Best Books for Informational Writing in Kindergarten

What is Informational Writing?

I love teaching informational writing during our 3rd quarter.  Students have spent the majority of the year learning the basics of writing - how to put letters together to represent the sounds they are hearing, how to start with a capital and end with a period, how to use spaces between words...etc.

We spend so much of our first semester writing about ourselves.  We write tons of personal narratives and pattern books about things we eat, play, and like.  Informational writing is a good change of pace from all of the "about me" writing and the kids absolutely love it!

We focus on two types of informational writing in my kindergarten classroom - how-to writing and all about writing.

How-To Writing

How-To writing is when students are teaching their reader how to do something.  They are writing about how to brush their teeth, how to wash their hands, how to get dressed, or how to make a PB&J.  The students are telling you (using pictures and words) the steps needed to complete an activity.  I love this type of writing because the students become the teachers and really show you what they know.

All About Writing

All About Writing is non-fiction writing about a specific topic (usually animals in our classroom).  Students are writing as if they are the author of an informational book and telling you facts about a topic they know a lot about. They will tell you what animals can do, what they have, what they are, where they live, and what they eat.  Their pictures and words teach you information about a topic.  I love this type of writing because it is awesome to see what students are experts on - I had one student who knew all about electric eels!  I never would have known this about him if we hadn't done this writing unit.

Mentor Books for Informational Writing:

How-To Books:

How to Get a Girlfriend is one of our all time favorites.  This book is written by elementary students and has been published.  The kids think it is a hilarious book and really are inspired by seeing other students work published.

Tomatoes to Ketchup is another great story to teach procedural writing.  It allows students to see the steps involved in a process.

Bruno the Tailor is a great book to use when introducing transition words to your students.

How to Make Slime is a great how to book that will explain supplies needed and how to make slime following specific steps.  The kids love to follow these steps and see a how-to book work in real life!

How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth is a hilarious book that is enjoyed by all.  We talk about how it is important to write about something we have actually done after we finish reading this book.

All About Books:

Frogs is a great book to start off with.  I love all National Geographic books because they contain a lot of information that students can absorb and then write in their own words.

Snakes is another one from National Geographic.

Butterflies is another awesome book.  I love these because they include fabulous text features that students can recreate in their all about books.

Brown Bears has great information in it as well!

What are your favorite books to use when teaching informational writing?

100th Day of School Printable - FREE

Our 100th day of school is coming up.  I love celebrating this day with my students.  It is a huge milestone to reach.

One of our math goals is to count to 100 by the end of the year.  We count to 100 every. single. day. of kindergarten.  It makes celebrating the 100th day even more special!

In my class we do a 100th day fashion show where the kids dress up in things that represent 100.  You can see some of the 100th day of School shirts here.

We have a little dance party after our fashion show and then we calm down with a simple coloring page.  My kids love coloring this in.  You can click here to get it for free!

Happy 100 Days!

Ms. Frizzle Dress

As a teacher, I love dressing up in costumes for school.  One of my favorite costumes to rock in my kindergarten room is my Ms. Frizzle dress!  This costume is perfect for a book character day, Halloween, Read Across America week, an author study, or any fun science themed day. 

You can find this exact Ms. Frizzle Dress here!  It does come with a fluffy layer underneath it that was a little itchy to me.  I just cut it out and that removed the unwanted "poof" and the itchiness.

The costume wouldn't be complete without one of the favorite characters, Liz.  I added this little lizard to the dress with just a couple of safety pins.  She made it through a whole day of teaching and I barely felt her on my shoulder!

You can make a fun science day out of it with this Magic School Bus Chemistry Lab Kit or you can just enjoy reading one of the many Magic School Bus books.

Flashlight Friday

Flashlight Friday made it to my kinder room this year!

Why?  Students need to read every day.  Reading should be fun.  Flashlights are always fun.  So it is simple..... Reading + Flashlights = FUN

It really is that easy.  We did this week one!  #kindersCAN

All you need:
-Flashlights <-- I use these ones and they have held up great so far!  They come with batteries and are the perfect size for my kinders!
-Books
-Eager Readers

I introduced Read to Self to my students.  We had practiced building our stamina, reading the pictures, staying in one spot, and reading the whole time. We practiced this during our first week of school.  On Friday, we learned the rules for flashlights!

Simple rules:
Shine the flashlight on your book!
Turn the flashlight off when you are done!

My kinders read wherever they wanted!  Some were in the Antsy Pants house, some tossed their rest towel over a table to build a fort, others were in scoop rockers, and some were just lounging on the floor.

"That was super awesome!" -Little Kinder

"Flashlight Friday is my favorite part of the day - even more 'favoriter' than recess" -Another Kinder

I can't wait to continue this tradition for the rest of the year!

Technology Gadgets for the Classroom

I am super excited to have 3 new tech items for my kindergarten classroom this year.  I received all three items this summer and had plenty of time to "play" with them before bringing them into my classroom.  Below you will find out the 3 items that will transform my classroom this year and how I plan on using them!

1.  Amazon Echo Dot

• This might be my favorite purchase.  I am so excited to introduce my students to Alexa.  I can't wait to use the Dot to play music, look up the weather, check math facts, spell sight words, and more!  I can hear it now: "Alexa, does 3+3=6?"!  So many possibilities!

2.  Wireless Mouse

• Another exciting purchase for me!  I can't stand sitting at my computer or standing at the board when teaching, however, it is often necessary to navigate the screen, slides, websites, etc.  This wireless mouse will allow my students to be in front of the class & I can navigate from the back.  Students need to be the center of everything, I love how this will allow so much flexibility when teaching!

3.  Wireless Doorbell

• School should be fun!  Wireless doorbells add a little fun into the day.  I can't wait to use this as an attention grabber and for transitions.  It will even add some extra excitement when our mystery readers arrive & ring the doorbell!  I purchased a doorbell with 2 different clickers, that way I can have one and my assistant can have one.  There are sooo many awesome tones as well - holidays, birthdays, songs, nursery rhymes, calming chimes, rings, etc.  I love the options!

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