoughts in a cohesive way. Descriptive writing ideas for kindergarten kids also help them organize their sentences better.

1. Describe an interesting place you visited after school.  

2. What is your favorite hobby? Describe it in detail.

3. How do you want the world to be? Talk about what changes you’d like to see.

4. Describe your favorite meal. Why do you love it?

5. Describe your city’s layout. What are the major landmarks?

6. Talk about the things that you are good at.    

7. Why do you love your classroom? Describe the details of the classroom.

8. Talk about where you’d like to go on vacation next. Describe everything you want to see.  

9. Who is your favorite cartoon character? Why do you love them?    

10. What is your favorite holiday? Why do you love that holiday?    

Help Your Kindergartener Become A Better Writer

The most important thing to remember when improving your kindergartener’s writing skills is to help them through different tasks. You can provide them right prompts, worksheets and lessons, but you also need to be there next to them helping them complete these materials.

You can also focus on writing letters, summaries, stories, poems for kids to keep your young ones engaged. You can pick out some interesting kindergarten journal topics and have your kids work on the ones that they love.

You can teach your kids to visualize what they’re about to write prior to starting. They can picture the kindergarten journal prompts in their minds and form a structured approach to completing the question. This can help them introduce more nuanced elements within a formalized framework. 

Conclusion: Let Your Kindergartner Explore All Sides of Their Writing Abilities

The best writing prompts help your kindergartener flourish in the domains of grammar, handwriting, pattern detection, and reading comprehension. You can encourage them to become better at writing different types of answers and responses, which makes them more confident in the English language.Get started today with the 100 kindergarten writing prompts!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do i select the right writing prompts for my kindergarten child.

You can focus on prompts that your child finds interesting.

How do I encourage my child to write prompts regularly?

It’s best to reward them initially and help them get used to writing daily to improve their skills.

How many writing prompts should I have my kindergartener do?

You should start with 5-10 writing prompts that are of different types and genres.

How can my kindergartener improve their handwriting?

You can have your kindergartener practice their writing skills with worksheets, prompts, and journals.

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Kindergarten Reading & Writing Interactive Stories

30 Fun Writing Activities for Kindergarten and Preschoolers

Welcome to our curated collection of writing activities designed specifically for kindergarteners and preschoolers.

Learning to write is not just about mastering letters and words; it’s about expressing ideas, sharing stories, and expanding the understanding of the world.

This roundup is packed with engaging and fun projects that encourage children to play with words and shapes, from scribbling their first letters to composing their first words.

We’ll go beyond the traditional pencil and paper, exploring a variety of fun and interactive ways to introduce your child to the wonderful world of writing.

1. Baby Food Writing Tray

This creative exercise transforms ordinary baby food into a sensory-rich writing experience for preschoolers.

Learn more: Happy Toddler Time

2. Confetti Writing Tray

Step into the vibrant world of early literacy with the Confetti Writing Tray, a captivating preschool writing activity that adds an element of celebration to learning.

3. Pre-Writing Activities with Squishy Bags

These squishy bags offer a mess-free canvas for children to explore and practice pre-writing skills, promoting hand-eye coordination and fine motor development.

Learn more: Learning 4 Kids

4. Baby Food Writing Tray (Using Shaving Cream)

This innovative activity combines the smooth consistency of baby food with the fluffy texture of shaving cream, creating a dynamic surface for early writing exploration.

5. Dirt Play Dough + Rocks Writing Tray

This unique writing experience invites young learners to trace letters and shapes in a tray filled with textured dirt play dough and smooth rocks.

Learn more: Frugal Fun 4 Boys

6. Playdough Writing

By combining the versatility of playdough with early literacy skills, children can mold and shape letters, numbers, and shapes with ease. This tactile approach not only enhances fine motor.

Learn more: Fantastic Fun and Learning

7. Colored Salt Writing Tray for Reluctant Writers

This innovative approach transforms a simple tray of colored salt into a sensory-rich canvas, encouraging hesitant learners to explore letters and shapes in a non-intimidating way.

Learn more: Powerful Mothering

8. Shaving Cream Sight Word Game

Engage in a shaving cream sight word game by spreading a layer of shaving cream on a surface and having children write or trace sight words in the cream.

9. Slime Writing Tray

Children can explore letters, shapes, and words in a playful and malleable medium. The unique texture of slime adds an extra layer of engagement, turning the learning process into a memorable and enjoyable adventure.

Learn more: The Toolbox

10. Glitter Glue Pre-Writing Line Practice

Use glitter glue to trace pre-writing lines activity transforms the traditional path to writing readiness into a dazzling adventure.

Learn more: Growing Hands-on Kid

11. Racetrack ABC

Transforming the learning experience into a high-speed adventure, this activity encourages children to follow the racetrack path while identifying and tracing each letter.

12. Squeeze Bottle Salt Writing

Turn writing practice into a tactile delight with Squeeze Bottle Salt Writing, a creative and engaging activity that adds a sprinkle of fun to literacy learning.

Learn more: Playdough Potato

13. Fridge Magnet Pre-Writing Activity

Unlock the magic of early writing skills with the Fridge Magnet Pre-Writing Activity, a captivating and interactive way to introduce little ones to the world of letters.

Learn more: Happy Toddler Play Time

14. Popsicle Letters

Chill out with the delightful Popsicle Letters activity, a cool and creative way to introduce the alphabet to young learners. Crafted from vibrant popsicle sticks, each letter becomes a hands-on, interactive tool for spelling and literacy practice.

15. Tracing Letters with Water

By providing a chalkboard and a cup of water. Children can dip their fingers or a small brush into the water and trace letters on the chalkboard

Learn more: The Little Home of Mine

16. Fingerprint Letters

Explore fingerprint letters by having children dip their fingers into paint and form letters on paper using their fingerprints.

17. Push Pin Pre-Writing Activity

Engage in a push pin pre-writing activity by allowing children to use a push pin to trace along pre-drawn lines or shapes on paper.

Learn more: Planning Play Time

18. Magnetic Prewriting

Implement a magnetic prewriting activity by providing magnetic letters or shapes and a magnetic surface.

Learn more: Days with Gray

19. ABC Lowercase Tracing Pages with Playdough Mats

These interactive pages guide young learners through the lowercase alphabet, providing a tactile experience by incorporating play dough shaped as letters.

Learn more: 3 dinosaurs

20. Pumpkin Pre-writing Activity

In the pumpkin pre-writing activity, use pumpkin-shaped erasers to create letter patterns for children to follow. Arrange the erasers in the shape of letters, and kids can trace along the patterns.

Learn more: Modern Pre-School

21. Colorful Rice Writing Sensory Bin

Create a colorful rice writing sensory bin by dyeing rice in various hues and providing a tray with a shallow layer of the colored rice

Learn more: Messy Little Monster

22. Magic Letters Writing Activity

This imaginative exercise involves using a “magic” material, such as invisible ink pens or white crayons, to write letters on paper.

Learn more: Ma’s and Pa’s

23. DIY Tracing Cards

Craft DIY tracing cards by cutting index cards into desired shapes and tracing patterns or letters onto them. Children can then use these cards to practice tracing with a pencil or marker

Learn more: Taming Little Monsters

24. Rain Cloud Pre-Writing Tracing Cards

These engaging cards feature rain cloud shapes with pre-drawn lines or shapes for tracing.

Learn more: Frog and Fairies

25. Q-Tip Letter Tracing Activity

By using Q-Tip as a tool to write, this activity not only offers a mess-free way to practice letters but also introduces a unique tactile experience.

Learn more: Toddler at Play

26. Spring Lamb Handwriting Activity

Celebrate the season of renewal and growth with the Spring Lamb Handwriting Activity, a charming and educational experience that combines the joy of spring with early handwriting skills.

Learn more: From Pond Blog Spot

27. Connect the Stickers 

This activity involves creating connect-the-dots stickers on a sheet of paper, where numbered or colored stickers are placed for children to connect in sequence

Learn more: Toddler Approved

28. Straight Line Tracing Activity

This activity involves presenting children with sheets containing straight lines to trace using pencils or markers. It’s a simple and effective way to help kids practice controlled movements and gain confidence in pre-writing abilities.

Learn more: Twisty Noodle

29. Bee and Flower Tracing

Children can trace the outlines of flowers and bees using pencils, markers, or their fingers, fostering hand-eye coordination and precision. This thematic tracing activity not only enhances basic motor skills but also adds a touch of nature-inspired fun to the learning process.

