Kindergaren teachers collected writing samples from their students. The writing samples were administered in the same fashion as the SAI assessments. The teachers then scored the samples using a four-feature rubric. The data reported is the number of students who scored 2 or less on the features of focus, support and organization and less than a 2 on the convention feature. 69% of the total errors in kindergarten occurred in the areas of support and organization. The kindergarten teachers did a relation’s diagram to attempt to discover the root cause of an essential question: Why don’t students write more? The kindergarten teachers developed an improvement theory from the root cause and effects.

Root Cause:

• Delayed language development and physical limitations.

Root Effects:

• Limited pre-writing skills

Improvement Theory:

• Teachers will model the connection between spoken language and the written form and provide a language rich environment. Activities include:
• Word of the week
• Daily Message (count sentences).
• Predictable chart
• Journal writing
• Pieces of the 4-Block Program
• Language experience stories.