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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Was or Were? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards
Download these was or were task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.
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Comma Task Cards - Grades 4-6
Practice correct comma placement in dates, series, and compound and complex sentences.
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Spring Writing Prompts Worksheet
Explore creative writing in your classroom with these 3 fun story writing prompts for Spring.
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Reading Comprehension Worksheets-King Midas and the Golden Touch Google Interactive and Printable Resources
Review and practice multiple reading skills using the text “King Midas and the Golden Touch” with these digital and print resources.
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Grammar Grid Mystery Picture Worksheet-Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives
Follow the color-coded parts of speech guide to fill in the word grid and reveal a mystery image.
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World Changing Women 3D Cube Project
Research and record biographical information about 6 historical women and discuss the impacts of their contributions.
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Irregular Plural Noun Practice Worksheet
Practice identifying and using common irregular plural nouns on this single-page worksheet.
- Free Plan
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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Write a Short Story – The Tale of Transformation
Get your students analyzing and writing a story with a lesson with this engaging and fully scaffolded writing project booklet.
- Free Plan
Read and Color Worksheet - Singular and Plural Nouns
A worksheet to practice identifying singular and plural nouns.
- Free Plan
Adverbs of Frequency Poster
Use this eye-catching poster in your primary classroom when teaching children about adverbs of frequency.
- Free Plan
My Research Project - Pennant Banner
Create a pennant banner for students to record and display their biography research.
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Adjectives Worksheet
Practice identifying and writing adjectives in sentences with this 1-page worksheet.
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Wheely Wonderful Words – Overused Adjectives
Banish overused adjectives with a handy adjective-synonym word wheel!
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Comical Chronicle 3rd Grade Part of Speech Worksheets
Get your 3rd graders excited about parts of speech with this worksheet filled with 10 ad-lib style stories.
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Revising Our Writing - Adding, Deleting, and Rearranging Worksheet
Practice revising writing by adding, deleting, and rearranging text for substance and clarity.
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Collective Nouns Worksheet
Use this worksheet to review collective nouns with 8 fill-in-the-blank sentences and an accompanying word bank.
- Free Plan
Nothing but Nouns Game
A game to practice working with common, proper, and collective nouns.
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Subject Verb Agreement Dice Game
Download this dice game for pairs of students to practice subject-verb agreement and sentence writing.
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Past, Present, and Future Simple Tense Verbs Worksheet
Practice identifying past, present, and future tense verbs with this ad-lib style worksheet.
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Rhyming Poems Poster and Template
Teach your students all about rhyming couplet poems with this classroom poster and accompanying student worksheets.
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Primary Weekly Poetry Guide - Week 2
Use this weekly poetry guide to celebrate National Poetry Month in your primary classroom.
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Primary Weekly Poetry Guide - Week 1
Use this weekly poetry guide to celebrate National Poetry Month in your primary classroom.
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Concrete Poem Poster and Templates
Use this concrete poem example and accompanying template to teach your students how to write a concrete poem.
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Common and Proper Nouns Sort - Cut and Paste Worksheet
A sorting worksheet to practice identifying common and proper nouns.
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Narrative Setting Craft Templates
A set of circular diorama templates that combine to create three scenes.
- Free Plan
Writing Template - Primary Grades
A blank template to use for a variety of writing pieces in the primary grades.
- Free Plan
Adverb Crossword – Worksheet
A crossword for students to review different adverbs.
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5 W's and 1 H Graphic Organizer - Landscape
A blank 5 W’s and 1 H graphic organizer to use when planning a piece of writing text.
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What Happened Next? – The Three Little Pigs Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of The Three Little Pigs in their own, unique way.
- Free Plan
Celebrating Inspirational Women Inquiry Task
An inquiry task to use in the classroom when learning about inspirational contemporary women.
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Informative Text Writing Task – How Does a Plane Fly?
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the informative text type.