In my center rotations, I always have a set up a spot for a writing center. It is so important that your students are writing every single day, from the beginning of the year to the very last day! Having a writing center is the best way to build independent writers. Since they will be doing the majority of the writing here by themselves, they will get lots of practice. Today, I am going to help you set up your writing center!
What to have at your Writing Center daily:
•Sharpened Pencils and extra erasers
•Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
•View of your Word Wall or sight words handy
•Writing Checklist (find this one for free here)
•Picture example of what they will be doing
Ideas for Writing Center Activities:
•Handwriting Practice Pages: Practice tracing, then writing the letter of the day on the front side, then draw or write words that begin with that letter on the back side. (Beginning of the year activity) Find it here.
•Sight Word Sentences: Write a sentence using one of your sight words. Draw a picture. We liked to do this weekly in our writing journals. (Mid-End year)
•Picture Prompts: Using picture cards or seasonal themed picture prompt printout, pick one picture and write a sentence using that word. Then, draw a picture describing your sentence. Beginning writers can practice writing the words and drawing pictures, as shown below. (Great for ALL year) Find it here.
•Sentence Building Activity– Using a pocket chart, have students create sentences using picture cards and sight words. Then, they will write their sentence(s) down on a writing paper and draw a picture. You can read more about how I use Sentence Building activities here. (Great for ALL year) Find it here.
•Letter Writing– Using writing paper and envelopes, students will write about either a specific topic or tell about an event, ie: their day, their pet, what they did over the weekend, etc and “mail” the letter. (End of year activity)
If you want to try picture prompts out for FREE, you can grab this Fall themed page (part of the Seasonal/Holidays Picture Prompt resource) here.
You can find even more Writing Center Ideas here!
I hope this post helped you set up and plan activities for your writing center! What do you think you will try out in your writing center? Let me know!
P.S. If you are looking for more ideas on center management and rotations, check out this post here: Classroom Management: Centers