When the school year starts you often find that you have students at all different stages, especially in Kindergarten, some have just turned 5 and some have been 5 since last September. I have found writing exploration stations can be quite helpful in introducing a variety of skills. They can motivate and get your students ready to write, or perfect those already established writing skills. Getting little ones excited and ready for writing can actually be quite fun. I will show you how to create a dino writing exploration station in your classroom. Let's get your students ready for writing and "rawring" for more!
To create a writing exploration station you first start with a theme, ours is "Let's RAWR into writing!" Start by setting up an area where students are free to explore, make it match your theme and provide opportunities for students to complete activities for various stages of writing. Provide plenty of opportunities to explore and engage, after all the most beneficial learning comes when students think they are playing. I make sure my writing exploration station is equipped with fun Dino Pencils, Dinosaur Skeletons they can touch and feel, colorful crayons and Safari Hats for them to wear.
For this writing exploration station I focused on 5 fun writing activities. For your really young writers who might not have the motor skills developed yet to grasp their pencils correctly they will love the first activity.
Activity 1: Exercise those hand muscles! I mean it stop and give me 10! Most little ones struggle with the muscle coordination needed to properly handle a pencil and form letters correctly. These Dinosaur Fossil Stress Toys are a fun way to work out those hand muscles and strengthen that grip. Before your students begin to write have them complete a few hand exercises to strengthen that grip. These can easily sit on a child's desk and when they are fidgeting or getting antsy have them give it a squeeze. Oriental Trading offers these in many different themes and are reusable throughout the year.
Activity 2: The D is for Dino Craft Kit comes with pre-cut pieces that are ready to assemble, all you need is a glue stick. Students can practice their motor skills by grasping and gluing the pieces into place. This is a great independent activity that most students will be able to complete on their own. With their Dinos I like to have my students brainstorm a class list of "D" words.
Activity 3: Sight word dig, hide some Magnetic Letters beneath some tan sand in a shallow tray. They can use inexpensive wooden paintbrushes to dust away the sand revealing a secret word. Then have students write their word onto a Dinosaur Label.
After they write the word see if they can make any additional words for example, them was the word hidden in the sand. But you could also use the letters to make the words, me, he, the, met, them. This is a great extension activity for your kids who are ready to take it a step further. For kids who aren't ready for that you could also have them practice writing the letters they uncovered.
Activity 4: Teach little hands to follow and create curves and lines by having them trace shapes. These Dinosaur Stencils provide a great opportunity for writing and tracing. For an extension activity students can look their dino up in a resource book and label their dinosaurs with their scientific names. They can also add to the picture by creating a scene of where their dino might have been found.
When their picture is done have them write a sentence to describe what they have drawn. For students who are ready they can sound out their own words or use words from around the room to help them with this task. I like to focus on proper finger spacing, and ending with a period.
Activity 5: Dino stamping and sentence writing. Encourage students to grip the stampers and stamp a few on their paper. They might make a pattern or they might stamp all of one kind. When they are done have them write a sentence using their number or color words. These words can be easily posted so young writers have them easily available.
These activities can be available for young learners to explore. I often have my kids pick at least 2 of the activities to complete. They can also explore through them all throughout the week at their own pace. Exploration stations are a great way to assess where students are as they come to you in the fall. They are also a great way for kids to exert their independence and to work at their ability level without being fearful of not measuring up to their peers.
This is one proud 5 year old who can't wait to show off his writing skills in the classroom this fall. Happy exploring!
