At the beginning of the kindergarten year, students may only draw or write for about ten minutes. As the year goes on, students will be able to spend more time on writing. Although writing is considered part of the language arts block, it can be done any time during the day; it can and should be integrated into science, math, and social studies. What is most important is that students write regularly each week, preferably every day. Writing is an ideal Workshop activity.

Writing centers do not need to be elaborate. Use shelves for supplies and a small table for publishing. There may be more than one writing center to avoid competition for resources and space, including a materials center, help center, publishing center, and/or reading center. You may have recycled paper or scrap paper, pencils, and crayons in the materials center; word lists, picture dictionaries, dictionaries, thesauri, and other reference books in the help center; paper, pens, construction paper, tape, scissors, yarn, and hole punches in the publishing center; and various books and magazines in the reading center. Have students help set up these centers so that they feel involved, know what materials are available, and know how to use them.

Writing Folders keep writing organized and are invaluable for teacher and student assessment. Have students put their names and the date on each piece of writing and identify the phase of the writing process (e.g., draft, revision, and so on). Keep all the students' folders in a file drawer or plastic container in a central location.

A few simple rules, generated with the help of the class, set a positive tone and support writing.

• Do not interrupt the teacher when the teacher is writing or working with an author.
• Keep the noise level down. Authors are at work!
• During writing time, everyone should be involved with a writing-related activity (e.g., planning, drafting, revising, publishing, reading, browsing, researching, using the writing centers, or working with a peer).