What This Writing Box Is Really All About!
Let’s be real here: changing centers each week can feel exhausting. That’s why I wanted my centers to last a whole month! You teach them just one time and just switch out the materials, but the activities remain the same.
I kept thinking. What would it look like to create something that feels like it was created with you in mind? Something that shows up consistently and reminds you that someone actually put care into every detail?
How many times do you change out your centers each month? Do you change them out each week or every other week? Or do you wait to change them out at the end of each month? I change my centers out once a month, using a holiday or monthly theme. My centers have enough activities to last my students through the whole month because each week I rotate them through my center cards. I have 20 Literacy Centers, so it takes my students a whole month to get to all of them. Each student might get to my math center just twice in one month. My center rotation chart looks like this:
I’ve asked many teachers this question about centers, and many of them said that centers are overwhelming, exhausting, unengaging, and not fun for them or their students, especially when they switch them out every week! Let’s face it… I would be exhausted too!
Then, I had an idea… why not create a writing center box that the teachers could use for the whole month with no prep on their end? Brilliant! So, that was my vision for my Writing Center Subscription Box. All the posters, templates, materials, and supplies would already be prepped and ready, and all the teacher had to do was set it up!
There are 9 different genre templates inside the box, and if you teach them all at the beginning of the year, your students will know how to complete the activities all year long. Or, you can teach one genre per week until you have all of them taught. And what’s so great about these writing activities is that you can teach them one time, and your students will know how to do them for the rest of the year. All you need to do is switch out the templates and materials, but the activities remain the same! Easy prep on you!
If you decide that you want to subscribe to the Writing Center Box, you will get 6 boxes per year: Back to School Farmhouse, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Ocean/Beach. All 6 boxes will have a different theme, but the games will remain the same so you don’t have to learn anything new!
This box is meant to feel thoughtful, like something that was curated with a purpose, not just thrown together. Every piece is being considered with the overwhelmed teacher on the other end in mind. When you open my Literacy Center box, I want you to feel relieved, inspired, and excited to set up your math center. And the best part is… it’s all ready to go and requires no prep from you!
So, what’s inside my Writing Center Subscription Box? I’m going to do a rundown of all the writing templates, what materials go with each one, and how you could set them up. Now, you don’t have to teach these genres in this order; you can decide which order is good for you and your class. It might work better to introduce the genres as your students are learning them during your writing block.
1.) Sticker Stories
Who doesn’t love stickers? In my writing center, I have a drawer full of holiday stickers. I tell my students that they can 1-5 stickers for their sticker story, but not more than 5. This is actually the first template that I teach them in the writing center. I only put out the sticker story templates at the beginning of the year so my students are not so overwhelmed. I also put my example on the bulletin board for the students to see how it could look.
Here is an example of one of my students’ sticker stories.
2.) Shape Books
The shape book is the second template that I introduce in my writing center, and it’s one of my students’ favorites! Shape books are so fun! In the box you will get one set of shape books, whether it be for Farmhouse, Halloween, Christmas, etc. They already come copied and stapled for you! My students have so much fun writing a story about the shape of the book, and they always are so proud to show me what they came up with!
3.) Making a List
Making a list is the third writing template that I introduce, and it’s super easy. All your students have to do is make a list of animals that they see in the writing center. Dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, cows, horses. And again, they can look at my example to see what it needs to look like.
4.) Writing a Poem
Writing a poem is the next writing template I introduce. This will probably be in the 2nd 9 weeks when your students are starting to write more sentences. It doesn’t need to be a long poem, just a few sentences. It doesn’t even need to rhyme!
5.) Writing a Postcard
Writing a postcard and a letter come at just about Christmas time, so it’s perfect to introduce these two writing templates when we are writing letters to Santa! It really helps when you can teach the writing genre during writing time and then connect it to your writing center after your students learn how to write it!
6.) Writing a Letter
7.) My Favorite Holiday
Starting in January, I introduce this writing template, and the students are going to write about their favorite holiday. By this time, we’ve already had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, so it’s easier for them to write about their favorite and why.
8.) How-To Story
Writing a How-To story comes later, when we are introducing procedural writing in the Spring. Procedural writing is so fun; for example, How to Bake a Cake, How to Fly a Kite, How to Catch a Leprechaun, or How to Make a Pizza. I also have procedural writing connected to my Kitchen Center. If you’re interested in learning more about my Kitchen Center, click HERE.
9.) Writing a Card
Writing a card can be something that you can implement during your Morning Meeting when you are discussing being a good citizen or social awareness. That would be a perfect time to write a card to a friend and fill their bucket.
10.) Materials and Supplies
Post-it Notes
Stickers
Cards
Holiday Pens
Posters
Writing Templates
You will need a desk with a chair and a bulletin board for your posters. I also like to use a holiday cup to hold my holiday pens. You will also need a paper holder so you can separate all of your writing templates. I also use a Steri-Lite drawer to hold my Post-it notes, stickers, and cards. You can add decorations to your writing center and make it fun for your students. Be creative!
So, you might be wondering, Kara, these are great and all, but how do I set them up? You’re in luck because I have a video of how I set up ALL of my Writing Centers! Just click on the pictures to watch me!
I hope I gave you lots of great ideas on how to use my writing center box! If you’re interested in subscribing to my Writing Center Box or Math Center Box, click HERE. The box is $50.00 bi-monthly or $45.00 monthly with my Teacher Membership. I can’t wait for you to get started and start the year with less stress and no mess!
If you’re interested in checking out my Math Center Subscription Box, click HERE to read about it!
