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Kindergarten Writing Prompts

38 free PDFs9 more on the topic pagesUS Letter or A4No login

Draw-and-write pages with traceable sentence starters for opinion, informative, how-to and story writing, plus revising and journal pages.

Download the kindergarten writing prompts worksheets

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

More kindergarten writing prompts worksheets

About these kindergarten writing prompts worksheets

These kindergarten writing prompts start where five-year-olds start: with a picture. Every page has a big box to draw in, a sentence starter to trace, and kindergarten-size lines to finish the sentence. Children who are just starting can draw and tell you their idea while you write it down; children who are ready can trace the starter and sound out the rest on their own.

The prompts cover each kind of writing kindergartners are asked to do. Opinion pages such as My Favorite Food and Cats or Dogs? ask for a choice and a reason. All About and How To pages name a topic and give facts or steps in order. Story pages like First, Next, Last and One Day I tell what happened and how it felt. There are also pages for writing about what the class learned, asking friends a question, adding a detail, and sounding out words.

Every sheet is black and white with no clip art, so it copies cleanly and leaves the pictures to the children. All pages print on US Letter or A4.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.1Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.3Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.5With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.7Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.8With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.ACapitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.BRecognize and name end punctuation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.2.DSpell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

How to use them

  1. Read the prompt aloud and talk about it first. Ask your child to tell you their whole sentence out loud before drawing.
  2. Draw first, then write. The picture holds the idea while your child works on the words.
  3. Trace the dotted sentence starter together, saying each word. Then have your child finish the sentence, stretching out each word and writing the sounds they hear.
  4. For early writers, take dictation: write their words on the lines and let them trace your writing or copy one word.
  5. Finish with the checklist strip: capital at the start, spaces between words, a period at the end, and a picture that matches the words.
  6. Reread the sentence together and ask one question, such as 'What color was it?', to add a detail.

Teaching tips

  • Accept sounded-out spelling. 'I lik pza' shows a child hearing the sounds in order, which is exactly the skill kindergarten builds.
  • Keep it to one or two sentences. A drawing plus one complete sentence is a strong kindergarten page.
  • Model finger spaces: have your child place a finger after each word before starting the next one.
  • Use the word banks for words children ask about often, and point to them rather than spelling words aloud.
  • Opinion writing needs a reason. If your child writes 'I like dogs', ask 'Why?' and help them add 'because...'.
  • For stories, ask 'What happened first? Then what? How did you feel?' Saying the three parts out loud before drawing makes the order much easier.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What should a kindergartner be able to write?

By the end of kindergarten most children can draw a picture and write a sentence or two about it, using a capital at the start, spaces between words, a period at the end and sounded-out spelling for words they don't know yet.

My child can't write words yet. Can they still use these?

Yes. Have your child draw and tell you their idea, then write it for them on the lines. Tracing the dotted sentence starter is a good first step toward writing on their own.

Should I correct spelling?

Not on these pages. Praise the sounds your child heard and wrote. Correct spelling comes later; at this age the goal is getting ideas down by listening for sounds.

What are sentence starters?

A sentence starter gives the first words of a sentence, such as 'My favorite food is' or 'First I'. Here they are dotted so children can trace them and then finish the sentence on their own.

How often should kindergartners do writing prompts?

A short daily page works well, often as a journal time. Many classrooms use one prompt a day and come back to a favorite kind of writing several times a week.