Writer's Workshop

We have writer's workshop on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:05-9:35


       In our writers workshop the children are drawing pictures of true events that already happened. They need to draw themselves in the picture, and if they are able to we will have them label things in the picture for example: "Me, Mom, Dad, car, school, etc." We are also trying to draw more details so the person looking at the picture can tell whether or not the picture is inside or outside, adding trees, clouds, a sun, grass etc. If the picture is inside they can draw windows, a rug, couch, chairs, table, etc.

I encourage each child to try and spell the words first by themselves. They will do this by sounding out the word and writing down all of the sounds that they hear in that word. It is ok if they do not get all of the sounds/letters in the word. We are encouraging the children to use "inventive spelling" which means we do not spell out words for the children we just help them sound out the word and whatever letters they think make that sound they then write down on the paper.  For example, if the child was asking for help in spelling the word "said" I would say "sss" "eh" "duh"  and in most cases the child would write "sed" which is great. They are writing down all of the sounds they heard. Since you can not hear the "A" and "I" sound in said, we don't expect them to write it. Another common word that they ask for help with is "play" which they often spell "PLA" that is fine. We don't worry about silent e or any other letters in words that you can not clearly hear when you say them. The only words that we will expect the children to write correctly are the "word wall words."



Helping your child sound out words:

  • I try not to focus on whether their spelling is correct or not, as long as they are sounding out the word and writing the letters that match those sounds.
  • If your child is having trouble sounding out a word it is helpful for the child to focus on the first sound they hear in the word and think of which letter makes that sound, then continue with the next sounds in the word. I tell the children to say the word really slowly and this will help them hear the different sounds.
  • It can be helpful to "tap out" the word as well. First using your thumb and pointy finger, touch those two fingers together while saying the first sound in the word. Then for the second sound touch the thumb and middle finger together and keep going using the ring finger and thumb and finally the pinky finger and thumb (if the word has that many sounds.)
 
Last Modified: Tuesday, Nov. 08, 2011
 
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