Kindergarten Writing Makes Me Smile

We have been working on writing in response to books we have read.  This week we learned about different types of communication, and on Friday, we focused on writing.  More specifically, we focused on letters.  Our writing center has had stationary and envelopes all week to write letters, but I wanted to do something that would really get the kids excited about letter writing.  On Fridays, we are able to choose our own read aloud, so I chose The Jolly Postman.

My kiddos LOVED this book!  It was fun to see their excitement in recognizing the nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  My favorite was one student saying "Are there 2 big bad wolves?  There was one in the 3 Little Pigs and on in Little Red Riding Hood.  Is it the same wolf?"  Good question!

During writing time, students were then given the task to write about a letter that the postman brought to someone they know. A student then called out, "Don't forget the details Miss Hennon!"  I asked her what we could use for details in our sentence and she said, "Well, you should probably write who the letter is from too."  Such a smart cookie!

"The postman gave my dad a "lebote" (envelope). "
This one made me smile because he was determined to use our vocabulary word, envelope, that we had discussed early in the week.  

"The post girl gave me a letter. It was from my sister."

I'm sorry these next two are turned sideways.  They are upright in iPhoto.  No cooperation from Blogger here! :) 

"My friend gave me a note.  The post girl gave my mom mail.  The post boy gave my dad mail."  She is working through different vowel sounds.  She knows that /ee/ makes a long e sound, so she is associating that with all vowels (like in "noot" = "note").  

"The postman gave my mom a letter.  It had a picture and a flower in it. "  Earlier this week, we read Dear Juno and in the story, Juno got a picture and a flower in the mail from his grandmother. 

I'm proud of all their hard work and the progress they have made in writing!

I'm curious to know what you use for writing paper.  This year, I have been using monthly journals (notice we still have room in our January journals that we are trying to fill in before going on) with just a single line for students to write on.  I have used commerically available journals in the past from Lakeshore, plain paper, lined paper and folded paper books.  I'm debating where to go next with the type of paper my students write on.  What do you use in your classroom?