As kindergarten students start to learn the alphabet, they also learn to write the letters. A sensorial approach may help little ones form the letters. Have them trace letters made of sandpaper, felt or another material with a distinct feel to practice the shape. They can also practice "writing" with a finger in a bowl of sand or rice. Children can then begin to trace over the letters and eventually write them without help. When teaching letter formation, check that the child uses proper pencil grip and the correct stroke order when writing the letters.
Kindergartners are learning early phonics skills and simple sight words like "the" and "I." In some schools, teachers allow students to use "invented spelling," which is simply encouraging the student to try to spell the word, even if she is likely to make mistakes. A child using invented spelling might, for example, spell the word "like" as "lik" or "friend" as "frend." The focus of this technique is more on communication through writing than getting everything correct. Eventually, through spelling tests and learning more of the rules of spelling, students gain better spelling skills.
As students practice writing, they can learn to write simple sentences. For these sentences, the teacher usually provides most of the framework, with a blank space that the child fills in. For example, the teacher might write, "I like _____," and the children will copy the first part of the sentence, then fill in the blank with a food that they like. The teacher might combine this with an art lesson, allowing the students to draw pictures to go along with the sentence.
Being able to write a story or explain something in writing is one of the goals of the Common Core State Standards. Toward the end of the year, the students should be able to write a simple story, using short sentences. The student might describe his day, or tell the plot of a book, for example. The sentences may not always have correct spelling and they may not be grammatically perfect, but an adult should be able to understand the main point.