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Common Core ELAKindergartenWriting

W.K.7: Join a Class Research and Writing Project

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.7 · Cluster: Research to Build and Present Knowledge.

All 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Writing · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What W.K.7 Means in Plain English

The class explores something together, often several books by one author, and every child adds to what the group makes. After four Mo Willems books, each child draws and dictates a favorite for a class book, and the tally chart shows the winner.

The project belongs to the class, so the teacher can do the reading and the recording. What each child owns is a part: an opinion, a vote, a page. In 1st grade (W.1.7) the example becomes how-to books on one topic, turned into instructions the class writes together.

W.K.7 I Can Statements

  • I can listen to books with my class and share my ideas.
  • I can tell which book by the author I like best.
  • I can add my page to our class book.

W.K.7 Worked Example

One author study, one page for the class book. The weak page could have been made without the project.

Prompt

We read four Mo Willems books. Which one is your favorite? Make a page for our class book, Our Mo Willems Favorites.

Not Yet(Drawing: a blue bird in a tree.) I like birds.A fine sentence, but it’s about birds, not the books. Nothing on the page comes from the four books the class read together, so it adds nothing to the shared project.
Meets the Standard(Drawing: the Pigeon yelling next to a bus.) My favorite is Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Pigeon is funnier than Knuffle Bunny. We all yelled NO!The page picks one book out of the four, compares it with another the class read, and remembers the shared reading itself, where everyone shouted the answer back.
Moves to Use
Look at all the covers before you choose.Name the book you like best.Say how it is different from another book we read.Put your vote on the class chart.

Common Mistakes with W.K.7

Children only color the pages

A class book where the teacher wrote every word and the children colored the pictures

Try this: Have each child dictate at least one sentence for their own page, and write down their words, not yours.

Only one book explored

The class reads one Pigeon book and calls it an author study

Try this: Read at least three books by the author over a week and keep the covers on display while children choose.

Opinions that drift off the books

“I like birds.” “I like buses.”

Try this: Hold up two covers and ask “Which one, and why?” so every opinion is tied to a book the class read.

Where W.K.7 Fits

Comes BeforeW.K.1Name a book and give an opinion about it, the move each child brings to the class project.
AlongsideRL.K.9Compare the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories, like the Pigeon across his books.RL.K.6Name the author and illustrator and what each does, easy with Mo Willems, who is both.
Comes NextW.1.7Shared research and writing again, with how-to books on one topic turned into a set of instructions.

Practice W.K.7

Quick Check

  1. Which book does the strong page choose?
  2. Which other book does the strong page compare it with?
  3. Why doesn’t “I like birds” count as joining the project?

W.K.7: Other Names

W.K.7CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.7

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.