Show, Don’t Tell
You probably won’t get great results if you tell a group of kindergartners to go to their desks and write about a memory. Instead of telling them what to do, you’ll have to show them each step.  Each time you teach them a technique or strategy, show them how to use it. Walk them through the entire process and encourage participation. You’ll need a big standing easel and chart paper so they can all see your work.

Choosing a Shared Experience
If you’re working on memoirs (writing about things that have happened in their lives) and you model “My Vacation in Florida”, you might loose them at airplane.  Instead, choose events that you do together. Of course you can write about big events like field trips, assemblies and field day. But you can also write about smaller events that happen everyday like reading games, science projects and library visits.

Model Your Thinking
Maybe you collected rocks as a science activity and you chose to model writing about that experience. First, think out loud: “OK, I think I’ll write about finding my rock yesterday. That was fun. What do I need to do first?” Kids will help you think it through: “Put your name on your paper!” Think out loud through the entire process. “I remember when I found my rock. I was over by the slide. I’m going to write about that. My first sentence will be, ‘I ran out the door’. I know how to write ‘I’. Next I’ll write ‘ran’.”

Reinforce Strategies
Choose a couple of strategies to reinforce during the modeling. If you have a word wall, for example, use it. If the students have alphabet charts on their desks, you should have one handy also. You might say, “Let’s see… ‘ran’. I’m going to look on my alphabet chart for the rrrrr sound. Here it is; just like ‘rocket’. R!”

Complete the Process
If your writing project will take more than one day, it might be tempting to tell the students, “OK, today you’ll finish your story from yesterday. Go ahead and get to work.” You’ll probably need to show them how to do this. Take out your model. Re-read it. Notice and correct a mistake. Think out loud about how to pick up where you left off. In other words, show them each step through completion.