Analyzing writing curriculums, planning writing workshop and teaching writing lessons can be overwhelming. You might think, how am I going to fit everything in and produce successful writers? Where do I start? What skills do they need? This post will share the 7 BASIC WRITING LESSONS that every teacher should teach! With this basic knowledge, students will be able to perform other writing assignments more effectively. The following skills are not only effective in upper elementary, they are often needed at the middle school level for review or the primary level for differentiation. So yes, every teacher should teach them! If you start with these 7 fundamental skills, it will set the expectations for your writing lessons and assignments throughout the year! Frequently Asked Questions What are the basic skills and what order should I teach them? Sentence Structure 1. Complete Sentences Lesson for complete sentences 2. Fragments Lesson for fragments 3. Run-ons Lesson for run-ons Paragraph Writing 4. Topic Sentences Lesson for topic sentences 5. Relevant Details Lesson for relevant details 6. Transition Words Lesson for transition words 7. Closing Sentences Lesson for closing sentences How much time should I dedicate to teaching these fundamental skills? I recommend one day for each skill. If you spend a whole writing block for each skill, students will benefit from the practice. How do I teach each skill? First: Start with an anchor chart explaining the skill. (See each lesson link above for effective anchor charts.) Second: Provide examples. Students can share examples too! Next: Students should take notes. I love using Interactive Writing Notebooks to take notes. Research supports the use of interactive notebooks through studies on multiple intelligences, the brain and note taking. Here are a few videos to Set Up Interactive Writing Notebooks. Click photo for the Upper Elementary Version. A Primary Version is also available. Then: Identify the skill. Provide practice sheets and task cards for students to practice identifying the skill in sentences and paragraphs. Last: Apply the skill. Students should have the opportunity to write their own sentence or paragraph to apply the particular skill. What if I can't fit the lesson in one writing block? If you can't extend the days to complete them, there are other ways to get the whole lesson in. You can put practice sheets or task cards in a center, or you can have students apply the skill for homework or morning work the next day. What if my students, some of my students, or absent students can't do interactive notebooks? Make a small anchor chart to put in their notebooks with the same information! If you don't have a printable poster, take a picture of the anchor chart you used in class and print them off! I hope you found this post helpful and your students become successful writers this year! Connect With Me! TPT Store Facebook Pinterest My Blog
Explore our range of fun and engaging year 4 fractions resources. Help children master fractions with highly visual worksheets.
Students can practice stretching out sentences with these fun writing activities! The focus is to add more details to sentences by answering the questions who, what, when, where, why, and how? These will get students thinking about what details to add to make their sentences more interesting! Try these activities in writing centers, writing workshop, and just for extra practice. Included: • How to stretch the sentence page with example • Stretch it out example page • 15 stretch it out practice pages (fill in the blanks, then write out the sentence) • 1 blank stretch it out practice page • Fill in the details example page • 5 pages of fill in the details practice, 4 sentences per page (fill in the blanks) • Stretch the sentence example page • 15 pages of stretch the sentence practice - short sentences given then students write out the stretched sentences (5 sentences per page) • 2 pages of blank stretch the sentence practice *Try out a few pages with the free sample! *Please see the preview for a good look at this resource!* ______________________________________________________ You may also like: Roll A Story - Writing Activity How To Writing Activities Poetry Book Template Make A Book Template
Do you do writing workshop with your students? My program has evolved over the last 23 years, and now it runs smoothly – although I can’t help but add new ideas each year! Long before I expect students to write stories, we spend a lot of time discussing stories. For example, every time we read […]
Why is it that no matter how much reminding and modeling we do, our students continue to make the same sentence-writing mistakes?
Do you want to make your writing lessons more hands-on and engaging? Try writing interactive notebooks with your students!
Teaching students how to write a paragraph is not an easy task! Especially since many children struggle to put their thoughts down on paper.
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Help your students expand their writing skills with these teaching ideas on writing a paragraph before they need to know how to write a multi-paragraph.
