If you teach kindergarten, you know that writer’s workshop at the beginning of the year consists of learning what a story is, learning how to tell a story using pictures, and then beginning to write words. It can be difficult to find mentor texts that focus on these things! That’s why I rounded up this list of my favorite books to begin writer’s workshop in kindergarten.
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Ralph Tells a Story
In this story, Ralph struggles to think of an idea to write about. This book is great for teaching students that the best stories are stories from our lives! Find the book here.
One Day. The End.
This book is a series of short stories, and by “short stories,” I mean that they consist of only a beginning and an end! I use this book when I teach students that great stories have events in the middle. This book is a mentor text in my Writer’s Workshop Unit 1: Speaking and Listening unit. Find the book here.
A Squiggly Story
In this story, the boy wants to write a story like his sister, but he doesn’t know how to write words yet. Instead, he writes using squiggles. This book is perfect for pre-writers and students learning to tell a story using pictures! Find this book here.
Ish
In this book, the boy is so worried about drawing perfect pictures that he stops drawing all together. In the end, he learns that “ish” pictures are perfectly ok! This story is wonderful if you are learning about telling a story using pictures and you have a student who’s a perfectionist. Find this book here.
What Do Authors Do?
This book takes students through the writing process, from coming up with a story idea, to writing, to illustrating, to editing! I would use this later into the beginning of the year, when we begin narrative writing. Find this book here.
Rocket Writes a Story
In this story, Rocket has been collecting words, and he begins putting them together to write a story. This is book is great when you are introducing writing with sentences! Find this book here.
The Best Story
In this story, the girl gets advice from all of her family members about what would make the best story. In the end, she realizes that the best stories are about our own lives. This book would be perfect when you are beginning narrative writing in kindergarten! Find this book here.
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Thank you for sharing…I have been out of K for 5 years and am grateful I came across your site!