Posts in Writing Assignments
10 Unique and Creative Reflection Techniques & Lessons for the Secondary Student
10 Unique and Creative Reflection Techniques & Lessons for the Secondary Student

As educators, we know how critical reflection is to the learning process. Getting students to reflect- deeply and meaningfully- is often one of the most challenging lessons we teach. I have found that both my middle school and high school students will often scoff at these reflection activities, providing the least amount of effort possible to complete the task they see as meaningless. I have been searching for and creating lessons and activities that will bring interest and engagement to this task. The following

Read More
Assessing Writing, Editing & Revision, FREEBIES, Philosophies on Writing, The Writing Process, Writing AssignmentsGuest UserSemester Reflection, reflection activities for the secondary student, reflection activities for high school students, reflection activities for middle school students, reflection lessons, reflecting lessons, #relfectionlessons, #reflectingonlearning, #edchat, #iteachtoo, #iteachenglish, #englishteachers Comment
Narrative, Information & Argumentative Holiday Writing Ideas
Narrative, Information & Argumentative Holiday Writing Ideas

Before your pants are covered in green glitter and your classroom floor is littered with candy cane wrappers, make sure those writing skills you taught during that one unit in that one month are not forgotten! I’ve thought up some fun writing activities for the week before the holidays, plus key terms you can bring up during the super fun activities as well!

Read More
Holiday, Writing AssignmentsAmanda Wernerholiday writing assignments, holidayComment
Three Famous Christmas Speeches to Inspire Writing
Three Famous Christmas Speeches to Inspire Writing

It's the "most wonderful time of the year" once again!  Every year, the holiday season inspires new movie ideas, and some of these movies go on to become some of the most beloved films of all time with some of the most well-known movie speeches in film history.  

Read More
FREEBIES, Writing Assignments, Writing Workshop, Writing Mini-lessonsMeredith Dobbschristmas, holiday, holiday writing assignments, movie, speech, speeches, rhetorical analysis, rhetoric, rhetorical, literary analysis, literary devicesComment
Engaging Holiday Writing Activities for Middle and High School
Engaging Holiday Writing Activities for Middle and High School

Read about three meaningful ways to keep students engaged in your secondary ELA classroom this holiday season. These writing activities will add value to your classroom culture while engaging students and keeping them focused. They're perfect for fast finishers and station activities.

Read More
FREEBIES, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMelissa Krusefast finisher, writing activities, holiday writing assignments, holiday, quick write, stations, writer's workshopComment
Writing is Recursive, Not Linear: Free Task Cards to Reflect Writing as a Process
Writing is Recursive, Not Linear: Free Task Cards to Reflect Writing as a Process

Writing goes all ways: forwards, backwards, sideways, over there, and over here.  In fact, the only piece of the writing process that occurs at a set point in time is publishing.

Read More
Best Practices, Editing & Revision, FREEBIES, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting workshop, writing skills, writer's notebook, writing process, revising and editing, revision, editing, edit, revise, targeted writing skills, writing lesson, commentary, textual evidence, evidence, organization, transitions, transitional devices, grammar, grammar and writing, task cards, taskComment
A Memorable Kinesthetic Writing Lesson for Older Students
A Memorable Kinesthetic Writing Lesson for Older Students

Teaching the writing process? Try involving students kinesthetically. Play Doh can work for big kids, too! My high school students absolutely love this writing analogy that walks them through each stage of the writing process as if they were sculptors crafting a masterpiece. Differentiate your instruction with this best-practice, active learning lesson.

Read More
Best Practices, Differentiating Writing, Editing & Revision, FREEBIES, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessonsMelissa Krusewriting process, kinesthetic learning, differentiation, manipulative, writing lesson, engagingComment
Daily Writing Prompts to Inspire New Ideas
Daily Writing Prompts to Inspire New Ideas

TeachWriting.org has announced a new writing workshop endeavor for the 2017-2018 school year. This year, the collaborators at TeachWriting are creating DAILY WRITING PROMPTS via their Facebook Page for English teachers in grades 6-12. 

Read More
Best Practices, Mentor Texts, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Workshop, Writing Mini-lessons, FREEBIESMeredith Dobbsdaily writing prompts, writing prompt, writing prompts, bell ringers, bell-ringers, bell ringer, bell-ringer, quick write, free write, essay, essay writing, the writing process, writing topic, writing assignments, writer's workshop, Writing lessons, writing skills, writing workshop, descriptive writing, description, figurative language, argumentative writing, persuasive essay, persuasion, persuasive, creative writing, mentor text, mentor, mentor sentence, vocabulary, grammar, grammar and writingComment
2 PreWriting Activities Your Students MUST DO Before Writing the Argument Essay
2 PreWriting Activities Your Students MUST DO Before Writing the Argument Essay

I love allowing students to choose their own issue for this argument essay, but that can be difficult for students who do not immediately know their topic or issue. I have found two techniques that really get students thinking about the issues that may resonate with them prior to their research and drafting stages of writing.

