Writing Lessons

The "Evaluating Evidence Puzzle" activity is a hands-on and interactive exercise designed to enhance students' critical thinking and evaluation skills when assessing different types of evidence. In this activity, students are presented with a set of evidence cards representing various evidence types...

This bundle combines several writing mini lessons and activities: Sentence Structure & Syntax Paragraph Structure & Coherence Thesis Statements Evidence Integration Students will practice sentence construction through a sentence building competition, work on thesis statement and paragraph construction through the use of the "I do," "we do," "you do" strategy, and practice identifying and integrating appropriate evidence. These lessons can be used individually as a quick refresher before a...

This foundational thesis mini lesson introduces students to what a thesis statement is, why it matters, and how it functions as the central idea of an essay. Designed for middle school and early high school writers, this lesson uses a clear, scaffolded approach to help students move from topic-level ideas to focused thesis statements. Through an “I Do / We Do / You Do” structure, students: Learn the purpose of a thesis statement Identify strong vs. weak thesis examples Practice writing...

Help students write clear, coherent paragraphs with this focused mini lesson. Designed for grades 7–12, this resource teaches paragraph structure through guided instruction and practice—perfect for review, remediation, or writing workshops. This engaging mini-lesson equips students with the tools to write powerful paragraphs. Through a blend of activities, students will: Identify Key Elements: Analyze a sample paragraph to understand the building blocks of strong writing. Collaborative...

Do your student struggle with sentence fragments or run-ons? This sentence builder activity is designed to reinforce the building blocks of a good sentence. This lesson starts with basic definitions for the subject, verb, and object of a sentence and simple, compound, and complex sentence types. Use the included sentence strips to hold a sentence building competition in your class that will allow students to quickly practice putting together grammatically correct sentences. Everything you...

Struggling to engage students in reading comprehension? This downloadable resource pack is your solution! What's Included: Engaging Graphic Organizer: Activate prior knowledge and organize information for any reading passage (grades 7-9, adaptable for others). Interactive Comprehension Worksheet: Guide students to gather key points and analyze text effectively. Multiple Formats: Choose from printable PDFs or Google Docs for seamless classroom integration. Benefits: Improves Reading Skills...

Need quick, low-prep grammar practice that fits into bell ringers, homework, or short review time? This digital grammar resource gives students targeted practice with editing and conventions while saving you planning time. The powerpoint can be used as a homework or beginning of the period activity, and includes 9 actual student sentences that need to be edited to correct spelling and grammar errors. This would be a good follow-up activity to a lesson on sentence construction and syntax...

Looking for a short, high-impact writing task that builds critical analysis and argument skills without a full essay? This middle/high school writing activity helps students practice making claims, analyzing ideas, and supporting reasoning. The "Critical Analysis and Argumentation" lesson is designed to equip students with essential skills for evaluating and constructing strong arguments. This engaging and interactive lesson will empower students to think critically, analyze information...

Assess your students' writing skills at the start of the year with this ready-to-use digital and PDF pre-test. Auto-grading included for easy scoring and immediate feedback.This BEST SELLING product is a 30-question pre-test to assess basic grammar & punctuation skills in junior high and/or high...

Looking for quick, effective proofreading bell ringers to build students’ editing and grammar skills? These daily proofreading warm-ups present short passages with intentional errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax, making them perfect for bell work, warm-ups, or review days. What’s Included: 9 proofreading bell ringer slides with intentional errors 9 corresponding answer key slides Errors include: Grammar Punctuation Spelling Sentence structure How Teachers Use This: Daily...

This scaffolded 7-day writing sequence guides students step-by-step through planning and writing a complete 5-paragraph essay. Students develop strong thesis statements, clear topic sentences, and organized body paragraphs with structured support throughout the week. If you are looking for a more rigorous version of this unit for AP, honors, or dual enrollment students, see my Narrative Analysis Unit. This unit also pairs well with my College-Ready Writing Units and Process-Based Essay...

This 21-slide presentation includes criteria for effective titles and examples of good and bad titles. It also provides students a chance to revisit some of their previous papers to rewrite their titles.