Do you have students that forget to capitalize the beginning of their sentences? Leave off punctuation? Have no spaces between words? You’re not alone.
It can be a fun challenge to teach young writers in kindergarten and first grade.
As a kindergarten teacher, I have made writing chants and checklists to help beginning writers remember things like planning their writing and leaving spaces.
I wanted to make something that could also work for a first grade classroom.
On this free writing paper with a basic editing checklist built in – your students can self or peer edit more easily.
Here’s how I recommend using it in your primary classroom.
First, students draw a very detailed picture. This is the meat of their work at the beginning of the year and eventually it will translate more detailed writing.
Encourage using a pencil first to get fine details (since drawing with crayon just doesn’t cut it).
Then, let them color their work.
Underneath the boxed area students write their sentences and attempt to self edit by reviewing the editing boxes next to the checkered flag.
They should be thinking something like, “Before I can cross this finish line what else [do I need to] [can I] do?”
Then have a classmate check off the circles matching the editing boxes that the student has completed correctly (or included) on their paper.
Each editing box (words, spaces, capital, punctuation) gives a picture example or cue.
Students should fix anything that didn’t get a check mark.
I think you’ll like the improvement you and your kids will see when you start using this paper. It’s hard for young students to self-edit but this can help them become more self-aware since they will want to earn each check.
Download Writing Paper with Editing Checklist
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Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.