Writing Teaching Resources
Teaching writing strategies and the writing process this school year? Explore a comprehensive collection of teacher resources for primary English teachers — all created by teachers!
Stocked with graphic organisers, 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 are aligned with the Australian curriculum (including version 9!) and 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 inprimary 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 Primary 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 prioritises:
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 years, 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 organise their thoughts and arguments for penning their essays, reports and research papers.
3. Using Graphic Organisers
Technically graphic organisers 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 organisers 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 organisers 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 summarise the main point or argument of their essay helps students be more focused and organised 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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Silent Letters Word Sort - Cut and Paste Worksheets
Identify silent letters in words with this set of four cut-and-paste worksheets.
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Word Study List - Consonant + LE
Introduce and explore two-syllable words containing a consonant + le syllable with this extensive list.
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Word Study List - Suffixes
Introduce and explore common suffixes with this extensive list of words.
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Word Study List - Silent Letters
Introduce and explore words containing silent letters with this extensive list of words.
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Word Study List - CVC Words
Introduce and explore consonant-vowel-consonant words with this extensive list of CVC words.
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Spring Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Use the season of spring to inspire writing in your early years classroom.
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Which Letter? Sorting Activity - K or C
Practise identifying when to begin words with the letter K or the letter C with this hands-on sorting activity.
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Which Sound? Poster - The Letter G
Remind your students of the different sounds made by the letter G with this colourful classroom poster.
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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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CVCe Word Building - Google Slides Interactive Activity
Practise spelling and reading CVCe words by identifying and blending sounds using this interactive Google Slides activity.
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Possessive Nouns - Four in a Row Game
Practise using the correct forms of possessive nouns with an exciting game of Four-in-a-Row!
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Singular/Plural Subject–Verb Agreement Board Game
Improve sentence structure and grammar skills with a board game that focuses on singular and plural subject-verb agreement.
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Subject-Verb Agreement Concentration and Go Fish Game
Improve students' sentence structure with a card game focusing on correct subject-verb agreement.
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Changing Direct Speech to Indirect Speech – Differentiated Worksheet
Convert direct speech to indirect speech with this worksheet.
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Changing Indirect Speech to Direct Speech – Differentiated Worksheet
Practise converting indirect speech to direct speech with this worksheet.
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Gum Leaf Book Review Template
Fill your classroom with foliage using this gum leaf book review template.
- Free Plan
Punctuation Pizza Cover-up Game
Assist your students to recognise and use correct end punctuation with this interactive, hands-on game.
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General Writing Checklist
A writing checklist for students to use across multiple genres.
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Narrative Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 4
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their narrative writing.
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Parts of Speech Card Game – Editable
An editable parts of speech card game.
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Comical Chronicle Worksheets – Year 5
A set of 10 ad-lib style stories for students to complete.
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Capital Letter, Finger Space, Full Stop – Desk Plate
A desk plate with helpful cues for beginning writers.
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Persuasive Writing Bump It Up Wall – Year 1
A visual display for your classroom to help students ‘bump up’ their persuasive writing.
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Irregular Verbs Relay
An active relay race game in which students spell out irregular verbs.
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Shape Poem Template – Crescent Moon
Practise writing a shape poem with this crescent moon template.
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My Monster Story Template
A cute story writing activity.
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Preposition Monkey Business - Worksheet
A worksheet which includes an image prompt for students to make creative sentences about prepositions.
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Growth Mindset Advice Dice Game
A dice game in which students are given a challenging scenario and give advice using Captain Yet's optimistic solutions.
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Musical Act Information Report Planner
An information report planning template focusing on a musical act.
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All About Me Lantern
A 3D lantern template to use with students at the beginning of the year.
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Uppercase Letter Formation Task Cards
Teach the basic formation of uppercase letters with this set of task cards.
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Onomatopeia Writing Prompt – Template
A writing template for students to use when learning about onomatopoeia.
- Writing Worksheets
- Writing Templates
- Writing Posters
- Writing Games
- Writing Teaching Presentations
- Writing Labels, Signs & Decorations
- Writing Word Walls
- Writing Projects
- Writing for Preschool/Kindergarten
- Writing for Foundation Year
- Writing for Year 1
- Writing for Year 2
- Writing for Year 3
- Writing for Year 4
- Writing for Year 5
- Writing for Year 6
- Writing for Year 7