Learn more: Tot Schooling Net

30. Write Using Bingo Dabbers

Create vibrant and imaginative artwork using bingo dabbers by letting children express their creativity with colorful stamps on paper

Learn more: The Printable Princess

Similar Posts:

• Top 100 Fine Motor Skills Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
• Top 45 Fun Name Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten
• Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles

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How to Teach Writing in Kindergarten – Writing Strategies in K

Susan Jones August 13, 2022 Leave a Comment

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Wondering what writing strategies work best in kindergarten classrooms? In this post, I share three of my favorite writing strategies for kindergarten! These three tips will help your youngest students feel confident writing and sharing their ideas. I also wrote a post about three big ideas to keep in mind when teaching writing in kindergarten, so you can check it out here if you’re interested: ( read things to keep in mind when teaching writing to kindergarten ) .

Before I dive in, I wanted to let you know you can watch or listen to all this information in video format below:

Tip #1: Say It First

When we say our stories aloud, it gives students ideas to write about and they can “hold” their idea in their minds before they draw/write. In kindergarten, you will see many of your students writing stories while relying on dictation or illustration. This is developmental and we always praise our students’ work, regardless of how much they are physically writing. Saying our ideas aloud is often used as a pre-writing strategy, and students tend to benefit from telling stories orally first before moving on to drawing and writing. 

Note: If you are interested in other prewriting strategies, I made a video all about them that you can check out here ( prewriting tips for k-2 ) .

You can practice this in your classroom by modeling it for your students. Any time you are going to write or draw something on the board, make sure you narrate it first so your students can register that this is the first step of writing. It also makes a great partner activity because your students can flush out ideas and organize their thoughts as they tell stories to each other. They can ask questions and work through ideas so they will have a clear narrative when they move on to draw their illustrations or write their story. 

Tip #2: Add to the Illustrations 

In the same way that saying your story out loud helps with the writing process, so does adding to your illustrations. A great way to get your students to write more and make their stories longer when they reach that step is to have them add to their illustrations first. There are many different ways students can add more to their illustrations, but below are some of my favorites to have my kindergarten students add to their work:

Add labels to the illustration 

This exercise is great because it adds to the illustration but also allows your students to practice their letters and words by sounding out what they hear and, to the best of their ability , writing it on the page. I always encourage my kindergarten students to write even just one letter to label things in their illustrations.

Add character emotions and actions 

The anchor chart below is an excellent resource for going over character emotions and what we can add to our illustrations to show how a character feels in our story. You can also add different elements to show movement, such as action lines to show that a character is running or a ball is flying through the air. You’d be surprised how only a few small lines on a picture can bring a whole new narrative to a story. 

Add background and setting details

Ask your students questions about what time of day it is, whether it is night or day, or if they are outside or inside, etc., and have them add to their illustrations to show these background and setting details.

Add speech and thought bubbles

Speech bubbles are another way to add a lot to a story through illustrations. However, many kindergarteners may not be at the level yet to add words to a speech bubble. This is a great opportunity for them to go for it and practice with inventive spelling, or they can even just draw another picture inside the thought bubble. They can still add to their story without even having to use any words yet. 

Tip #3: Model Everything

I mean it. Model everything . Every single day when you are teaching a mini-lesson, model it first for your class to show them exactly what it is going to look like before having them try it out.

I like to model writing in two different ways: 

By writing it in front of the class 

Write the whole piece either on the whiteboard or on a piece of chart paper in front of the class and go through the whole process with them. You want to model exactly what you expect your students to be doing when it is their turn, and you want to give them at least one clear way to get the job done.

Using mentor texts

If you find a book or text that clearly demonstrates a skill that you want to work on, you can use a mentor text as a reference to show your class. For example, if you tell your class to add background details to their illustrations, there are plenty of picture books you can show them and point out how the clouds or the color of the sky do a great job of describing the setting. 

So there are three of my best tips for teaching writing to kindergarten students! To recap: #1 is to have students say their ideas aloud BEFORE writing or drawing. #2 is to add details to the illustrations (this will give students more ideas to add to their stories). #3 is to model, model, model! Explicit instruction is necessary for our youngest students so they know what their writing should look and sound like!

Do you have other writing strategies you love using to help build successful writers in kindergarten? Let me know them in the comments!

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Beginning of the Year Writing

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Opinion Writing Unit

Hello friends.

Welcome to Susan Jones Teaching. When it comes to the primary grades, learning *All Things* in the K-2 world has been my passion for many years! I just finished my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction and love sharing all the latest and greatest strategies I learn with you through this blog and my YouTube channel! I hope you'll enjoy learning along with me :)

More About Me

Joyful and Systematic Ways to Build Kindergarten Narrative Writing

Overview of a comprehensive kindergarten writing model, why do we value the common core writing standards, all kindergartners can develop stamina for personal narrative.

We raised our expectations, developed accelerated learning strategies, involved Parents as Partners, gave children crystal-clear learning targets, and became skilled teachers of beginning writing. The result? Learning to write in kindergarten became an authentic and joyful process with dramatic outcomes!

Narrative Writing: W.K.3. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events , tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened. See our Pinterest boards for additional samples.

We Develop Mastery of Letters, Sounds, and Handwriting Building the Writing Brain

Early in the year, we encourage mastery of letters and sounds through multisensory strategies using music, fingerspelling, and sign language. (Read 20 Days to 26 Letters and Sounds .) We reinforce letter knowledge through daily individualized handwriting instruction with each child’s name and 16 high-frequency “heart words”. 

If handwriting motions are not efficient, it interferes with the whole writing process.

Kindergarten Writing and the Common Core: Joyful Pathways to Accelerated Literacy by Nellie Edge: Ch. 2 and 3.

Oral Language Fuels the Curriculum!

Oral language fuels the curriculum! Based on the familiar language patterns of songs, we use drawing, dictating, writing, and photos to adorn the walls of our classroom and make class books about our new friends.

Our lives are worth singing, drawing, reading, and writing about!

Kindergarten Writing: Ch. 1.

Fluency with High-Frequency “Heart Word” Sentences Builds Writing Stamina

We build fluency with high-frequency “heart words” and “heart word” power sentences: “I love you.” “I see the dog.” “I love Mom.” “This is my house.” Children practice “quick writes” until the sentences are automatic.

Kindergarten Writing : Ch. 4. See “Heart Word” page .

Receive Our Weekly Nellie Edge Kindergarten Blog High-Impact Strategies to Inspire Your Practice. Free Downloads!

See Weekly Focus archive

Thinking and Writing Skills are Developed Throughout the Day

In our Comprehensive Writing Workshop Model, children write across the curriculum, throughout the day, with guided drawing and writing lessons, literature and genre study, writing workshop, phonics lessons, authentic word work, and book making. Diverse student needs are met through targeted, differentiated learning.

Interactive Story Songs and Musical Dramas are Part of a Comprehensive Literacy Model

Interactive Story Songs and Musical Dramas are used as models for building narrative stories, teaching vocabulary, and playing with language and images.

“Here’s a Little Birdie”   Kindergarten Writing : Ch.1.

Handwriting Lessons Simultaneously Teach Sight Words

We build handwriting and word work fluency, stamina, and writing motivation through “secret messages” : I love you! Thank you. Josh was here! Children are excited to take these home and hide them around the house.

We Immerse Children in Predictable Texts!

Children internalize language and story patterns from mentor texts, using the frames for their own ideas: I Have a Cat, a Nellie Edge Read and Sing Big Book™ becomes a frame for writing about a favorite animal.

Children Love "Stamp and Read Skinny Books"

Making “Stamp and Read Skinny Books” teaches concepts about print , and builds high-frequency sight vocabulary: “I see the…” “This is a …” Stamping is soon replaced with fluency writing power sentences: “I see the dog.” “This is my cat.” “I love Mom.”  See Weekly Focus Blog .

Kindergarten Writing : Ch. 9.

Children Learn: Your Pictures and Words Tell a Story

The Sing, Sign, Spell, and Read! song This Is My House (also sung as I See My House ) provides an illustration study and an aesthetic experience exploring the images of “house” while building skills in narrative storytelling and drawing with details. Explore “Sight Word” page .

Enjoy audio: This is My House (Song from Sing, Sign, Spell, and Read! CD)

Family Literacy Includes Home/School Book Buddy Bags

Home/School Book Buddy Bags (both fiction and nonfiction) are a motivating opportunity for children to draw, dictate, and write about class mascots and encourage family literacy . Photos are often added. 

We Write Elephant and Piggie Books

Elephant and Piggie books motivate children to learn to draw and to try on the narrative style of author and illustrator Mo Willems.

Comprehension Questions Guide Our Thinking: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?

Kindergartners learn to sing and sign the basic comprehension questions Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? These become embedded in long-term memory to support writing as a thinking process—K-12!

