Writing Teaching Resources
Teaching writing strategies and the writing process this school year? Explore a comprehensive collection of teacher resources for elementary and middle school ELA teachers — all created by teachers!
Stocked with graphic organizers, writing prompts, templates, worksheets and so much more, this collection of printable and digital activities is designed to help you as you help your students become more effective communicators and unleash their creativity and imagination.
Save time on lesson planning with resources that have been through a careful review process by an expert member of our teacher team to ensure they're ready for your classroom and your students!
Are you looking for tips and tricks to add to your teacher toolkit this school year? Read on for a primer from our teacher team, including engaging activities for teaching writing in elementary and middle school and a look at some of the different writing strategies your students will need to learn.
11 Writing Strategies Kids Should Know by the End of Middle School
We can't talk about teaching kids to write without talking about the different writing strategies that can help them do just that!
When it comes to teaching our students to become confident writers who articulate their ideas effectively, here are some of the strategies our teacher team prioritizes:
1. Brainstorming
Brainstorming is something we often do in the classroom, and it's a crucial part of learning to generate the ideas that will drive students' writing as they progress through their educational journey. Kids should know how to create a list of potential topics or points related to a particular writing assignment.
With younger students, this is often done as a whole group by writing ideas and points on chart paper. In upper grades, students transition over to using text-based materials to generate ideas and talking points.
2. Outlining
Before diving directly into any assignment, our students should be able to create a structured framework or outline. Teaching students how to create this outline will help them organize their thoughts and arguments for penning their essays, reports and research papers.
3. Using Graphic Organizers
Technically graphic organizers are classroom tools, so you may not think of their use as a writing strategy per se. However, learning to use these tools is another means of providing kids with the tools they need to organize their ideas and information before they sit down to write.
These organizers are particularly useful for expository writing — students can use them to outline main ideas, supporting details, and transitions.
Students can also take advantage of story maps when they are working on narrative writing to plot the key elements of a story, such as characters, setting, conflict, rising action, climax and resolution.
Graphic organizers such as the OREO strategy and hamburger paragraph are also great tools for students to use when working with opinion and persuasive texts.
4. Freewriting
Writer's block is the enemy of creativity, and it can easily frustrate young students who don't know where to begin.
When students freewrite, they write continuously without worrying about grammar or punctuation. This writing strategy can be extremely freeing — hence the name! — and helps frustrated writers move past that writer's block, generating fresh ideas.
5. Peer Editing
Learning to review and provide constructive feedback on each other's work is a great writing strategy to employ in your classroom to help students improve their writing quality and enhance their editing skills.
The strategy allows your students to learn from one another, and it arms them with an important tool they can use well into the future — calling on peers to provide a critical eye to a piece of writing.
6. Using Sensory Language
Working on descriptive writing? With this writing strategy, students engage the reader's senses through vivid and sensory language to create a more immersive experience.
7. Including Transitions and Connectives
As students become more proficient in the writing process, learning to use transitional words and phrases allows them to create smooth transitions between sentences and paragraphs. This strategy makes their writing more coherent and polished.
8. Incorporating Evidence
In persuasive, opinion, and expository writing, students are taught to support their claims with evidence and examples to strengthen their arguments.
It takes some practice to train your students to use evidence in their writing, so it's often a good idea to start with something simple, like the R.A.C.E.S. strategy.
9. Crafting a Thesis Statement
In expository, opinion, and persuasive writing, crafting clear and concise thesis statements that summarize the main point or argument of their essay helps students be more focused and organized in their writing. This strategy can also have the effect of empowering students to express their ideas confidently and persuasively.
10. Incorporating Introductions and Conclusions
With this strategy, students practice crafting effective introductions and conclusions that grab the reader's attention and leave a lasting impression.
11. Following a Revision Checklist
Teaching your students to use a revision checklist is a strategy that will help them be more self-reflective, evaluating their own writing against the checklist criteria and becoming more aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
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Halloween Writing Prompts - Bats
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled Halloween writing prompts about bats.
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Write About It! Spiders
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled informational writing prompts about spiders
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Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Adverbs Task Cards
Practice using positive, comparative, and superlative adverbs in sentences with a set of adverb task cards.
