Rescue Writing considers it an honor to support teachers in their classrooms and parents of homeschoolers. When we started, we thought it would best be suited for third, fourth and fifth graders, since that was when students began to express themselves individually, or so we thought. As it turns out, even kindergarten students want to create their own books!
We invited Rachel Treiser, a kindergarten teacher in Florida to share her impressive storytelling process with all of us. Aside from being a great teacher, you can see she and the kids had a great time creating their book. We are dividing up her process into FOUR parts during four consecutive weeks, so you can do this with your classroom also.
Writing Stories with My Title I Kindergarten Class
By Rachel Treiser
Part Two – BRAINSTORMING FOR THE STORYTELLING PROJECT
Before the students began their part of the book, we brainstormed a list of favorite animals. (More than one student could work on the same animal.) We had class discussions about what animals do, eat, where they live, etc.
Students talked with each other about their favorite animal and why they chose this particular one. As the discussions continued, I asked the students to start thinking about a story involving their animal; I said that the stories could be fiction or non-fiction. The students really loved telling each other their stories, and it made creativity more fun and appealing to all of them. The process of storytelling came easily to my students, even my ESOL students. Because they were just talking, they felt comfortable expressing their ideas. This is a great way to get students engaged and enthusiastic about learning.
TAKE AWAY: Writing is often a collaborative effort – and makes it fun in a classroom with children. Ideas can grow and thrive, and sharing imagination is a wonderful bonding experience for the kids.