Weekend News Journal Involves "Parents as Partners"

The Home/School Weekend News Journal is an authentic and powerful invitation to narrate a single event or several loosely-linked events and provide a reaction: “I went to…” “It was fun!”

End-of-Year Published Books  Documents Writing Proficiency

End-of-year published books from the Writer’s Workshop feature a child’s favorite story which is proofed, edited, revised , rewritten, illustrated, and shared. (Copies of books are made and used as mentor texts.)

We Celebrate our Prolific Kindergarten Writers!

Children have been drawing and writing lists, labels, letters, messages, skinny books, draw-an-animal books, folded books, science journals, math journals, weekend journals, “heart word” sentences, and Writer’s Workshop stories—all year long!

We have created systematic and joyful pathways to beginning writing proficiency. It is an exciting teaching journey!

See Kindergarten Writing Program Bundle and individual resources on Nellie Edge TPT store.

Look for 2020 updates to the remaining kindergarten writing bundle pieces.

• News Stories and We Love Lists!
• Authentic Kindergarten Assessment
• Publishing Kindergarten Books

Nellie Edge Online Seminars

Nellie Edge teaches you essential skills designed from 30 years of experience in step-by-step videos: Seminar #1: Multisensory ABC and Phonics Immersion Seminar #2: Kindergarten-Friendly Handwriting Matters! Seminar #3: Authentic Sight Word Work

WITH EACH SEMINAR YOU'll RECEIVE:

• Unlimited Access to Online Video Tutorials
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Narrative Writing Resources

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• A Yearlong Overview: New Heart Words, Handwriting, ABC Phonics, and Bookmaking
• Kindergarten Writing and the Common Core: CCSS Progression Overview
• Great Drawing, Writing, and Word Work Resources – Where to Get Them
• Why We Are Optimistic about Kindergarten
• Publishing Tips for Young Authors and Illustrators
• Growing Engaged and Purposeful Writers in Kindergarten

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• Kindergarten Writing and the Common Core: Our Vision and Challenge

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Writing in Kindergarten

Teaching Writing in Kindergarten is an exciting and rewarding experience. It’s important to remember that at this age, children are just beginning their writing journey, so it’s essential to keep the process fun and engaging. Here are some tips to help you teach writing to kindergarteners.

Tip #1-Fine Motor Practice

Many children dislike writing because it requires fine motor skills, which can be challenging for them. Building endurance is key since writing proficiency requires stamina. It’s essential to allocate ample time for practice, as multiple opportunities will help little learners refine their writing skills through fine motor skill practice. As I always say – practice makes progress! ( Writing And Fine Motor Skills In Kindergarten )

Tip #2-Start with Basics

Before you can teach your little learners to write, they need to understand the basics of written language. This includes understanding that letters make up words, words make up sentences, and sentences make up stories. Begin by introducing the alphabet, letter sounds, and basic sight words.

@kindergarten_chaos You’ve been asking…so here it is!✏️The Writing Kit for Little Learners! This kit includes everything you need to get started with a beginning writers center or station! Alphabet Charts, Alphabet Journal Circle Maps, Label a Sticker, I Can Make a List, Editable Build and Write a Sentence, Writing Journal Covwrs for the entire year, drawing journal cover, primary writing paper with primary rubric and printing options, I Can Write a Book template and a developmentally appropriate research project template. Also includes an information page with pictures for each one! ➡️You definitely NEED this for your Little Writers! ✍🏼📝💛Love, Kindergarten Chaos #kindergartenchaos #backtoschool2023📓 #kindergartentips #tiktokteacher #kindergartenwriting #backtoschoolprep #kindergartenteacher #kindergarten ♬ Little Things – Tiqta

Tip #3-Visual Aids

Kindergarteners are visual learners. Use pictures, charts, and diagrams to help them understand concepts like letter formation, sentence structure, and story sequencing. ( Anchor Charts For Kindergarten )

Tip #4-Make Writing FUN!!

Writing should be a fun and enjoyable experience for your students. Encourage them to use their imaginations and write about things that interest them. Provide plenty of opportunities for them to write, such as in journals, on whiteboards, or even with sidewalk chalk. ( Creating Successful Writing Stations For Little Learners )

Tip #5-Model Writing

Children learn by example, so make sure to model good writing habits. This includes demonstrating proper letter formation, using correct grammar and sentence structure, and showing how to revise and edit their work. ( Teaching Writing To Kindergarteners )

Tip #6- Positive Feedback

Kindergarten students thrive on positive feedback. Make sure to praise their efforts and encourage them to keep writing. Also, provide constructive feedback that will help them improve their writing skills.

Tip #7-Encourage Reading

Reading and writing go hand in hand. Encourage your little learners to read books and stories, and help them make connections between what they read and what they write.

Tip #8-Celebrate

Celebrate their writing achievements. Display their work in the classroom, share their stories with their grown-ups, and have a writing celebration to recognize their hard work and progress.

By following these tips, you can help your little learners develop a love for writing that will last a lifetime.

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Narrative Writing for Kindergarten and First Grade

Planning a writing unit of work can be quite overwhelming, particularly as a beginning teacher. I'm here to help you create engaging, effective lesson plans and narrative writing units for your young writers. These tips will be most appropriate for Kindergarten students or Grade 1/2 students, but could also be adapted for older children too!

I'll also share a range of quality mentor texts and writing prompts to support young children, and even the most reluctant writers, in learning to write a narrative story! 

START WITH BACKWARD MAPPING

The first thing you need to identify is what the end goals will be for your little learners. What understandings or skills do you want them to have by the end of your unit of work or set of lessons? This is a crucial first step because it then allows you to frame all of your lessons, activities and teaching points around that end goal. This process is known as   backward mapping,   where you begin with the objectives of a unit and then work backwards to create lessons that will achieve those goals.

For example, in our Kindergarten Narratives unit, the end goal is for most students to be able to write a simple story. I also think about how I will   differentiate that end goal.  For students who require additional support, their goal might be to write a sentence about an imaginary character or setting. For students who require extension, their goal may be to use more advanced descriptive language (e.g. adventurous adjectives or similes) or to write a more detailed story (e.g. include details about a character’s inside and outside traits, or more than one problem or single event).

As with anything we teach, it is so important that students understand the WHY of what they’re learning. What is the point? Why are they learning it? If they understand this, they will be much more motivated and on board with learning it!

In writing lessons, we talk about the three purposes of writing- writing to inform, writing to entertain and writing to persuade. We use the PIE acronym to help us remember this (Persuade, Inform, Entertain).

When we are writing narrative pieces, we discuss the fact that our writing purpose is to ENTERTAIN others with interesting and exciting stories!

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO GET THERE?

Next, I think of all the skills and knowledge that my students will need to learn in order to be successful. I make a list of all the key teaching points, and break down how I will not only cover all those skills throughout the unit of work, but build upon those skills in an incremental way.

For example, in our Kindergarten Fairy Tales unit, I break down what the components of a story are that I will need to teach my students. This includes:

• Creating imaginary characters, and describing their traits
• Using our senses to describe a setting
• Thinking of interesting problems for a story
• Fixing that problem

Students will also need revision in other key writing skills such as:

• How to write a complete sentence - using capital letters and end punctuation correctly
• How to spell simple words, applying their knowledge of letter sounds and common heart words
• The editing component of the writing process - re-reading over their work and checking for errors.

These skills may be reviewed in small moments throughout our narrative writing lessons, as well as explicitly in our spelling, phonics and sentence structure lessons.

Towards the end of the unit, I begin to teach students how to plan out a whole story with graphic organisers, and also how to adapt known fairy tales to create their own stories. All of these things will need to be   EXPLICITLY taught through modelling and scaffolded practice.

Once you know what skills you need to teach, you can have some fun in thinking about what activities you are going to use to teach students all of these concepts. For example, I love finding fun ways to explore characters. We create our own monsters and write a character description, focusing on interesting adjectives. Or we re-imagine characters and discuss whether they might have just been misunderstood- perhaps the Big Bad Wolf was actually good?! Plan activities that are going to explicitly teach the skills, but will also be FUN for the students and get them excited about what they are learning!

HOW WILL I SCAFFOLD LEARNING ALONG THE WAY?

This part of the process is so often glossed over or skipped past, but it is SUCH a crucial step. Too often I think teachers jump straight from explicit teaching to independent practice, without giving students enough scaffolding or opportunities for guided practice in small groups.

The research into   cognitive load theory   suggests that when we are teaching new knowledge, content or skills to our students, we will be far more effective and successful if we support our students with explicit guidance and scaffolding, along with practice and feedback.