Create a classroom of writers with these fun writing activities for middle school students! There's something for everyone!
Steal these for your writing unit!
Launching writing workshop or even just setting up your writing block can feel overwhelming, but with the help of these anchor charts, you’ll feel confident and prepared to set your students up for writing success this year. These writing workshop anchor charts and posters are perfect for back to school and will help your students remember all the important writing habits and behaviors they should practice this year. This set of anchor charts will be your teacher bestie when it comes to launching writing workshop and setting up your writing block. These posters describe and explain key writing habits and behaviors you want your students to embrace. From building the writing process, to collecting ideas, to independent writing to peer review, these anchor charts will help you teach all these key back-to-school writing lessons. With the help of these posters, students will understand exactly what they need to do to become successful writers in your class this year. And let’s be honest… back to school can be a stressful and busy season for teachers. Having this set of ready-to-print anchor charts will take the guesswork out of your first few weeks of writing lessons. You’ll be able to print out the anchor chart you need for your lesson each day and will be set for the first three weeks of school! HERE’S WHAT YOU GET: In this resource, you’ll get 20 anchor charts to help you launch writing workshop. The posters are formatted in the following ways: Half-page anchor charts - perfect for students journals Full page anchor charts - works great for whole group lessons Digital version - created using Google Slides FIll-in version - available for both the half-page and full-page versions and are great if you want your students to take notes during the lesson LOVED BY BOTH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS: Your students will love having access to these anchor charts during the year. They won’t feel the pressure to remember all the different parts of the writing workshop because they know they can look back in their journals anytime they need a reminder. You’ll love these anchor charts because they have easy-to-read font and are written with clear and concise language. Your students will understand the objective of each lesson with these anchor charts. So many upper elementary teachers love these anchor charts because they aren’t cluttered with excess clipart or fonts that are too “cutesy”. And, you have options. You can choose to print them in half pages for students to glue in their journals… or you can share them with your students in Google Classroom… or you can give students the fill-in version so they can take notes during your lessons. You can pick the version that will work for you and your students. Prep is quick and easy... Just print the anchor chart option you want to use before your writing lesson and you’re ready to go. ANCHOR CHART TITLES INCLUDE: All About Writer's Workshop Collecting Ideas Conferring Habits of a Strong Writer Independent Writing Looks Like/Sounds Like Peer Review Revise vs. Edit Sharing Our Writing Show Not Tell Story Telling Strong Listeners Student and Teacher Roles During Writing Workshop Think I'm Done, Now What? Using Mentor Texts What do Writers Writer? Why Writers Write Writer's Notebook Writing For Your Audience Writing Process HOW TO USE THESE CHARTS IN YOUR CLASSROOM: Use them at the start of the school year to help launch Writing Workshop. Use them throughout the year to review key writing habits and behaviors. Use as a model for your whole group lessons. Give students a copy to glue in their journals. Send home a copy to parents to keep them informed. Include a copy with your lesson plans to show your administrators what you’re teaching. Put posters on a ring or in a binder as a reference for small groups or workstations. TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “My students loved using these as a resource during our writers workshop. They helped students stay focused on the lesson.” - Sarah H. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This was a very helpful resource in distance learning, but I also think it is going to be equally as helpful in-person. These are helpful to have on hand digitally and can easily be printed out. Thank you for a wonderful, helpful way to make learning more accessible in these trying times. :)” - Jaclyn Parolin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Writers' Workshop is a great method of laying out your writing, and these posters really supported a clear structure to the system. Thank you!” - Jeanine F. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “These writing workshop anchor charts provided so much visual support to my 2nd graders! I was so thankful to have purchased such a resource that I have and will refer to throughout the year!” - Haley W. _______________________________________ ⭐️ BUNDLE & SAVE FOR A DISCOUNT⭐️ Purchase the Reading & Writing Workshop Bundle to get this set of posters plus 30 Reading Workshop Anchor Charts to help you launch both reading and writing workshops. I THINK YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: → Writing Tools and Resource Bundle → Show Not Tell Mini Charts → 20 Writing Graphic Organizers ________________________________ Copyright © The Stellar Teacher Co. LLC www.stellarteacher.com Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.
