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.
- Plus Plan
Alphabet Handwriting Sheets - Including Non-Examples
Handwriting sheets with opportunities for students to trace, identify and write the letters of the alphabet.
- Free Plan
Free ABC Tracing Sheet Bundle Pack
Use ABC Tracing Worksheets to help your students develop their handwriting and fine motor skills.
- Free Plan
Simple Sentence Building Activity - Caterpillar
Use this simple sentence building activity in the form of a caterpillar to have students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
- Free Plan
Free Blank Story Board Template Pack
Use these storyboards to help your students visually represent the key events and changes within a story.
- Free Plan
Writing the Alphabet - Handwriting Worksheet
Practice penmanship by tracing and writing uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Free Plan
Writing the Alphabet - Handwriting Poster
A poster to assist students when learning how to form letters.
- Free Plan
Narrative Plot Structure - Story Mountain Template
Use a story mountain template to help your students write narrative stories.
- Plus Plan
'I Can' Statement Cards - Primary Literacy Display
Highlight your classroom learning targets with printable 'I Can' Statements for lower primary students.
- Free Plan
Common Adjectives for Kids - Printable Adjective List
Print your students a list of adjectives to keep at hand when writing to help them use descriptive language.
- Free Plan
Complete and Incomplete Sentence Task Cards
These task cards are best used as independent practice or formative assessment assignments during sentence structure lessons.
- Plus Plan
Large Handwriting Charts - Capitals and Lower Case
Print capital and lower case letters displayed on large red and blue handwriting lines.
- Plus Plan
Persuasive Writing Assessment Pack 1st Grade
Use this task to guide Grade 1 students through the complete persuasive writing process as they create a simple persuasive text about the best toy (including a criteria sheet).
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Simple Sentence Anchor Charts
Help students understand what makes a simple sentence with this clear and engaging Simple Sentence Anchor Charts.
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Name Tracing Worksheets - Auto-Fill Handwriting Sheets
Use our Auto-Fill Name Tracing Worksheets PDF to easily create name tracing worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Stretchy Sentences Worksheets and Poster Pack
Help your students write detailed and descriptive sentences with these Stretchy Sentences Worksheets and Poster Pack.
- Free Plan
Grammar Practice Worksheets - Vocabulary Cut and Sort
Review parts of speech and word usage skills with a pack of cut-and-paste Grammar Sorting Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Opinion Paragraph - OREO Planning Template
Help your students write well constructed opinion paragraphs using the OREO acronym with these planning templates.
- Free Plan
Lewis and Clark Worksheet - RACES Writing Strategy
Practice using the RACES writing strategy for text evidence with a Lewis and Clark Passage, graphic organizer, and worksheet.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Free Plan
Noun, Verb, and Adjective Sort - Worksheet
Help students learn the difference between nouns, verbs, and adjectives with this cut-and-paste sorting worksheet.
- Free Plan
Opinion Texts Writing Task - Zoos Are No Place for Animals
A writing activity to help students construct a detailed and reasoned opinion text.
- Free Plan
Who, What, Where Simple Sentence Mini Book
Use this simple sentence mini book to help students identify the parts of a simple sentence.
- Free Plan
Ending Punctuation Cut and Paste Worksheets
Use this set of ending punctuation cut and paste worksheets to practice adding the correct punctuation marks to the end of sentences.
- Plus Plan
Explanation Report Text Examples and Worksheet Pack
Use this set of explanation text examples and analysis worksheets to help students identify and apply key features of explanation texts.
- Plus Plan
Opinion Essay Structure Escape Room – Mission Persuasion!
Teach opinion essay structure with this engaging escape-room game that helps students build a series of strong, convincing arguments.
- Plus Plan
Letter Formation Worksheets - Uppercase, Lowercase, and Sentence Writing
A set of 26 letter formation worksheets that include uppercase and lowercase letters as well as sentence writing.
- Plus Plan
Cut and Paste Sentences Worksheets (K-1)
Practice making simple sentences with a set of printable Cut and Paste Sentences Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Epic Editing Workbook – 5th and 6th Grade
Use these editing and revising worksheets to get your students practicing and refining their proofreading skills.
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Informative Writing Fact Files - Differentiated Writing Worksheets
Teach your students to write informative texts using a pack of differentiated Informative Writing Fact File Worksheets.
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Monthly Writing Prompt Calendars - Lower Grades
Encourage your little learners to write with fun writing prompts for kids in early elementary school.
- Free Plan
Information Text Graphic Organizers
Get your students to plan and write informational texts with this set of 6 differentiated graphic organizers.
- Free Plan
Mother's Day Acrostic Poem
Create a special keepsake for mom, grandma, aunt, or another special lady with a Mother’s Day acrostic poem template.