Conduct Multiple Label-Writing Units Throughout the Year

STOP! After reading the title above, most assume this article is for pre-school and kindergarten teachers. That’s not true! First and second grade teachers (and special education and resource teachers) also need to plan label-writing units into their curriculum.

Although many young writers ended last school year writing sentences, consider starting the year with a label-writing unit. This gives them a chance to review important writing skills without the pressure of sentence conventions. Keep in mind these students have likely lost a little of their writing ability over the summer. So relieve the pressure of writing complete thoughts (with capitals, endmarks, word spacing, etc.) and just let them work on 1-2 word labels.

One advantage to label-writing lessons is that students are using visuals rather than creating them. If you provide students objects or images to label, then this puts a pencil in their hands more often than a crayon. (Remember, we aren’t building artists–we’re building writers!)

For example:

• Use index cards or large sticky notes to label objects in the room.
• Print or tape a photograph to larger paper. Using the margin space, students label details within the image.
• Use sticky notes to label objects/details that students recognize within the images of wordless picture books or Big Books.
• Provide stickers that depict recognizable objects for students to adhere to the boxes on this paper template. Then they label each sticker/item using precise word choice.
• Demonstrate how students can return to a previous drawing and add letter/word labels. (TIP: The more details students put in their drawings, the more they have to label.)