Writing at School and Home

Writing is an important part of our daily lives so share the times when you write with students! Here are some ideas for encouraging students to write at school and at home.

• Post-it notes: Students are social. We all are. Sometimes at school a student will need to share an important moment with a friend. I have put post-it note pads at each group. The student can jot down a reminder of what they wanted to tell their friend for when they have free time during lunch or at recess. In the same way, post-it notes are a great thing to use at home to pass notes between you and your child. You can have a note center on the refrigerator where you keep all the notes, or you may choose to use sticky notes to write encouraging words to your children to put in their lunch boxes or on their pillows.
• Grocery-store lists: Ask children to help write the list of items needed at the grocery store before you head out the next time.
• A golden-line: A golden-line is a line out of a work of literature that the child especially likes the sound of. They can make a note of this line inside their writing folder as a reminder for the next time they are writing.
• Letters or e-mails: Pen pals are now going electronic. Children love to get letters from their loved ones. Maybe a family member or friend can be a pen pal for the student.