Wouldn’t it be great if student writing paper was like some women’s clothing—one size fits all? Clearly, that’s not the case. During my most recent school visit, I saw second graders and kindergartners writing on paper with similar writing lines.
The story you see was written by one of my cute-as-a-button neighbors, who is in kindergarten.
Here’s my first wonder. Do the types of writing lines we put in front of students drive the size of their writing? You know, giant-size lines, giant-size letters; medium-size lines, medium-size letters. If so, is this a good thing?
Here’s my second wonder. Is it okay to give students a variety of writing papers—some with big lines, some with medium lines, and so on? If so, how do you decide what type of writing paper to provide?
What’s your bottom line when it comes to writing paper? ( 🙂 You know I just love a pun!)
Eager to hear from you!
Diane
I teach Kinder and always start the year with no lines (and some students write big and others write small). As the years go on, my team adds lined paper (and some students still write big and others small). I think some of it is developmental, and I think for some children the space does define how they write (but not all children).
I believe medium sized lines should be what children learn to write on. This way when they need to start writing the letters smaller it is not as difficult.
We use the ruled newsprint but I don’t say much to my prek class about the size of their writing. I have found that as they develop their skills they gradually begin to write smaller and stay within lines etc.
I did make a neat discovery at my local Joannes store. They carry a multi-sensory handwriting tablet that has raised lines. It is rather expensive so when I see a child who is trying to stay in the lines for lack of a better work I use that paper one on one and it seems to really help.
As far as my writing station I put every kind of paper from sticky note pads to ruled paper and unlined in a basket and let the kids decide.
Does anyone have a good website for student writing paper that comes in a variety of size lines?
In pre-k, we don’t use lined paper. Our most important issue is connecting with the theme and getting the students to begin writing.
Each summer, I go through magazines and cut out pictures that match what we will be studying: family, transportation, travel, art, food, weather, etc. I paste the pictures onto construction paper. As each theme rolls around, I have paper to match it.
To go with the paper, I make vocabulary cards and put them in the writing center. The theme paper, along with the vocabulary cards, really encourages my 4-year-olds to write. 🙂
I teach 2nd grade and like to use smaller or medium-sized lines when possible but find that different students need different sized lines at times. I often give them the opportunity to choose for some areas, especially writing (including paper with no lines). I find that some students write big or small regardless of line size.
I teach second grade and I believe that a child’s developmental level needs to guide the type of paper they use. In the past, I have had up to 4 different types of writing paper available on a daily basis; regular wide-ruled notebook paper, unlined paper, “list” type paper with the center dotted lines,and extra large wide-ruled paper with the raised lines.Sometimes I even modify a child’s paper myself. For example, for children who are having trouble with left and right(and where to start/stop writing)I use a green marker(left) and red marker(right) to draw a dot in both top corners of their paper. Although they want to experiment with what their friends are using, in the end they will tend to gravitate toward the paper that works for them(and their developmental level) without hardly any coaching from me.