Guided Writing Activities Teaching Resources
Get guided writing activities, prompts, and more to help your students develop their writing muscles in your classroom. This elementary school teaching resource collection was created by the expert ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team.
These curriculum-aligned resources will save you time on your ELA lesson plans with classroom-ready printable and digital worksheets and activities that you can edit to differentiate instruction for individual learners.
What Is Guided Writing?
Guided writing is a technique used to help individuals improve their writing skills by providing them with a structure or set of guidelines to follow while they write. This can include prompts, examples, or specific instructions to help the writer focus their thoughts and organize their ideas more effectively. The goal of guided writing is to help the writer improve their writing skills and develop their own unique style over time.
What Does Guided Writing Look Like in the Classroom?
In a classroom setting, guided writing typically involves you, the teacher, providing students with a specific topic or prompt to write about, along with a set of guidelines or instructions to follow. This could include a specific word count, a specific format (such as a persuasive essay or a descriptive paragraph), or a set of key points that the student should address in their writing.
You may also provide examples of well-written pieces that students can use as a model for their own writing as well as giving feedback on the students' writing so that they can improve their writing skills.
Guided writing can take place in a whole-class setting, where a teacher leads the class through the writing process, or in small groups or one-on-one sessions where a teacher can provide more personalized instruction and feedback.
How Does Guided Writing Help Students Improve Their Writing?
Not sure if you want to add guided writing to your instruction techniques? Our teacher team has dug through the educational research on the topic for a more in-depth view.
Research has found that guided writing can be effective in improving various aspects of students' writing skills. For example, studies have shown that guided writing can:
- Improve students' writing fluency, increasing their ability to generate written text quickly and easily
- Enhance students' writing accuracy, including improved grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Increase students' writing complexity, helping students achieve a higher level of sophistication and maturity in their writing.
- Help students develop a greater sense of self-efficacy
- Encourage students' motivation to write
- Facilitate the provision of feedback and support from the teacher
Of course, the effectiveness of guided writing will depend on the specific approach and context in which it is implemented. For example, some research has suggested that guided writing may be more effective when it is used in conjunction with other writing instruction methods, such as independent writing, peer review, and self-reflection.
In general, when guided writing is well-designed, it can be an effective tool for improving students' writing skills, but we suggest using it as part of a comprehensive writing instruction program.
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Adverbs Google Interactive
Provide your students with engaging, interactive activities to help them improve their usage and identification of adverbs.
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Dinosaurs - Vocabulary Cards and Writing Prompts for Second Grade
Inspire young paleontologists to read and write about dinosaurs with a dinosaur-themed writing center and word wall.
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Farm Activities for Preschoolers - Printable Book
A fill-in-the-blank mini-book to help students learn about things on a farm.
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Fire Prevention Week Writing Prompts
Enhance writing skills during Fire Prevention Week with fire safety writing prompts for kids.
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How to Carve a Pumpkin - Accordion Book
Get crafty and inspire potential pumpkin carvers to write with a “How to Carve a Pumpkin” accordion book.
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Ocean Writing Center
Build stronger vocabulary and writing skills with an ocean-themed writing center.
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Ocean Mini Book
Learn about ocean life with a printable book for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first-graders.
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Identifying Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Adverbs - Task Cards
Identify positive, comparative, and superlative adverbs in sentences with a set of twenty task cards.
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Alphabet Interactive - Letter L
Bring technology into your guided reading lessons, and learn the sounds of L with a Google Interactive activity.
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Pumpkin Possessives Worksheet
Practice identifying possessive nouns with this fall-themed worksheet.
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Build-a-Bat Report Writing Template
Research, write and create a bat report with a cut-and-assemble bat shaped writing template.
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Pumpkin Parts of Speech Worksheets
Review three parts of speech by sorting nouns, verbs, and adjectives with these four pumpkin-themed cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Groundhog Day Vocabulary Cards and Writing Center
Create a vocabulary and writing center with a Groundhog Day for Kids word wall and writing template.
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Contractions for Kids - Interactive Activity
Encourage growth in spelling and writing conventions with a Contractions for Kids Google Interactive.
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Google Slides Interactive - Abbreviations Activity
Engage and excite your learners with a Google Interactive designed to teach the most common abbreviations in the English language.
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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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Benjamin Franklin - Constructed Response Worksheet
Learn facts about Benjamin Franklin with an informational reading and writing activity focusing on the constructed response format.
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Adverbs Scoot
Build vocabulary and grammar skills with a game of Comparative and Superlative Adverbs SCOOT!
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Adverbs Match-Up
Skip those comparative and superlative adverb worksheets and try out an adverb matching game.
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Has/Have Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Practice using has and have correctly using a set of Subject-Verb agreement task cards.
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Singular/Plural Subject Verb Agreement Board Game
Improve sentence structure and grammar skills with a board game focusing on singular and plural subject-verb agreement.
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Irregular Plural Noun Match-Up
Practice using irregular plural nouns with an Irregular Plural Noun Matching Activity.
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Google Slides Interactive - Alphabetizing to the 3rd Letter Activity
Practice alphabetizing to the third letter with this Google Slides interactive clip card activity.
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Positional Words Interactive Clip Cards
Practice using position words (prepositions) with this Google Slides interactive clip card activity.
- Guided Writing Activities Games
- Guided Writing Activities Templates
- Guided Writing Activities Writing Templates
- Guided Writing Activities Worksheets
- Guided Writing Activities Interactive Activities
- Guided Writing Activities Task Cards
- Guided Writing Activities Word Walls
- Guided Writing Activities Sorting Activities
- Guided Writing Activities Posters
- Guided Writing Activities Graphic Organizers
- Guided Writing Activities Instructional Slide Decks
- Guided Writing Activities Writing Checklist
- Guided Writing Activities Checklists
- Guided Writing Activities Bingo
- Guided Writing Activities Card Games
- Guided Writing Activities Dominoes
- Guided Writing Activities Mini Book
- Guided Writing Activities Matchup Games
- Guided Writing Activities Board Games
- Guided Writing Activities Craft Activities
- Guided Writing Activities Bulletin Board Displays
- Guided Writing Activities Labels Signs Decorations
- Guided Writing Activities Projects
- Guided Writing Activities Cut and Paste Worksheets
- Guided Writing Activities Color by Code
- Guided Writing Activities Dice Games
- Guided Writing Activities Flashcards
- Guided Writing Activities for Pre-K
- Guided Writing Activities for Kindergarten
- Guided Writing Activities for 1st Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for 2nd Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for 3rd Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for 4th Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for 5th Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for 6th Grade