Writers Workshop

So, I've put a challenge ahead of my Kinders- I want you to be readers and writers by the end of the year- pretty tough for a 5 or 6 something student!  BUT, my Kinders love a good challenge, and they have risen to the occasion.  Here's how they do it.

They each have their own composition books.  (I got them from Staples during summer for a PENNY each!)  I love, love, love Staples penny deals- it feels like winning the lottery!

Each morning, I write a prompt/question on the board.  Such as: {{What is your favorite color?  What is your favorite animal?  What is your favorite cereal?}} at the beginning of the year... and {{Do you like fiction or non-fiction better?  When we learned about Black History month, which person was your favorite?}} towards the end of Kindergarten.

They get out their journal and see this:

... that is their journal bookmark- telling them it's Ready to Write.  The bookmark has writing strategies they can use as they write.  When they are finished, their journal looks like this:

They put their journal bookmark back in with Ready to Read sticking out the top.  Once I read it... you guessed it... I put it back with the Ready to Write sticking out of the top.

I can't tell you how pleased I have been with their writing quality!  I remind them to look back in their journal for how to spell certain words they use alot... "because" "favorite" and other words like that.  They also use the word wall for Kindergarten sightwords.

I (or my cadet teacher) read through them everyday.  Is it time consuming- YES.. Is it worth it- DOUBLE YES!  It has been such a blessing to see these kids sprout into writers who LOVE to write- they are excited to see what the next question of the day is, and they have a fun time reading what I write back to them.  Most of the time it's just corrections of their spelling, but every once in a while, I'll throw in a little comment or two and they love it :)

Here's what my bookmarks look like:

They are for sale in my TPT and TN stores, but for my faithful readers, I will e-mail them to you for free- all you have to do is comment below that you want them, and I'll e-mail them to you!  easy peasy, lemon squeezy :)

So, I want to know- (it's another 2 part question)

How do you teach writing in your classroom?
AND
What did the Easter bunny leave for you on Easter???

me?  I got chocolate- duh! (and YUM!)

oh- and have you entered Teri's giveaway at A Cupcake for the Teacher?  She has reached 1000 followers in just about 4 months of blogging!  Way to go Teri!!