The   Gradual Release of Responsibility   model is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind whenever you are planning any unit of work or lesson sequence.

Also,  don't underestimate the power of modelling examples to your students.   This is a great way to scaffold and support young learners in their own writing. Whenever we write, I model writing my own version first on the interactive whiteboard. The quality of my students’ writing is always so much better when I’ve taken the time to model to them first what it is that I’m looking for.

Non-examples   are also a really powerful teaching tool as well. I model what NOT to do or make mistakes in my writing, and get my students to help me to edit and correct my own work. Students love being the ‘experts’ who need to help their teachers, and this process allows students to develop much deeper understandings of the success criteria for a lesson.

Some examples of how I scaffold students when teaching fairy tales:

1. break up story elements into manageable chunks and explicitly teach each of these components.

We build up our skills for writing an entire story in incremental chunks, rather writing full stories at the very beginning of the unit. Some examples of what we work on throughout the unit include inside and outside character traits, replacing known characters in fairy tales, and identifying the problem in familiar stories.

  2. Verbal before written

We do lots of verbal practice of concepts before we even begin writing. For example, we look at lots of character pictures and unpack ways to describe that character’s inside and outside traits. We also look at lots of setting pictures and use our senses to describe everything about that setting- what can we hear, what can we see, what could we feel, what could we hear and sometimes even what could we taste?

3. Provide students with a scaffold to base their stories around

In the earlier years I use a very simple structure of:

Once upon a time...   (interesting character)

One day...   (descriptive settings)

Suddenly...   (exciting problem)

Luckily...   (fix the problem).

These sentence scaffolds are obviously a very simplistic break down of a story, but they are a really useful tool for when you are first helping kids to get their heads around structuring a story! It helps to set them up for success.

Here is an example of how this simple scaffold can lead to a simple story:

As an extension, some students may use alternative sentence starters (e.g. One bright sunny morning... All of a sudden.... As quick as a flash...) or write longer paragraphs for each section.

4. Innovating on known stories

This is another great tool for reducing cognitive load and allowing students to have the confidence to attempt their own stories when they are first learning to write.

We use known stories such as Jack and the Beanstalk, and just adapt some of the elements (e.g. change the character of Jack to Sally, the beans to magic rice, the beanstalk to a ladder, and the giant to a dragon).

You could also adapt/change parts of a story e.g. change the problem in Three Billy Goats Gruff or change the ending to Hansel and Gretel.

In older years, I use Pie Corbett’s Story Models to give students lots of different story structure scaffolds that they could base a story around (e.g. warning tale, rags to riches tale).

5. Effective Learning Displays 

As a class, we create a variety of learning displays and anchor charts to support our unit. For example, we create word banks using words that we come across throughout our lessons. These displays become an inspiration for students when they are creating their own characters or stories.

It’s important that your learning displays are clear and easy for your students to read, and that the students have helped to create them. Sometimes I give my students a challenge- e.g. I want you to have included at least three outside character traits or three adjectives from our display.

6. Practice, practice, practice

For whatever concept I’m teaching, I give my students plenty of opportunities to practise that skill before we move on. For example, we write LOTS of short character descriptions or setting descriptions. In older grades, I might get students to write five different story openings or five different character descriptions in a lesson. Or if we were learning how to plan a story, we might just practise creating lots of story plans.

One of my literacy centers will often be a writing center, where children can review many of the narrative writing concepts that we have been exploring in our explicit whole class lessons. For example, if you have been working on speech marks and speech bubbles, children could use macaroni pasta to add speech marks to different pieces of writing!

BE FLEXIBLE PLANNERS

It is so important that we are willing to be flexible with the programs that we have created. We need to adapt them as we are teaching, so that they are based around the needs of our learners. Sometimes you will find that students grasp a concept much quicker than you’d anticipated, and you’ll be able to delve much deeper into that concept or move along to the next concept a bit sooner.

Other times, your students will really struggle with a concept and you may need to slow down and spend more time on something, or adjust the activities to better support your students. Most of the time you’ll probably need to do a mixture of all of the above, because the reality of teaching is that we tend to have a huge range of learning needs within the one classroom!

Be reflective practitioners and don’t be afraid to adjust your programs as you go! I recommend reading up on formative assessment techniques (otherwise known as assessment FOR learning) in order to build up a repertoire of ways that you can be checking in on student understanding throughout your entire teaching and learning sequence!

HOW CAN I HELP YOU?

1. My free resource library, The Freebee Library , is packed full of free resources for you to use with your students to take good writing to GREAT writing! You'll also find a full Imaginative Texts Writing Program .

2.  My Kindergarten Writing Bundle for Imaginative Texts will be the perfect addition to your kindergarten writing curriculum. Whether you're looking for a mini lesson, or a full week or term of lesson plans, you'll find loads of quality and engaging activities to use with your students, including:

• Narrative Writing Activities & Templates | Fairy Tales
• Narrative Writing Lesson Slides - Fairy Tales - Imaginative Texts POWERPOINT
• Narrative Writing Posters  

3. If you are teaching personal narrative writing (recount writing), where your children are writing a personal narrative based on their own experiences, you might like to check out my Recount Writing PowerPoint Slides . This PowerPoint is most appropriate for a Kindergarten classroom setting, but it can also be a helpful scaffold for older children who might need a little bit of extra support when writing about their own personal experiences. 

Unlock 500 free downloads here .

Let’s Chat all Things Writing

Let’s talk writing! Hey friends! I wanted to take a moment (or a few moments) of your time today to visit about all things WRITING! Writing has always been one of my favorite subjects to teach but for sure not the easiest! I mean when you start the year there is SO MUCH to learn… what a pencil is, how to hold a pencil, how to write with a pencil, what to write, how to stretch words, how to put words into sentences and it goes on from there! Sometimes teaching writing can be intimidating because there are SO many varying opinions. Should you give them a starter? Should you give them a sentence frame? Should they spell words phonetically. Should YOU spell words phonetically when modeling stories and so on!

I finally realized that there is not ONE way to teach writing and if someone tells you that there is only ONE way to do it… then you smile, nod and close your door. All of our students will start at different levels and need different instruction. That brings me to writing instruction and curriculum. There are of course many different writing programs! I was first given the writing lessons from my “big box” curriculum. The top of the lessons started with ALL YEAR, “Students will draw a picture to tell their story. You can dictate the story for them after.” REALLY? I mean yes there will be some kids that start lower and some that still might not get to sentences by the end of kindergarten. However, I’m going to assume that first grade teachers won’t be real happy with me if I only EXPECT my kiddos to color pictures for writing throughout the entire year. That brings me to the opposite end of writing curriculum *cough I’ve shared this program on my own blog before.* I liked this program and it had/has REALLY good parts. The problem is goes TOO fast and leaves out the majority of my students. Sure the program says that the teacher will scaffold by modeling but if the program is too tough for the majority of my class then that means the majority is not receiving the instruction they so deserve.

My first couple of years in the classroom I was constantly changing my kindergarten writing approach due to the above mentioned lack luster big box writing program.  One day I would give them a sentence starter.  The next day I didn’t.  At the end of the year my writers were where they needed to be but there was one thing I noticed… not all the kids enjoyed writing like I enjoyed it!  I knew that there was something I had to change!  After much research and chatting with colleagues I realized that writing is a work of heart!  When the kids are inspired and then able to express that into their kindergarten writing… they too will fall in love with writing!  What I didn’t realize those first couple of years was that I was writing and modeling stories that were near and dear to ME.  I can’t tell you every story I modeled for them but I am going to guess that a story about four-wheelers or Minecraft wasn’t wasn’t one of those!  By turning it over to the kids and having them choose their writing topics, I saw my kids BLOSSOM and year after year my writers fell in love with writing just like me! This is something that the second above mentioned program did but it was SO hard or me to “buy into” that one because it was just not the level of my kiddos. I took that same new passion and worked hard to put it into to easy to read lesson plans!  That is when KinderWriting was born! 🙂 In this post, I will share all about my favorite writing lessons I’ve done through the years, give you the freebie templates so you can plug them right into your lessons and I will be sharing all about the writing program I created called, KinderWriting .

What is KinderWriting?

KinderWriting Curriculum is an engaging, kindergarten, genre-based writing curriculum. KinderWriting encourages young learners to look inward at their endless possibilities as a writer. KinderWriting is based upon nine units: Writing With Pictures, Writing With Sentences, Writing With Stories, Writing With Narrative, Writing With Opinion, Writing With Direction, Writing With Persuasion, Writing With Imagination, and Writing With Information. Each unit is broken down to 20 lessons. The units cover 20 days of academic instruction. The lesson plans have listed unit objectives, “I can” statements, Common Core writing standards and needed mentor texts.