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Father's Day Acrostic Poem Worksheet
Create a special keepsake for dad, grandpa, uncle, or another special father figure with a Father’s Day acrostic poem template.
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Insect Adjectives – Worksheet
A set of 10 insect themed adjective worksheets to use in the classroom when learning about insects.
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Greek and Latin Roots- Vocabulary Notebook
Enhance vocabulary containing Greek and Latin roots with a Google Slides Interactive vocabulary notebook. Also available in print format.
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George Washington Carver Constructed Response Worksheet
Read and write about George Washington Carver using the RACES strategy for constructed response paragraphs.
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Commas in Dates and Series - Google Slides Interactive Activity
Practice correct comma placement in dates and series with a Google Interactive Activity.
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Boston Massacre Passage and Writing Prompt Worksheet
Learn facts about the Boston Massacre with an informational reading passage and an informational writing prompt for fourth grade.
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Abigail Adams Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this passage, writing prompt, and worksheet to help students write a constructed response paragraph about Abigail Adams.
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Lewis and Clark Close Read Comprehension Pack
Enhance your students' comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills with a close reading passage and activity pack about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
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Checks and Balances - RACES Writing Prompt Worksheet
Practice using the RACES writing strategy and unravel the mysteries of the U.S. Government system of checks and balances with a passage, organizer, and prompt.
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Possessive Nouns - Interactive Clipcards
Provide digital possessive noun practice activities for your learners with a Google Interactive activity.
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Color-by-Code Grammar- Back to School Coloring Sheet
Use this color by code grammar worksheet as a back to school parts of speech review activity with your students.
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Great Depression Constructed Response Worksheet
Use this nonfiction constructed response worksheet to teach your students about the Great Depression.
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Writing Process Anchor Chart-Classroom Posters
Create a beautiful visual word wall in your classroom to support your students in the mastery of the writing process!
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Identifying Dependent Clauses Worksheet
Practice identifying dependent clauses in complex sentences with a dependent clause worksheet.
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Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences Sorting Activity
Practice reading, identifying and writing simple, compound, and complex sentences with a sorting activity.
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Writing Out Loud: Dialogue Punctuation Worksheet
Practice using quotation marks in writing with a Punctuating Dialogue worksheet.
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Find What Doesn’t Fit: Relevant Details Worksheet
Practice determining what details are relevant and irrelevant to a topic while providing a purposeful context.
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Armstrong vs. Earhart -Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Combine reading and history content with differentiated reading comprehension worksheets.
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Soccer vs. Football -Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Differentiate reading instruction with nonfiction texts, compare and contrast activities, and response to text writing opportunities.
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Using Commas in Dates and Series - SCOOT! Game
Practice using commas in dates and series with a whole-class SCOOT game!
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Using Commas in Dates and Series -Task Cards
Practice correct comma placement in dates and series with task cards
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Quiz and Swap - 2nd Grade End-of-Year Review
Prepare your students for their end of grade assessments with an End-of-Year Quiz and Swap Review Game.
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When I Grow Up - Kindergarten Graduation Writing and Craft Activity
Encourage your kindergarten graduates to write about their dreams while creating a “When I Grow Up” classroom display.
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Subject-Verb Agreement Game
Use this subject-verb agreement game as a fun and collaborative way of teaching the fundamentals of correct sentence structure.
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Let's Research! Digital and Print Poster Project Templates
Conduct, organize, and display research about books, people, planets, animals, states, and countries with a versatile set of printable and digital poster templates.
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Opinion Writing for 1st Graders - Worksheet Bundle
Help your first graders learn how to write an opinion piece using these handy writing prompt worksheets.
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Capitalization Task Cards (Grades 2-3)
Reinforce capitalization for proper nouns, the pronoun ‘I,’ and the beginning of sentences in text with this set of 24 task cards (extension included).
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Planning an Informative Text
A planning sheet that can be used to write an informative text.
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Brainstorming Task Cards
A set of 24 task cards to practice the brainstorming techniques of drawing a picture, creating a mind map, and making a list.