Question for first grade teachers about writing

[Anonymous]

My DS is going to be in first grade this fall. The one area of concern his K teacher had about him was his inconsistent writing. His handwriting is mostly legible but he just didn't like to write and did as little of it as possible last year. They had to write in a journal a few days per week and some days he would write nothing and draw a quick picture. Other days, he could get a sentence down. He suggested having him write in a journal this summer which he does a few days per week. How much writing is done in first grade? Is it mostly journal writing? How many sentences do you expect them to be able to write independently? His spelling is pretty good. He reads on a fifth grade level so he recognizes when he spells a word incorrectly and tries to figure out the correct way. He knows how to spell most sight words too. What other writing activities could I give him this summer? He is not a fan of writing in a journal even if he can write whatever he wants. Most days he asks for a writing prompt to get him started.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a teacher, but my child just finished first grade.

I was a bit shocked that so many words were spelled wrong by my child throughout first grade. When I asked the teacher in the spring, she said spelling isn't taught at all in first grade (FCPS) b/c kids this age are very perfectionistic and if you encourage them to spell words correctly, they will limit themselves and won't produce nearly as creative or interesting bits of writing. Supposedly, spelling is approached in second grade. As for what types of writing they do... well, they did a lot of poems -- shorter and longer -- based on styles that the teacher explained ahead of time. They "published" two books (really hard-bound books) that contained poetry and other writings. The teacher brought them through the process of having an idea, writing something (short), then reviewing it to see where they could expand, going back to edit and improve, etc. They wrote stories on subjects that they felt they were an expert in (my child chose squirels), then they wrote something short about the subject each day, but not a lot at one time.

This summer, we were given a calendar for July and August with different writing ideas for each day. They are short == "what is your favorite part of summer?" "what 5 things would you pack to go on a trip?" or "what would you say if you were a flower and someone tried to pick you." You can probably find starter ideas for writing on line.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I teach. My suggestions include:

*Have a collection of stickers, small objects, magazine cutouts. Child selects an abject (or a couple) at 1 time, and writes about it, or simply spells the name of the object in their journal.

*Emphasize "inventive spelling" as opposed to "Correct spelling." (I.E. Do not correct too much.)

*Dictation (Child dictates to you what to write in the journal) is a good option to show the child that they can be a good story-teller. It is important to not let the child lose sight of the "joy of writing" and creativity, because they are too caught up with the details (mechanics, spelling, grammar- And most importantly, afraid of making mistakes.) Children can illustrate the story they dictated to you.

-Writing "letters" to friends."

*Descriptive writing projects. My favorite. Go on a rock hunt. After selecting a rock, think of adjectives to describe the rock in it's natural form (gray, smooth, bumpy, dirty, large, etc.) Decorate the rock to make a "pet person." Use google eyes, glitter pens, yarn, etc. Come up with new adjectives now (funny, silly, fancy, sparkly, etc.)