KinderWriting encourages a daily routine of a minilesson, independent writing, and a share time. Each of the lessons in KinderWriting are well thought out for the young writer and spiral back to previous lessons to ensure students are retaining their skills. KinderWriting also includes unit anchor charts, a variety of writing paper, conferring schedules and note sheets, sample writings, student writing goals display, writing rubrics, and step-by-step guides that are made specifically for each unit.

What is included in KinderWritring Curriculum?

-Teacher “simple read” lesson plans. You will not need to rewrite these lesson plans, unless you choose do. If so I have included editable lesson plans. -Each unit I have planned out the; big idea, focus standard, essential questions, and so much more! -Writing paper -Unit posters -Student material -Unit rubrics -Spanish posters included

What about the standards? 

Each unit has a focus standard that is based upon the Common Core Standards. Units further into the year will have more than one focus standard. If you teach to a varying set of standards, you can email me for assistance. Thanks!

What Units are Covered?

Unit 1: Writing with Pictures Unit 2: Writing with Sentences Unit 3: Writing with Stories Unit 4: Writing with Narrative Unit 5: Writing with Opinion Unit 6: Writing with Direction Unit 7: Writing with Persuasion Unit 8: Writing with Imagination Unit 9: Writing with Information

Let’s get started with Unit 1: Writing With Pictures.  This unit is all about setting the kiddos up for success!  If we jump right into “writing” our kiddos can sometimes feel unsure of themselves.  They might worry if their words are spelled correctly or if their pictures are perfect!  In unit 1, we introduce students to writing using illustrations! This is big, big, big especially for those lower kiddos! We want them to and NEED them to LOVE writing. We want to set them up with success from the very beginning.

Unit 1: Writing With Pictures

Lesson 1: Illustrators! Yes? Lesson 2: Establishing the Minilesson Lesson 3: Drawing Sticks, Circles, & Boxes Lesson 4: Establishing Independent Write Lesson 5: Share Time Lesson 6: Illustrating the Best I Can Lesson 7: Detailed Pictures Lesson 8: Visualizing My Story Lesson 9: Looking Closely Lesson 10: Setting Goals Lesson 11: What is a Label? Lesson 12: Adding Labels Lesson 13: The Pencil Lesson 14: Labeling for Detail Lesson 15: Ask and Write Lesson 16: Show and Retell Stories Lesson 17: Labeling Your Name Lesson 18: Sticky Conferences Lesson 19: A Picture Book Lesson 20: Celebration

I recently had a Facebook live all about Unit 1!  You can listen into that video below!  If the video doesn’t load, you can access it HERE !

I have organized my units into a plastic tote!  Each unit has a folder in the tote!

The plans include your needed materials, minilesson and ideas to expand your teaching during the share block!

For independent writing I have offered a variety of writing journals and writing paper!  You can choose between landscaped and portrait style! I include lots and lots of styles so that you can decide what works best for your kiddos!

Now let’s take a look at unit 2! In Unit 2 we start to introduce students to writing words and stringing some SIMPLE words together to make sentences!

KinderWriting Unit 2 is all about encouraging students to stretch words, write words and then place those words into sentences!

Below is a full listing of the lessons found in Unit 2 of KinderWriting!

Unit 2: Writing With Sentences

Lesson 1: Authors! Yes? Lesson 2: Authors Persevere Lesson 3: Writing Tools- ABC Chart Lesson 4: Making Words Lesson 5: Writers Make Mistakes Lesson 6: Stretching Sounds Lesson 7: Stretching More Sounds Lesson 8: Writing Tools- Sight Word Chart Lesson 9: Color Words Lesson 10: Letters vs. Words Lesson 11: Conferring and Writing Partnerships Lesson 12: Speech Bubbles and Emotion Lesson 13: Using the Room Lesson 14: Are You Really Done? Lesson 15: Capitals Lesson 16: Spacing Lesson 17: Punctuation Lesson 18: Words Make Sentences Lesson 19: Writing Storybooks Lesson 20: Sharing Storybooks

Also in the folder is the unit spiral bound lessons, unit posters and the student mini poster rings!

The student resource rings are perfect for the kiddos to keep in their pencil boxes!  You can also use them back at your guided reading table!

We will use the mentor text, The Alphabet Tree, and build words!

Unit 3: Writing With Stories

Lesson 1: Storytellers! Yes? Lesson 2: Authors Write About What They Love Lesson 3: Authors Write About What They Can Do Lesson 4: Authors Write About What They Know Lesson 5: Authors Write About The Past Lesson 6: Mechanics Matter Lesson 7: Names and Places Use Capitals Lesson 8: Tap Out the Story Lesson 9: Powerful Punctuation Lesson 10: Ask More With Writing Partners Lesson 11: A 5 W’s Story Lesson 12: Topics are Everywhere Lesson 13: Books are Stories Lesson 14: Places are Stories Lesson 15: Colors are Stories Lesson 16: Elapsed Time Lesson 17: Adding On Lesson 18: Illustrations Tell Stories Lesson 19: Storytelling Booklets Lesson 20: Sharing Storybooks

The big push in Unit 3 is to help those that struggle with generating their own witting topic each day! We want them to be confident in realizing that there are stories ALL AROUND US! We use included pictures to help students generate writing ideas.

We also teach them about using color as a writing inspiration!

What do writers write about? Well, the write about things they love, things they know, things they can do and things from the past!

We work on STRETCHING those words!

In unit 3, we become mechanics so we can work on all of those important skills, too!

Establishing writing goals are vital!

In each unit I supply you with a lot of learning posters to present to the kiddos!

We can’t forget the rubrics in each unit!

The student resource rings!

Unit 3 of KinderWriting wraps up the “basics” units! Units 4-9 are genre-based writing units! Let’s jump into those now!

I like to play ninjas.

Also, here is the story booklet we used for this lesson!  You can grab yours for free below!

Now let’s talk about Unit 4 of KinderWriting ! Unit 4 is all about Narrative writing! In unit 4, we take take the kiddos through the entire Narrative writing process! There is a week that we spend on mechanics and adding in adjectives/verbs into our stories as well!

Lesson 1: Narrators! Yes? Lesson 2: Narratives Use Words Like I, Me and My Lesson 3: Narratives Have a Setting Lesson 4: Narratives Have a Problem & Solution Lesson 5: Narratives Have a BME Lesson 6: Starting With a Hook Lesson 7: Ending With Feeling Lesson 8: Sequential Words Lesson 9: “Zoom” In Moments Lesson 10: Using Details Lesson 11: Writing With the 5 Senses Lesson 12: Adding in Adjectives Lesson 13: Adding in Verbs Lesson 14: Words Have Families Lesson 15: Mechanics Lesson 16: Narrative Booklets Lesson 17: Writing With a Rubric Lesson 18: Writing Process- Draft Lesson 19: Writing Process- Polish Lesson 20: Writing Process- Publish

Below is a look at the mentor texts for this unit! You can see there are three specific to narrative writing and three for the mechanics focus!

In Unit 4, we discuss all of the parts of a narrative story!

Unit 4 posters to teach all of the important tasks!

Unit 4 rubrics!

Student resource rings!

Unit 4 writing goals!

Now let’s talk opinion writing!  I  will discuss first some of my favorite opinion writing lessons over the years and then jump into opinion writing from KinderWriting!   I love introducing the kiddos to the big word for our opinion writing, because!  I always give a big hoopla over making sure we pronounce it correctly!  This might not be an issue in other parts of the country, but here in Missouri it’s usually pronounced as “becuz!”  So, after this talk they are correcting me the rest of the year if my pronunciation isn’t spot on!  We start with some simple opinion writings! We also talked a lot about what an opinion is and how it’s okay to have a different opinion then our friends!

We also write opinions on if we like the tooth fairy best or Santa Claus! Below students wrote their thoughts in the opinion graphic organizer!  {Download the freebie below}

Let’s talk KinderWriting Unit 5 which is all about opinion writing!

Lesson 1: Opinionators! Yes? Lesson 2: Giving Opinions Lesson 3: Fact vs. Opinion Lesson 4: Opinions Around Us Lesson 5: Opinions on the Spot Lesson 6: Using the Word Because Lesson 7: Giving Two Reasons Lesson 8: Using a Mentor Text Lesson 9: Opinion Starters Lesson 10: Defending an Opinion Lesson 11: Using the Word Wall Lesson 12: Spacing for Our Readers Lesson 13: Setting Letters on the Line Lesson 14: Reversals and Handwriting Lesson 15: Sounds in Words Lesson 16: Sharing Opinions Lesson 17: Writing With a Rubric Lesson 18: Writing Process- Draft Lesson 19: Writing Process- Polish Lesson 20: Writing Process- Publish

Unit 5 writing posters!

