Introducing . . . the Wee Ready Writers!

Happy Thursday folks!

Is anyone else out there besides me so sad that July is more than halfway over? This summer is going by WAY. TOO. FAST. As it always does, I suppose.  Here's a glimpse at what we have been up to with the little man the past few weeks . . .

We had a great 4th of July - even Jack was feeling patriotic! :)

Last weekend we were off to Lake Arrowhead with friends.  This trip has become an annual tradition and started when we were all newlyweds who decided to go camping.  Now it involves a two year old and three almost one year olds, as well as truckloads of diapers, bottles, and baby toys . . .and it is still so much fun!

Here is a group shot of all the little guys on the trip.

We also took Jack to the beach a few weeks back.  Needless to say, he was not impressed with the icky sand, nor the cold, salty water.  Blech.

Lots of memories at this beach - it was where we were married three years ago!

And finally, when we are not out and about we have been spending MOST of our time at home playing a new game called Let's-Take-Everything-Out-Of-Every-Drawer-And-Basket-And-Cupboard-And-Put-It-All-Over-The-Floor.  Its very fun . . . at least for one of us, that is.

The thing that I am REALLY excited to share with you folks tonight is my brand spanking new Wee Ready Writers - Writer's Workshop Kit.  Check it out! (Click preview image for larger view.)

This project all started when I saw Mrs. Phippen's "Writer's Eyes" bulletin board on Pinterest and I KNEW I had to use it in my classroom next year.  I have been wanting to beef up my Writer's Workshop and was looking for inspiration.  I loved the idea of encouraging students to use their "Writer's Eyes" not only to look at their own writing, but to analyze writing in the world all around them.  For my kindergarteners, I was hoping to find some sort of visual aides that would assist them in mastering the essential writing elements - but I could not find anything that worked!

Soooo  . . . the Wee Writers were born!  These nine characters not only have "Writer's Eyes", but they each remind students of ONE of the important elements of writing. 

For example: Movin Marvin is the Wee Writer that reminds us that all good writers write from left to right.  Tracy Spacey reminds students that words must stand alone with spaces to seperate them.  In addition to having a poster for each Wee Writer character, each one also has a catchy poem and an example poster of what their writing element looks like for students. 

In my kindergarten Writer's Workshop in the first few weeks of school I will begin with the Wee Writer Indy Illustrator and first teach my students about how to add details in their illustrations, work quietly in their writing journals until "the ding dong dings", and then move on to labeling illustrations, then writing sentences, etc. over the course of the year. These Wee Writer characters help to break down the natural progression of writing that develops in kindergarten and that is so unique to this grade level.

For more advanced writers, in a first grade class, for example, these characters could be reviewed the first few weeks of the school year and then used altogether as students work on proofreading, writing "juicy sentences", and refining their writing with their "Writer's Eyes" using a checklist of these adorable characters! 

I hope you all head over to my TPT store HERE and check out this great kit of resources. What a fun way to get your kiddos excited about writing next year! 

Well, that's it for now!  I am off to bed to dream about all those perfectly constructed sentences my kidlets will be writing next year! :)

Night folks! Signing off for now.

Lindsay