I wanted to take time to share with you…one of my favorite activities I’ve made for my classroom! What activity am I talking about??? WRITING STRIPS! My little ones LOVE using writing strips back at the guided reading table! They beg to work on them each time they come to the table…and because of this, I’ve had to keep making new sets to keep up with them!
If you are not familiar with my writing strips they are the easiest way to differentiate your kiddos at guided reading! I give each student a writing strip, a dry erase board/marker, and they are set! Once they’ve completed their strip they will rotate with a partner at the table. Also, several of my readers use the writings strips for a literacy center choice!
Like I mentioned above I have had to keep making new sets of writing strips to keep up with my kiddos! I started with one set of K strips and I now have two sets of k strips and one set of firstie strips! Let’s take a closer look at writing strips…through action shots!
Here is a look at CVC strips! The student is using the independent writing strip!
Up next…. let’s look at some work with blends! This packet covers r and l blends! Again, there are differentiated versions! Choose the version best for your kiddos are they are off! Anytime I introduce new strips we do work awhile on getting comfortable with what each picture is. However, after they understand the picture they are writing away! This set has three different versions; picture only, missing blend, and guided word version.
Can’t leave out digraphs! This packet covers; th, wh, ph, sh, and ch. It also covers beginning and ending digraphs. There are three versions in this packet as well. It includes; picture only, missing digraph, and guided word. I was worried how the kiddos would do with the couple of wh and ph pictures…but it only took a couple of reminders and they had it! 🙂
I’ve discovered that writing strips are the perfect place to present tricky concepts to the kiddos. They are able to slowly ease into the skill with the variety of strips! I had fun seeing my kiddos work hard on the vowel teams using these strips! I think these strips are such a great way for kids to learn spelling patterns and learn on their own the proper way to spell words! I know some have strong opinions on whether teachers should or shouldn’t only be teaching kids to spell phonetically….so with these kids will learn & memorize words without the assistance of their teacher 🙂 This packet actually includes two versions of the writing strips. The first set covers {ai, ea, oa, ue}. The second set covers {ay, ee, ie, oe}. These are for sure a challenge…my kiddos have worked on the guided word version and they are so so proud of themselves! 🙂
These past few months I also brought in a new challenge by giving the kiddos MIXED strips…strips where they have to decide if the words states a short or long sound! They then write the word accordingly. I like to pull these out once students have masted CVC and CVCE words. They always think they are big stuff when they get these!
I also like to offer the students a way to self-check their work…I will a lot of times give students the independent and guided strips. They will place the guided strips {or answers} on the bottom and the independent strip on the top!
How do I store all of my fabulous strips? I have each set printed, laminated, and rubber-banded! I then stash them in my guided reading caddy! They fit great and are easy to access! 🙂 If my kiddos have mastered a set then I will then place it in my writing strips basket!
If you are interested in trying these bad boys in your classroom you can visit the links below! I have tried to offer a variety of options so you can best fit your kiddos’ needs!
Kindergarten Set One
If you are interested in my second set of kindergarten writing strips you can view those below!
Or….if you think these are the best thing since sliced cheese {I personally think they are}…you can grab both kindergarten sets bundled for an extra savings!
If you are firstie teacher I have those bundled too OR I also have a lost of k teachers snagging this big bundle too….
You can also download these freebie letter name/sound writing strips!
Have a great start to your week!
Excellent idea! Love this! I can see why your students are anxious to write everyday! You have turned it into a very fun activity!
WOW! This is great! I work with pre-primary/K students in a regional area and you forget how limited they can be at the beginning of the year. I think this would be a GREAT activity to do with them!
Fishing for Education Blog
These are great! I just put a bunch on my TPT wish list! Thanks for outlining how you use them with your kiddos.
These are awesome! I am so excited to get them…however, I was wondering if you had both bundles bundled together? I would be more than happy to get that! It is alot easier to get them all bundled! I know this would help my kiddos, especially the ones who are struggling with sounding out and writing words independently!
My Kinders LOVE these writing strips, too!
Always Kindergarten