writing "stories"

Some of the children have begun writing stories. Mrs. D. first suggested the assignment to the class in general. At that time, many of the children looked at her with looks of surprise. Within seconds, some of those looks changed to smiles at the thought that Mrs. D. found the class to be so capable. Since then, a number of children of varying levels often choose to write stories. The subjects range from "a cat sat on a mat" to family and school events. They are usually one small tablet page in length. The importance of all this is the evident self confidence to try something bold and that these simple stories are advancing fine motor, word order, decoding and spelling skills and giving the children another way of expressing themselves. Not everyone has begun this adventure. Some need more time and when we see they are ready, we will not fail to encourage them.