Do you wish your students were able to write independently? They can! All they need is a little help getting there. The best independent writing activity for Kindergarten that I've used are picture prompts! Picture prompts can help students become more confident in writing independently by giving them a picture to write about. I started using these picture prompts during my whole group lesson and writing center to help my students start to write sentences independently.
How to Use Picture Prompts
First, students would pick a picture from the picture prompts. This is the topic that their sentence is about. Next, they would think of a sentence using that word and say it out loud to make sure it makes sense. Then, they would write their sentence down, underlining the word they used. Last, they draw a picture to match their sentence.
Do you see how much this student was able to complete on their own? All I gave them was ONE word and they were able to write a sentence independently. YES!
To keep it fresh, I just switched out picture prompts based on the season or holiday. Now I had holiday writing I could send home or display on the bulletin board! You can find these Holiday and Seasonal Picture Prompts and Writing Pages here.
Ideas for Differentiating
Some students may be ready to write a whole paragraph about a certain topic, while others may need a little more assistance. One way is just to focus on drawing a picture and writing the word. Drawing a picture to match the writing is an important skill when learning how to write. This is a great option if you have any English Language Learners to help them learn new vocabulary and practice writing words without the overwhelm of trying to write a sentence.
Another way you can help aide your students is to have a sentence starter, like “I have a ___.” or “We go to the ___.” After your students trace or copy the sentence starter and read it, they will pick a picture that goes with the sentence. Once they are able to come up with sentences on their own, you will no longer have to use sentence starters. For more independent writing ideas, make sure to check out this YouTube video here: 3 Simple Beginning Independent Writing Activities to Try.
Learning how to write independently in Kindergarten is a huge accomplishment! It doesn't happen overnight, but with the right modeling and activities, your students can succeed! Let me know if you try out this independent writing activity with your Kindergarten students. I hope this writing series was helpful as you build your independent writers!
