The Georgia Early Learning Standards Activity Guides may - gapitc

Foundations for writing
Activities and Strategies
for Development
Write On!
Create a Writing Center in your classroom where children can always go to use
washable markers, fat crayons and pencils, dry erase boards with markers, and
paper of different sizes and shapes.
On some days, add interest with props such as stamps, stickers, colored pencils,
“magic slates,” and black paper and white chalk.
Surround the writing center with different examples of writing such as framed
letters, postcards, calendars, and menus.
Each week you may want to change the theme of the writing center such as
grocery lists for the “store” in the Dramatic Play Center, or “menu orders”
for the pretend restaurant.
Sit at the table with children and show them how you hold the marker or pencil.
Provide children with small pieces of chalk and broken crayons to encourage the
tripod grasp.
Encourage the children to scribble their own words and tell you what they say.
Write the words under the scribbles.
Provide hardback journals from a dollar store to do journal “writing.” This is a
great way to encourage writing and dictation. At the end of the year, children
and parents can see the children’s progress in their stages of writing.
Special Needs Tip
Provide “grippers” for children with fine motor difficulties. Wrap
a piece of clay around a crayon or marker to make a “cushion.”
Mold it to fit a particular child’s hand and make the crayon
easier to grip.
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