Welcome back to Preschool and Kindergarten Writing Lessons, a 10 week writing series between The Measured Mom and me. If you are just joining us, feel free to visit the post that includes all the links to our series so far.
Today, I’d like to talk a little about teaching kids how to write a sentence (or sentences). For young children who are not ready to write or do not know their letters/letter sounds, I recommend using dictation. As children grow in their literacy knowledge, there comes a point in which you can share the pen with them, writing a message or sentences together. Both dictation and sharing the pen are GREAT opportunities to model how to write sentences.
As children continue to progress as writers, they may want to be a little more independent in their writing time. But they may still need support in writing. This is where “magic lines” come into play!
Teaching Kids how to Write a Sentence with “Magic Lines”
Just recently, NJoy had an authentic reason to write: his sister’s birthday. He asked if I would help him write a card that he could give to her (talk about melting my heart). I asked him to draw a picture for her on the card first. Many times, kids can use their own drawings as a springboard for writing. But he insisted that he wanted to write first, so we did. (Tip: Be flexible!)
- I asked him what message he wanted to tell his sister. He said, “Happy Birthday to you, M____ (her name)!”
- I repeated the sentence aloud and then said, “We’re doing to draw some ‘magic lines’, one line for every word you want to say. That way you’ll know where to write your words.”
- We said the sentence together one more time slowly and counted each word as we said it. (Note that the concept of spoken word may be difficult for some children. For example, a word like yesterday, may be counted as two words yester-day.)
- After we counted each word, I drew a line representing where each word should go. We had a great discussion about some words sounding longer than others, (based on syllables and/or the number of sounds in the words) so the length of my lines represented the length of the words. Talk about developing an ear for print!
- He wrote his message, using the pre-drawn lines. (I helped him sound his way through “Happy” and “Birthday”. I held him accountable for the words to and you because those have been sight words we have studied before.)
- Then he drew his birthday picture as only NJoy can, including his bird friends.
- He set the card beside her bed, ready for her birthday to come the next day (what a sweet big brother!)
For More Writing Ideas for Kids, Visit:
- Preschool & Kindergarten Writing Lessons
- Roll-a-Sentence: Write a Complete Sentence {with free printable}
- Roll-a-Silly Sentence: Write a Complete Sentence {with free printable}
- Simple Writing Lessons: a 12-week writing series for 1st and 2nd graders
Follow This Reading Mama’s board Writing Ideas for Kids on Pinterest.
Love this! How sweet! The magic lines is a great idea for something I can work on with my son, too 🙂
I’m so glad you can work on it with your son. I also like the fact that it helped my son control how large he wrote his letters as all the letters needed to fit within those lined spaces.
I just thought you might like to know that your daughter’s name is still visible in the picture.
I absolutely love this! Some of my students really have a challenge with writing sentences and I can’t wait to try this very soon. Thank you for this wonderful idea.
I love the article. Magic line is the best way for teaching kids to write a sentence. Thank you for sharing the informative post.
🙂
I love the idea of magic lines to help him know where to write and get a feel for the length of the word too. I also love the importance of the project showing him even more how important writing is that he can give it as a gift. Lovely!