Back to school time in any grade is exciting, but I think this is especially true for kindergarten. Kindergarteners are brand new to the world of elementary school and usually pretty excited to jump in! During those first weeks (or months) of school, teachers typically spend much of their time working on procedures, basic skills, and fundamentals. These are important skills that will be built upon all year. When it comes to teaching writing, there is one kindergarten writing lesson that's always at the top of my list!
I love writer's workshop activities and the very first one I feature in my classroom is always 3-Star Coloring. This fun kindergarten writing lesson teaches children how to color through simple activities and a fun reminder rubric. Every year, without fail, my students LOVE this activity! And, it really sets the tone for a fun year in kindergarten. Come along as we discuss why you might want to make this kindergarten writing lesson part of your back-to-school ritual as well!
First Off, Why Is Teaching Coloring Important?
While it may seem silly to some, most primary teachers know that learning to color is one of the first steps in learning to write. Many students entering kindergarten may have never been to school, so when asked to color a worksheet their initial reaction may be to “scribble” all over the paper making it hard to see what's on the paper.
Learning to control the crayon and where it goes is an important fine motor skill our students need. The ability to control those small wrist and finger muscles plays a huge part in learning to write.
By teaching students that pictures hold meaning and provide context we teach students how they can begin to decipher stories or other visual cues in their environment. This is a key component in learning how to read and write as well as getting children excited about why they might want to!
After all, if students are able to learn more about their environment and gain an understanding of the world around them, the opportunity is endless. This is why we teach kiddos to draw detailed, meaningful pictures with colors that “make sense”. Coloring pictures using their best and most careful work also helps to improve fine motor strength, which benefits those writing skills.
Introduce The Writing Lesson
Now that you know all about why you should include this lesson in your back-to-school plans, let's talk about how to use this activity in your classroom.
As with anything in kindergarten, you will want to spend some time going over this lesson in-depth and providing examples for kiddos before you have them jump in. The great thing about kindergarteners is that they really do love learning, so it doesn't take much to catch their interest!
Start out by introducing the topic and talking to your kiddos about why they might want to use their very best coloring in their work. I usually like to ask a few students to volunteer their thoughts and then add in my own reasoning and explain how pictures can tell a story. Children LOVE learning this and usually get very excited after this point since it's so relatable to their world.
To keep their interest, I like to draw a few pictures on an anchor chart. Don't worry, basic stick figures and shapes are a-ok for this! As I draw, I will ask students to guess what they think is happening in my picture. As I add more detail, students will typically provide more information. This really helps drive home the point that adding details, coloring carefully, and using colors that make sense in real life helps others understand what we are drawing.
Discuss The Writing Rubric
After our little intro, I always introduce my students to the 3-star coloring rubric. This is a guideline that helps students remember what they should be considering anytime they are coloring. The rubric asks students to:
- Stay In The Lines
- Cover All The White Space
- Use Colors That Make Sense
This simple rubric is a great way for students to check their work while coloring and after they are finished. They can self-evaluate to see if they passed the 3-star coloring test.
As we go over the rubric, I also hand out bookmark-size rubrics for each student to keep in their writing folders. During the first few months of the year, students use these often to check their work!
Put Your Kindergarten Writing Lesson To Practice
Once your students have gained an understanding of this lesson, it's time to start practicing! First off, I provide my kiddos with some coloring pages of trees, rainbows, flowers, and a school bus. These simple pictures are the perfect thing to test out their new skill.
Each practice page also comes complete with the coloring rubric so that students can color a star for each step on their checklist. These are great to use as a small group activity after you introduce this topic.
I like to check in with my students as they color by asking questions to see if they remember each of the 3 things they need to check.
Once your students have this mastered, try using these as morning work, centers, or fast-finisher activities.
Extra practice always helps- especially in kindergarten!
Level Up Your Kindergarten Writing Lesson
After your students get plenty of practice with coloring, you can take this writer's workshop lesson up a notch. Now, you can allow your students to create their own pictures that fall in line with the 3-star coloring guidelines.
For this, I provide my students with a blank journal page that also includes the coloring rubric. It's a great idea to use these blank pages during your writer's workshop block for a few weeks. I like to provide my students with a simple prompt each day to get them started. Some fun prompts for back-to-school time might include:
- My favorite day of summer break was when. . .
- My favorite thing in my classroom is. . .
- Three of my new friends are. . .
- My favorite thing on the playground is. . .
As the children work, I like to circulate and ask questions about their pictures. I might also say things like, “Oh wow, I can tell you're drawing the ocean because you are using blue for the water and tan for the sand”. This helps remind my kiddos that we work hard to color our pictures carefully because it helps others understand what we are writing about!
This activity never fails to get my students excited about illustrating their prompts and coloring carefully using their 3-star coloring rubric. It also sets up my work expectations for the rest of the year!
Get Writing With Your Students!
Excited to try this lesson out with your kiddos?! I hope so! This is by far, one of my most favorite activities to start the year out with. My students always love this writing lesson and it really does help set the tone and expectations for the year.
You can easily facilitate this activity on your own in your classroom. All of the pages and rubric resources mentioned in this post can be found here in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Take a peek if you would like to use the full writer's workshop lesson with your kindergarteners!
Save This Post For Later
Don't forget to Pin this post to your favorite classroom Pinterest board for when you start planning your kindergarten writing lessons!
