Most kindergarteners come into your classroom in the beginning of the year and will not know how to write yet. So during “writing” time you may wonder, what do I teach? Well, students can begin “writing” through their drawings. I teach my students that pictures match words and if they cannot yet write words, they can share their thoughts or stories through pictures. My first writing lesson of the year is my “3 Star Coloring” lesson.
3 Star Coloring
3 Star Coloring is a set of rules or standards that students should try to follow whenever they color something. This concept is one that I did not make up and I would love to give credit to whoever did, so if you know who did, let me know in the comments!
The Lesson
I start off this lesson by explaining an anchor chart. The anchor chart has all the 3 Star Coloring rules explained and an example of a 1 star, 2 star and 3 star. Then, I model how to do 3 star coloring by drawing something on a paper under my Elmo. For this, I usually give a prompt and students will follow the same prompt. While I’m drawing, I ask students to think in their brains what it is that I’m drawing (sort of a fun guessing game!) After I’ve modeled, students go to their tables and try on their own.
The 3 Star Coloring Standards
- Stay in the lines
- Colors make sense
- No white space
- Use 5 or more colors
This will take your kindergarteners a while to understand and truly try their best in their coloring so stick with it! Often, when a student comes up to me I go over the rules with them and we check to see if their picture has 3 star coloring.
Want to try 3 Star Coloring in your classroom?
This resource includes a printable “poster” (regular paper size), bookmarks for students to keep in their writing folder as a reminder and 10 different drawing prompts. It also includes pages where students can draw but also write a sentence about their drawing. Check out the product by clicking below!