Unit 5 rubrics!

Writing goals are a must!

In unit 5, we work on fact vs. opinion!

Unit 6-9 (Procedural writing, persuasive writing, fiction writing, informational writing) are also part of the KinderWriting bundle!

A note about pricing! 

Snag this bundle for  25% OFF  .  Each of the writing units sells for $12 each, a total of $108.  You can view KinderWriting HERE or clicking below!

Now let’s talk letter writing! Depending on your district/standards, you might also be required to teach letter writing!

Now let’s talk a little about assisted writing! I like to use assisted writing sheets mainly during independent writing times! This would be for example during daily five work on writing! My kiddos can’t get enough of my writing story starters!  I use them in their work on writing folders and as a choice for early finishers! I have found these story starters to work absolute wonders in my classroom!  What I love about the story starters the most is their ability to assist the students when working independently.  Students WANT to work without the assistance of their teacher, but sometimes they just don’t know how.  This can be especially true in writing.  Students of course would love to write a story of their own, but they at times don’t know what to write about.  The story starters take that out of the equation.  Students simply look at the picture given to them and start to write their story!

I like the spider and web.

You can download an additional set of freebie writing posters HERE or clicking the images below!

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51 Irresistible Short Stories for Kids (Read Them All for Free!)

Quick reads with lasting impact.

Looking for some free tales to use for close reading or classroom read-alouds? This roundup of short stories for kids has plenty of options. From quick fables with morals to old-fashioned fairy tales and folktales from around the world, this diverse collection offers something for any child. We’ve also included ways to use these short stories with kids, in the classroom or at home. You can download copies of the short stories by simply filling out the form on this page.

Note: Always be sure to read a selection through before sharing it with children. Some of these short stories for kids, especially ones written a long time ago, may not be appropriate for every audience.

Classic Fairy Tale Short Stories for Kids

“ cinderella ” by charles perrault, “‘do not cry, cinderella,’ she said; ‘you also shall go to the ball, because you are a kind, good girl.’”.

Why we love it: This is one of those short stories for kids that everyone probably already knows. This older version is a little different than the Disney movie, so ask kids if they can identify the changes. They can also have fun imagining what other items could be transformed to help Cinderella get to the ball!

“ Thumbelina ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“there once was a woman who wanted so very much to have a tiny little child, but she did not know where to find one. so she went to an old witch, and she said: ‘i have set my heart upon having a tiny little child. please could you tell me where i can find one’”.

Why we love it: If there’s one thing this world can use more of, it is definitely kindness. We love that the story of Thumbelina spreads the message that kindness pays off in big ways. Thumbelina helps the swallow and in turn finds her true love.

“ The Emperor’s New Clothes ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“‘But the Emperor has nothing at all on!’ said a little child.”

Why we love it: This is a wonderful story for talking about peer pressure and being brave enough to stand up for what you believe in. Kids will also enjoy drawing the imaginary suit of clothes that the king thought he saw.

“ The Little Mermaid ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“‘it was you,’ said the prince, ‘who saved my life when i lay dead on the beach,’ and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. ‘oh, i am too happy,’ said he to the little mermaid; ‘my fondest hopes are all fulfilled. you will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere.’”.

Why we love it: The story of the Little Mermaid focuses on sacrificial love. In it, the Sea King puts the needs of his daughter over his own. Open a dialogue with kids about a time when they put someone else’s needs over their own.

“ Rapunzel” by the Brothers Grimm

“there once lived a man and his wife, who had long wished for a child, but in vain. now there was at the back of their house a little window which overlooked a beautiful garden full of the finest vegetables and flowers; but there was a high wall all round it, and no one ventured into it, for it belonged to a witch of great might, and of whom all the world was afraid.”.

Why we love it: This story explores themes of autonomy, love, jealousy, and freedom. Children need to be set free to explore their own lives.

“ The Frog Prince ” by the Brothers Grimm

“and the princess, though very unwilling, took him up in her hand, and put him upon the pillow of her own bed, where he slept all night long. as soon as it was light, he jumped up, hopped downstairs, and went out of the house. ‘now, then,’ thought the princess, ‘at last he is gone, and i shall be troubled with him no more.’”.

Why we love it: Kids love this familiar story about a prince in disguise and a young girl who keeps her word even though she doesn’t want to. In this version, the girl doesn’t need to kiss the frog, but she’s rewarded anyway.

“ The Gingerbread Man ” by Anonymous

“run, run as fast as you can you can’t catch me, i’m the gingerbread man”.

Why we love it: In the original tale, the Gingerbread Man is eventually caught and eaten. This retelling gives him a happy ending instead. For a fun activity, let kids decorate and eat their own gingerbread people.

“ The Velveteen Rabbit ” by Margery Williams

“‘real isn’t how you are made,’ said the skin horse. ‘it’s a thing that happens to you. when a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become real.’”.

Why we love it: This is one of the most classic short stories for kids of all time! Let kids bring their own favorite toys to share with the class, and have them write or tell stories about what would happen if they became “real.”

“ The Elves and the Shoemaker ” by the Brothers Grimm

“a shoemaker, by no fault of his own, had become so poor that at last he had nothing left but leather for one pair of shoes. so in the evening, he cut out the shoes which he wished to begin to make the next morning, and as he had a good conscience, he lay down quietly in his bed, commended himself to god, and fell asleep.”.

Why we love it: Short stories for kids that are packed with life lessons are tops in our book. Among the lessons found in this tale are to work hard and to be grateful for the help you receive. It was through his hard work that the shoemaker achieved riches and success.

“ The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats ” by the Brothers Grimm

“there was once an old goat who had seven little ones, and was as fond of them as ever a mother was of her children.”.

Why we love it: Some of the best short stories for kids serve as cautionary tales. In this story, the young goats fail to heed their mother’s warning and succumb to the wolf’s attempts at deceit.

“ The Snow Queen ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“now then, let us begin. when we are at the end of the story, we shall know more than we know now: but to begin.”.

Why we love it: This story is the classic struggle between good and evil. It also focuses on the values of friendship and perseverance.

“ Jack and the Beanstalk ” by Anonymous

“why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden had sprung up into a giant beanstalk which went up and up and up until it reached the sky. so the man spoke truth after all”.

Why we love it: This story is a fun read, but use it to get your students thinking critically. Was it really OK for Jack to steal from the giant? Ask them to write an essay sharing their thoughts on the subject, or use it for a fun classroom debate.

“ Little Red Riding Hood ” by the Brothers Grimm

“‘but grandmother what big eyes you have,’ said little red riding hood. ‘the better to see you with, my dear,’ replied the wolf.”.

Why we love it: This retelling of the well-known tale is a little less gruesome, since the hunter merely frightens the wolf into spitting out poor granny (instead of slicing open his belly). Talk with kids about ways they can keep themselves safe when they’re out in the world.

“ The Pied Piper of Hamelin ” by the Brothers Grimm

“he sounded his fife in the streets, but this time it wasn’t rats and mice that came to him, but rather children: a great number of boys and girls from their fourth year on. among them was the mayor’s grown daughter. the swarm followed him, and he led them into a mountain, where he disappeared with them.”.

Why we love it: Some say this is a true story, and whether or not it’s true, it definitely has a moral—when people make a bargain, they should stick to their agreement. Ask kids to think about what kind of music the Pied Piper might have played, and why both children and rats couldn’t resist it.

“ The Princess and the Pea ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“i cannot think what could have been in the bed. i lay upon something so hard that i am quite black and blue all over.”.

Why we love it: This has long been one of the most beloved short stories for kids, and it’s ideal when you need a quick read. Then, grab some dried peas and see how thick a covering needs to be before students can no longer feel them.

“ Puss in Boots ” by Charles Perrault

“puss became a great lord, and never ran after mice anymore, except for pleasure.”.

Why we love it: All cat lovers know these animals can be pretty smart when they want to be. This one helps his poor master become a prince in a castle, all through his own clever tricks. Encourage students to come up with more creative ways Puss in Boots could help his master.

“ Rumpelstiltskin ” by the Brothers Grimm

“‘I will give you three days,’ said he, ‘if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your child.’”

Why we love it: Pretty much everyone in this story behaves badly in one way or another. Use it to learn more about characters and their motivation.

“ Sleeping Beauty ” by the Brothers Grimm

“a great many changes take place in a hundred years.”.

Why we love it: After students read this well-known story, ask them to think about what it would be like to go to sleep today and wake up in a hundred years. What might the world be like? Or what would it be like for someone who fell asleep a hundred years ago to wake up today? How many things have changed since then?

“ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ” by the Brothers Grimm

“mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all”.

Why we love it: This fairy tale has all the classic elements—beautiful heroine, wicked stepmother, handsome prince—plus a handful of helpful dwarfs. It’s the perfect way to start a conversation about the dangers of envy and jealousy.

“ The Three Little Pigs ” by Anonymous

“not by the hairs on our chinny chin chin”.

Why we love it: Fairy tales don’t get much more classic than this. Follow it up with a reading of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka to hear the story from the wolf’s perspective, and have a conversation about point of view.

“ The Ugly Duckling ” by Hans Christian Andersen

“but what did he see there, mirrored in the clear stream he beheld his own image, and it was no longer the reflection of a clumsy, dirty, gray bird, ugly and offensive. he himself was a swan being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched from a swan’s egg.”.

Why we love it: Whether you read the original text or a shorter adaptation, this story is one every kid should know. It will teach them that everyone should be proud of who they are, even if they don’t look or feel like everyone else.

Aesop’s Fables as Short Stories for Kids

“ the ants and the grasshopper ” by aesop, “one bright day in late autumn a family of ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.”.

Why we love it: It can be hard to teach kids that there are things in life they need to do regardless of whether they are fun or not. This fable will help little ones understand the value of putting in hard work to set ourselves up for future successes.

“ The Boy Who Cried Wolf ” by Aesop

“so now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, ‘wolf wolf’”.

Why we love it: This might be the most famous short story we use to teach kids about how important it is to tell the truth. Ask students if they’ve ever pulled a prank that went wrong and what they learned from it.

“ The Crow and the Pitcher ” by Aesop

“But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water.”

Why we love it: Aesop’s fable reads more like a STEM challenge—how can you reach the water at the bottom of the pitcher when your neck isn’t long enough? Try the same experiment with your students, using a narrow-necked bottle. Can they come up with any other solutions?

“ The Fox and the Grapes ” by Aesop

“the grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.”.

Why we love it: If kids have ever wondered where the phrase “sour grapes” comes from, this tale will answer that question. Talk about other idiomatic phrases, and do some research to find their origins.

“ The Lion and the Mouse ” by Aesop

“‘you laughed when i said i would repay you,’ said the mouse. ‘now you see that even a mouse can help a lion.’”.

Why we love it: This fable reminds kids that they’re never too small to make a difference in someone’s life. Ask kids to share their own stories of times they helped someone.

“ The Tortoise and the Hare ” by Aesop

“the hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the tortoise should catch up.”.

Why we love it: When kids need a reminder that they should always keep trying, turn to this famous story. Use it to teach growth mindset too.

“ Two Travelers and a Bear ” by Aesop

“Two men were traveling in company through a forest, when, all at once, a huge bear crashed out of the brush near them.”

Why we love it: When danger strikes, do you worry about yourself first or try to help everyone to safety? There are arguments to be made on both sides, so this one makes for an interesting debate or persuasive essay.

More Short Stories for Kids

“ anansi and the pot of wisdom ” by anonymous, “every time anansi looked in the clay pot, he learned something new.”.

Why we love it: Kids may know about Anansi from the popular book Anansi the Spider , but there are lots of tales about him in West African folklore. In this one, Anansi thinks he knows everything, but a child has something new to teach him. Explore more Anansi tales here.

“ The Apple Dumpling ” by Anonymous

“A bag of feathers for a basket of plums. A bunch of flowers for a bag of feathers. A golden chain for a bunch of flowers. And a dog for a golden chain. All the world is give and take, and who knows if I may have my apple dumpling yet.”

Why we love it: When an old woman sets out to trade her basket of plums for some apples, her quest takes a few twists and turns along the way. In the end, though, she manages to make many people happy, not just herself. Practice sequencing by having kids try to remember all the trades the woman makes, and the order she makes them in.

“ The Blind Men and the Elephant ” by Anonymous

“sixth blind man (feeling the tail): this elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree, or a fan. he is exactly like a rope.”.

Why we love it: Six blind men each feel a different part of an elephant, and each comes to his own very different conclusions. Written as a very short play, this classic tale opens up all sorts of discussion opportunities about seeing the bigger picture.

“ Bruce and the Spider ” by James Baldwin

“but the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. with still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line. would she fail again no the thread was carried safely to the beam, and fastened there.”.

Why we love it: This famous little tale is almost certainly a myth, but it’s one of the most well-known stories about King Robert the Bruce. The lesson about not giving up fits perfectly when you’re talking about growth mindset.

“ The Elephant’s Child ” by Rudyard Kipling

“but there was one elephant—a new elephant—an elephant’s child—who was full of ’satiable curiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions.”.

Why we love it: Many kids will recognize themselves in the Elephant’s Child and his (in)satiable curiosity. After you read this one, have students come up with stories for the way other animals got their unique features. How did the giraffe get its long neck? How did the turtle get its shell? So many possibilities!

“ Paul Bunyan ” by William B. Laughead

“when paul was a boy, he was fast as lightning. he could blow out a candle at night and hop into bed before it was dark.”.

Why we love it: Paul Bunyan is an American folk hero, larger than life (literally!). This roundup of the legends surrounding him has many of the most famous tales. Encourage kids to think about what they’d do if they were as big, strong, and fast as Paul.

“ The Little Engine That Could ” by Watty Piper

“I think I can. I think I can.”

Why we love it: When little ones learn early on to believe in themselves, they’ll be willing to try their best at anything. Have kids tell their own stories of times they did something that seemed impossible at first when they kept on trying.

“ The Four Dragons ” by Anonymous

“the four dragons flew back and forth, making the sky dark all around. before long the sea water became rain pouring down from the sky.”.

Why we love it: The four dragons in this Chinese tale want to help save the people from drought. When the Jade Emperor won’t help, they take matters into their own hands. Ultimately, they become the four major rivers of China. This is a great opportunity to get out the globe or pull up Google Earth and learn more about China’s geography.

“ Henny Penny ” by Anonymous

“so henny-penny, cocky-locky, ducky-daddles, goosey-poosey and turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was a-falling.”.

Why we love it: In an age when people are quick to spread rumors as fact, this old European folktale is more meaningful than ever. See if kids can think of times when they heard a crazy rumor that they believed at first, even though it turned out to be completely false.

“ How Gimme the Ax Found Out About the Zigzag Railroad ” by Carl Sandburg

“Then the zizzies came. The zizzy is a bug. He runs zigzag on zigzag legs, eats zigzag with zigzag teeth, and spits zigzag with a zigzag tongue.”

Why we love it: Kids will get a kick out of all the Z sounds in this silly little story about why some local railroad tracks run in zigzags. Use it to teach about alliteration and consonance, and ask kids to draw their own pictures of the zizzies.

“ King Midas and the Golden Touch ” by Anonymous

“suddenly, he started to sense fear. tears filled his eyes and that moment, his beloved daughter entered the room. when midas hugged her, she turned into a golden statue”.

Why we love it: Teach kids to be careful what they wish for. Ask them to make a list of wishes, then talk about ways each of them could ultimately go wrong. Have them write their own version of this short story.

“ The Kite That Went to the Moon ” by Evelyn Sharp

“‘i have everything in the world in my bag,’ replied the little old man, ‘for everything is there that everybody wants. i have laughter and tears and happiness and sadness; i can give you riches or poverty, sense or nonsense; here is a way to discover the things that you don’t know, and a way to forget the things that you do know.’”.

Why we love this: This whimsical tale takes two small children on a voyage to the moon and back, as they follow an enchanted kite. Pair it with a crafting session where kids make their own kites to fly.

“ The Monkey and the Turtle ” by José Rizal

“a monkey and a turtle found a banana tree on a river. they fished it out and because each wanted the tree for himself, they cut it in half.”.

Why we love it: A monkey and a turtle each plant half a banana tree, but only the turtle’s grows. The monkey offers to harvest the fruit but keeps it all for himself. But the turtle has plans of his own! This folktale from the Philippines is actually an allegory about the Spanish colonizers’ treatment of the Filipino people.

“ The Tale of Peter Rabbit ” by Beatrix Potter

“‘now, my dears,’ said old mrs. rabbit one morning, ‘you may go into the fields or down the lane, but don’t go into mr. mcgregor’s garden: your father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by mrs. mcgregor.’”.

Why we love it: Beatrix Potter’s sweet tales are beloved, but this is the one that has really endured. Pair it with one of these terrific Peter Rabbit activities.

“ Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ” by Rudyard Kipling

“rikki-tikki did not care to follow them, for he did not feel sure that he could manage two snakes at once. so he trotted off to the gravel path near the house, and sat down to think. it was a serious matter for him.”.

