In Kindergarten, we use the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) curriculum. HWT focuses on developing the fine motor skills that students need to write by hand. Through intentional scaffolding, songs, movement, and daily practices, students start building good handwriting habits early. We try to foster a positive learning environment that encourages the practice of writing. Please check this tab to learn about what stage we are currently at in this dynamic subject.

On Monday, We had the upcoming kindergarteners visit with us all afternoon. We ate lunch together outside, played recess, read some big books in the grass, and finally came inside to do some writing. First, we listened to some books that the Black Bats have written over the course of this year. Our friends were amazed that we could publish a book. Then - We did it - we all wrote a book together. We decided to title it, The Stories of Legends.

As we wrap up the year, we are trying to encourage the Black Bats to write throughout the summer. Can we create labels for things in our room like we do at school? Can we continue telling stories like we do in our green Writer's Workshop journals? How can we continue practice our handwriting? We have seen great progression in our story telling and handwriting and can't wait to continue our skills into the summer!

We came dangerously close to finishing our orange handwriting books this week. The only pages we have left are to practice our numerals 1-10. In order to learn best practices, we pulled out the chalkboards for our coveted and much missed routine of "wet, dry, try."

This week was a little crazy as we are preparing for student-led parent teacher conferences, but this didn't stop us from getting in our daily dose of Writer's Workshop! Whether it was during exploration, or when we were done earlier than our friends at something, we always seemed to use "in-between" times to write in our green journals! Our young writers are so enthusiastic about writing down the stories that play in their heads.

During the end of the week, we were also able to squeeze in some time working in our orange Handwriting Without Tears books. We started the last section of our journals - learning how to write our numbers!

The Black Bats are nearing the end of our orange handwriting books. Alas, the school year is also about to end. We only have numbers to formally teach (although they of course have been writing numbers!) As you may recall, we began our year printing and modeling in all uppercase letters for the ease of these emergent writers to grab a hold of writing and feel confident and not overwhelmed. Since about Spring Break, we have morphed into trying our best to incorporate lowercase letters into our writing. When writing with your child, please try to align with these guidelines.

Sometimes as a writer you get stumped. You ask yourself questions such as, "should I write a nonfiction story about my life, or draft a tale of some far out fantasy filled with too-good-to-be-true details?" Your mind sometimes grows muddled with too many thoughts that cannot organize themselves into a sequence to make a story. Other problems show themselves in a complete white-out of the brain, and you fade out of focus while listening to your neighbor, who is furiously writing and humming-which only distracts you further. Lastly, the barren blankness and blinding white of your paper is too much for you, and you about give up to go the bathroom to kill some time, when you realize, your kind teacher who loves you so dearly put a single sticker on your page. A prompt, a visual aid. AN IDEA!

This week the Black Bats wrote about camels, seals, bunnies, pygmy owls and much more. Just a little sticker can go a long way......