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
Roll-a-Holiday Poem Dice Game
Get your students to write fun holiday poems with this engaging “Roll-a-Poem” dice game.
- Plus Plan
Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
- Plus Plan
Cut and Paste Shades of Meaning Verb Sort
Engage your students in exploring subtle differences between verbs with this set of two cut and paste worksheets.
- 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
Dialogue Tags List - Vocabulary Chart
Use a Dialogue Tags list to expand your students’ vocabularies and encourage better character development in their writing.
- Free Plan
Dotted-Lined Handwriting Paper - Portrait
Use these printable dotted-lined handwriting paper templates to develop your students' letter formation skills in the kindergarten classroom.
- Free Plan
Biography of a Paralympian – Inquiry-Based Project
Have your students investigate the life and achievements of a famous Paralympic athlete with this inquiry-based learning project.
- Plus Plan
Strong Verbs Teaching Slides
Discover how to use strong verbs in sentences with this set of teaching slides.
- Plus Plan
Informative Writing Fact Files - Differentiated Writing Worksheets
Teach your students to write informative texts using a pack of differentiated Informative Writing Fact File Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Editing Worksheets – Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation
Use these editing worksheets to add daily editing practice to your lesson plans.
- Plus Plan
STEAL Characterization Anchor Charts
Use the S.T.E.A.L. method of characterization to help your students ‘steal’ the show with their writings using handy printable anchor charts.
- Plus Plan
Procedural Writing Templates – "How to" Prompts
Get your students to write procedural texts with this set of differentiated procedure writing prompt templates.
- Plus Plan
Describing Animal Adaptations - Informative Writing Prompt Worksheets
Write to describe animals and their adaptations with a printable pack of informative writing worksheets.
- Free Plan
Emotive Language Cloze Passage Worksheet
Get students using emotive language examples in their persuasive essays with this differentiated cloze passage worksheet.
- Free Plan
Free Printable Lined Paper Templates
Use this free printable lined paper pack to encourage students to write and publish their work in your classroom writing station.
- Plus Plan
Christmas Board Game - 1st Grade Punctuation
Engage students by having them play a Christmas board game, refining their abilities to use correct punctuation at the end of sentences.
- Plus Plan
Adverbs for 2nd Graders – Worksheet Pack
Adverb practice doesn't have to be a struggle. Use these worksheets for 2nd graders in your classroom.
- Plus Plan
Adverb Whole Class Game
Teach your students how to use adverbs to add detail in simple sentences with this fun whole-class game!
- Plus Plan
Adjective and Adverb Scoot Game
Scoot! This fun active learning game will have your students up and about on an adverb and adjective adventure around your classroom!
- Plus Plan
Letters A–Z Printable ABC Worksheets
Learn the letters of the alphabet and their sounds with printable ABC worksheets
- Plus Plan
Persuasive Techniques Worksheet Pack
Explore persuasive techniques with your students using this nine-page worksheet pack perfect for your persuasive writing unit.
- Plus Plan
PEEL Paragraph Structure Poster and Worksheets
Explore the acronym PEEL to help with paragraph technique during opinion writing lessons.
- Free Plan
Cornell Notes Template
Help your students organize their notes with a free Cornell Notes Template.
- Plus Plan
Informative Text Writing Task – How Does the Water Cycle Work?
A scaffolded writing task for students to complete when learning about the informative text type.
- Free Plan
Time Order Words - Transition Words Word Wall
Help your students demonstrate the passage of time in their writing with 35 time-order transition word cards.
- Plus Plan
Winter Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Celebrate winter and your growing writers with Winter writing worksheets for Kindergarten and first grade.
- Plus Plan
U.S. Mountains and Rivers - Student Research Workbook
Research and write about the different major mountains, rivers, and land features in the United States with a printable workbook.
- Plus Plan
The Boston Massacre Reading and Writing Worksheets
Integrate Reading and Social Studies content with a set of Boston Massacre worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Bill of Rights - RACES writing response
Practice using the RACES writing strategy and discover the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights with a passage, organizer, and prompt.
- Plus Plan
Thurgood Marshall Constructed Response Worksheet
Discover the influence and positive character traits of Thurgood Marshall with a reading passage and RACES writing prompt for fourth grade.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Needs and Wants Writing Center Activity
Combine Social studies and writing content with a set of Needs and Wants writing prompts for first grade.