Why we love it: Reading this story is like watching a nature documentary unfold on the page. Have kids do some research on the mongoose and its relationship with cobras in real life.

“ The Story of the Chinese Zodiac ” by Anonymous

“he reached out his paws and pushed his friend the cat into the river. the cat was swept away by the whirling waters. that is why there is no cat in the chinese calendar.”.

Why we love it: This short little tale manages to answer two questions—why there’s no Year of the Cat and why cats and rats can’t be friends. After reading it, try to imagine how the other animals in the calendar managed to win their spots.

“ Weighing the Elephant ” by Anonymous

“‘very well,’ said the emperor, humoring the boy. ‘tell us all how to weigh the elephant.’”.

Why we love it: Read this traditional Chinese tale right up to the point where the young boy reveals his idea for weighing an elephant without a giant scale. Ask kids if they can come up with the solution before continuing to the end of the story. You can even try out the correct method as a STEM challenge.

“ Winnie-the-Pooh Goes Visiting ” by A.A. Milne

“pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when rabbit said, ‘honey or condensed milk with your bread’ he was so excited that he said, ‘both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘but don’t bother about the bread, please.’”.

Why we love it: This silly old bear has been delighting children for decades, and there are dozens of short stories for kids about him and his friends. This one has a little built-in moral about greed. You can also ask kids to brainstorm their own ways to get Pooh free from Rabbit’s front door.

“ Town Musicians of Bremen ” by the Brothers Grimm

“a certain man had a donkey, which had carried the corn-sacks to the mill indefatigably for many a long year; but his strength was going, and he was growing more and more unfit for work.”.

Why we love it: This relatively unknown work by Jacob Grimm teaches kids the value of resilience and getting up when knocked down.

“ The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County ” by Mark Twain

“in compliance with the request of a friend of mine, who wrote me from the east, i called on good-natured, garrulous old simon wheeler, and inquired after my friend’s friend, leonidas w. smiley, as requested to do, and i hereunto append the result.”.

Why we love it: Twain uses an allegory of two frogs to highlight the struggle between the elite and the common. We love short stories for kids that encourage them to be true to oneself, and this one does just that!

“ The Reluctant Dragon ” by Kenneth Grahame

“long ago—might have been hundreds of years ago—in a cottage half-way between this village and yonder shoulder of the downs up there, a shepherd lived with his wife and their little son.”.

Why we love it: This story is a good way to introduce young kids to the concepts of bullying and prejudice. Through the story, kids will learn that they shouldn’t judge things by appearances as the dragon in the story is not what he seems.

“ The Fisherman and His Wife ” by the Brothers Grimm

“once upon a time there were a fisherman and his wife who lived together in a filthy shack near the sea. every day the fisherman went out fishing, and he fished, and he fished. once he was sitting there fishing and looking into the clear water, and he sat, and he sat. then his hook went to the bottom, deep down, and when he pulled it out, he had caught a large flounder.”.

Why we love it: Teaching young people the value of appreciating what you have and not always seeking out more is of the utmost importance. This short story encapsulates that and warns about the pitfalls of greed.

“ The Great Stone Face ” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“one afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the great stone face. they had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its features.”.

Why we love it: This story weaves nature and divinity in a story that centers around a great stone face that encapsulates qualities like wisdom and nobility.

Looking for more short stories for kids? Check out this roundup geared toward the middle school crowd.

Plus, sign up for our free newsletters to get all the latest teaching news and ideas, straight to your inbox, you might also like.

75 Best Short Stories To Teach in Middle School

When attention spans are short, these do the trick! Continue Reading

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Kindergarten Stories and Reading Worksheets

Stories with reading comprehension exercises.

Each reading worksheet in this section has a story followed by questions . Questions for kindergarten students are focused on recalling information directly from the text . Encourage your kids to read carefully and try to answer the questions from memory.

Are We There Yet?     Fiction, 90 words

Missing Boat     Fiction, 70 words

Playing with Friends       Fiction, 38 words

A Birthday Party       Fiction, 41 words

Baseball       Fiction, 38 words

Winter Fun       Fiction, 50 words

Big Feet     Fiction, 70 words

Soccer Game       Fiction, 53 words

Making Pizza       Fiction, 46 words

My Pets       Fiction, 53 words

The Ocean       Fiction, 50 words

My Friends       Fiction, 74 words

Cheeky Chipmunk     Fiction, 90 words

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Teaching Kindergartners to Write Poetic Sentences

Teachers can inspire an interest in poetry by having young learners make observations about the world around them.

You might not be surprised that as a passionate believer in the power of poetry, I believe that children are natural poets. I have seen this time and time again in my work with elementary-aged children in all grades. My most recent work has been in my wife’s kindergarten class, where being poetic is a new experience, but one the students relished. I found that they were able to be poetic in the same way that their love and capacity for narrative leads them to becoming enthusiastic storytellers .

For the past nine years, I have been writing articles for Edutopia about the power of using poetry in the K–8 classroom, covering all aspects of planning and teaching units of reading, writing, and reciting poetry. My work on poetic writing with kindergarten students has recently demonstrated how being poetic takes language beyond the functional and into the emotional and metaphorical. It engages the imagination—which young children have in abundance—and expands their vocabulary. It also gives the young children a new mode of expression, validating their intrinsic urge to find wonder in the world around them.

When my wife, Jill, asked me to work with her class, it was April and our high desert location was awakening into spring. This was an opportunity to take poetry out of the classroom and connect with the natural world. However, this was not the first time the students had been invited to respond poetically.

Use Photographs to Scaffold Language Development 

Jill and I have used the same motivating technique in our classes for many years. It involves showing the class a stimulating photograph of a natural scene or animal. Then we ask the students to simply describe what they see. At the start, the students tend to share short statements with no descriptive words. So, the goal is to introduce one to three adjectives to describe the subject of the photograph. For kindergarten students, Jill uses this technique to develop her students’ oral skills and spoken confidence. In higher-level grades, I’ve used this technique to informally assess the students’ speaking and writing skills by having them record their ideas.

One way to help students understand poetry is for them to think of it as a way to describe in well-chosen words what they experience with their senses and feelings. This is a method of being poetic without even talking about poetry or expecting a poem as the outcome. The picture also acts as a scaffold and prompt for your students, which is especially helpful for those for whom English is not their first language or who have other language barriers. A quick internet search for any given subject will generate a plethora of vivid images that you can use to inspire students.

Take Students Outside to Observe Nature

As the trees were beginning to blossom in our area, I took Jill’s class out to the playground to observe one. I created a basic graphic organizer that had space (and a visual prompt) for the children to write ideas about what they would say, what they felt—both emotionally and physically—and what they heard, including what the tree might say if it could talk. 

I used this nine-step process:

• Gather around the tree, and make sure there are no distractions.
• Have children work in pairs using one whiteboard and graphic organizer but with their own pencils.
• Invite students to just look at the tree and share what they see.
• Introduce the concept of a simile —something is like or has the same quality as something similar.
• Model using a simile: “The tree blossoms look like tiny drops of snow.”
• Focus on one area at a time, such as a blossom, and have the students talk and record what they see. Students can write single words or, for the more confident writers, whole sentences. Spelling is not an issue here; students can use sounding-out strategies.
• Progress to feelings and repeat the above.
• Have students finish with what they can hear the tree saying.
• For scaffolding purposes, I had an aide work with one pair of children. I continually checked in with students, asking them to orally rehearse and explain their ideas to me. 

Guide Students to Develop Their Ideas Further

Every student filled their whiteboard with multiple ideas and returned to class ready to share with their teacher. She had the students work with her in small groups, expanding their initial ideas using adjectives. The students wrote the new sentence on sentence strips, and then Jill typed them up to be used later as a reading exercise. This sentence-writing activity has an engaging extension: Jill had her students read their lines, and all the classmates acted out the imagery using their bodies (which built on the storytelling skills I had been teaching in class every day). The poems were then put on display in time for the kindergarten sign-up open house event. Here are some examples of the writing:

The circle, emotional, pointy flowers were blooming like a lei. 

The tasty, diamondy, moon-looking flowers look like delicious whipped cream.

The wavy, fluffy, beautiful flowers are like my Grandma’s white hair!

The chunky, white, bumpy tree is like a piece of cauliflower.

Being a poet requires anyone just to observe the world around them and think about words to use to share that experience. Kindergartners bring a great deal of enthusiasm, curiosity, and novelty to this process. I always find that students observe something that is familiar in a new and fascinating way. This in turn refreshes my continual love of language and demonstrates how children are intrinsically poets.

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