Writing doesn’t have to be hard. Whenever I talk to fellow teachers about what they HATE teaching… it always seems to be writing. Why is that? I theorize that it’s because writing is very personal. There’s no cut and dry methods that work for ALL students. It is also time consuming to teach AND especially […]
Paragraph writing is a big challenge for many students. This post includes a step-by-step method to help your students write great paragraphs in no time.
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When teaching narrative writing in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, there are so many writing skills to cover. They range from creating a sequence of events (beginning, middle, and end) to more difficult
Teaching students how to write a paragraph is not an easy task! Especially since many children struggle to put their thoughts down on paper.
As adult writers, we have a clear idea of how we each personally attack a piece of writing. For me, I know that I tend to spend a lot of time collecting information, using sticky
I'm sharing 5 tips for How to Teach Informative Writing & details about the Informative Writing Units that have ALL you need to teach informational writing to your K, 1st or 2nd grade students.
Teaching persuasive writing methods can be fun and easy! Begin with a strong structure. Then show kids how to elaborate and improve.
Check out these teaching materials for upper elementary students including task and reference cards on writing narrative hooks.
Steal these for your writing unit!
This is the last of four in my series on Teaching Paragraph Writing. If you’ve been following along, you know that we’ve discussed Topic Sentences, Supporting Ideas and Details, and even Conclusions… And now we’re going to do a little more advanced work by adding transitions to our paragraph. These tiny words and phrases […]
Steal these for your writing unit!
Steal these for your writing unit!
Steal these for your writing unit!
Refer your students this free Types of Writing printable to introduce to or remind them of the 4 main types of writing: narrative, expository, persuasive, and descriptive. Each type of writing includes a short definition. Great for writers’ notebooks! Just print and use! You Might Also Like:Reading Comprehension PassagesFree Printable Graphic Organizers for ReadingGraphic Organizers for ... Read More about Four Types of Writing Printable
Are your students struggling in writing? Do you want to transform your reluctant writers into ROCKSTAR WRITERS? This easy and painless way of teaching writing will have you doing the happy dance. You will have students BEGGING to write and see them ROCK the standardized writing test! So let's
There, their, they’re. No need for confusion. Check this laminated cheat sheet from Etsy. Source: Commonly Misused Words Anchor Chart Laminated | Etsy
A blog for first grade and primary teachers with teaching tips for emergent readers including phonics, reading comprehension, and writing.
Journaling is a fun & low-pressure way to ease into writing. With that in mind, we’ve created 75 elementary writing prompts to help your students begin writing!
A blog for first grade and primary teachers with teaching tips for emergent readers including phonics, reading comprehension, and writing.
A writing template to help children when structuring text types.
Every teacher on the planet knows that the first weeks of school are all about routines, routines, routines and more routines. There are the super obvious routines to discuss like what to do when you have to go to the bathroom or get water, what to do when you want to speak, how to turn work in and
This STEP-BY-STEP WRITING® IS A COMPLETE WRITER'S WORKSHOP PROGRAM with all the tools needed for the entire year. It is filled with standard-based engaging lessons (scripted), anchor charts, modeling, mentor text, interactive notebook pages, practice, and all the forms, graphic organizers, checklists, and rubrics necessary to teach and assess
This product supplies students with transition words to use to connect ideas in their writing. Transition words included to: -Start -Continue -Compare -Contrast -Show Cause & Effect -Give Examples -Conclusions Some people have found that the bottom half of the page is blank when they download it. If this is the case, please let me know and I will email you the file!!
Engaging, fun ways to teach your students summarizing skills. Strengthen their reading skills and provide practice with this challenging concept.
Use this Silly Sentence printable in your literacy center for a fun activity to teach the parts of a sentence in English.
Are you looking for writing topics for kids that can be used in the classroom? We have compiled a list of fun and creative writing topics for students.