1. The Chart Paper Brainstorm and Gallery Walk

2. The Cube of Perspective

Read More
The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing Workshop, Modes of Writing, Best PracticesGuest UserPrewriting, Argument Writing, The Argument Essay, Prewriting Strategies Comment
TEN Writing Assignments to Build a Writing Community in the Classroom
TEN Writing Assignments to Build a Writing Community in the Classroom

Creative writing is the art of constructing original ideas by synthesizing literary elements and techniques to communicate an overarching theme about life.  Oftentimes in our English classes, we spend more time on the deconstruction process, analyzing works of art by taking them apart.

Read More
Best Practices, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting lessons, writer's notebook, writing process, writing culture, writing assignments, writing assessment, writing topic, writing projects, Writing Instruction, writer's workshop, writing workshop, Writing lessons, Writing instruction, writing philosophy, writing partners, writing prompts for middle school, writing project, writing topics, prompts, creative writingComment
How to Create a Writing Culture that Empowers Students through Grammar
How to Create a Writing Culture that Empowers Students through Grammar

Writing is grammar. Grammar is writing. Sure, there are elements of writing that may not be directly related to grammar, such as word choice, citation rules, and paragraph organization. Still, the ability to take words and play with them skillfully mainly centers around students' mastery of grammar. Teaching writing? When creating a writing culture in my classroom, demonstrating how grammar empowers authors is paramount. As I tell my students, "In this classroom, we do "grammaring."

Read More
Philosophies on Writing, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Best PracticesMelissa Krusegrammar, culture, writing culture, teaching writing, high school writing, writing lessons, writing hooks, grammar and writingComment
Foster a Writing Community in your Classroom by Creating a Class Blog
Foster a Writing Community in your Classroom by Creating a Class Blog

I have decided to build my own community of collaborative authors within my classroom; I will be establishing a class blog for my students, allowing them to grow together as authors, building a unique platform to showcase/display their works to the world!

Read More
Differentiating Writing, Technology & Writing, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Philosophies on WritingGuest UserCreating a class blog, student blogging, Blogging in an ELA classroom, writing skills, Writing lessons, Middle school writing lessons, Middle School English, Middle School Language Arts, High school writing, #iteachhighschool, High School English, Creating a student blog Comment
The Best First Writing Lesson of the Year: Email Etiquette 101
The Best First Writing Lesson of the Year: Email Etiquette 101

When planning for the beginning of the year, teachers need to choose writing assignments that allow for collection of pre-assessment data while also engaging students and building a positive writing community. 

Read More
Best Practices, Assessing Writing, Technology & Writing, Writing Assignments, Writing Mini-lessons, Writing WorkshopMelissa Krusewriter's workshop, lesson, back-to-school, email, real-world writing, best practices, career writing, mini-lessons, pre-assessmentComment
The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year
The Worst Essay of Your LIFE: A Unique Approach to Assessing Writing at the Beginning of the School Year

The beginning of the school year is an important time to assess the writing skill levels of new students in our English classes.  One way to do this is to assign a diagnostic essay in order to "diagnose" each student's writing level... 

Read More
Assessing Writing, Best Practices, FREEBIES, The Writing Process, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMeredith Dobbswriting topic, writing projects, writing workshop, writing, writer's workshop, writing process, writing assignments, writing topics, writer's notebook, writing assessment, essay writing, essay, diagnostic, diagnostic essay, English, english, Middle School English, High School English, high school, high-interest, targeted writing skills, common core, middle school, Middle School Language Arts, language and composition, language arts, Language Arts, engaging writers, writing skills, assessing writing, assessment Comments
Supporting Struggling Writers: 6 Strategies for Turning Struggling Students into Successful & Confident Writers!
Supporting Struggling Writers: 6 Strategies for Turning Struggling Students into Successful & Confident Writers!

6 Strategies for Turning Struggling Students into Successful & Confident Writers!

Read More
Assessing Writing, Best Practices, Editing & Revision, FREEBIES, Philosophies on Writing, Writing AssignmentsGuest UserSupporting Struggling Writers, Teaching Writing, Writing instruction, Middle School English, Middle School Language Arts, High School English, Teaching Writing to Struggling Writers, #ela #edchat #iteachtoo #iteachmiddle #teach #teacher, #ela, #edchat, #iteachtoo, #iteachmiddle, #iteachhighschoolComment
14 Strategies to Support Struggling Writers: Build Confidence & Increase Success
14 Strategies to Support Struggling Writers: Build Confidence & Increase Success

Teaching and assessing writing can be challenging, and even more so when you're trying to identify effective ways to scaffold writing instruction for struggling students. Set teenagers up for success by incorporating these teacher-tested, student-approved strategies.

Read More
Assessing Writing, Philosophies on Writing, Best Practices, Differentiating Writing, Writing Workshop, Writing AssignmentsMelissa KruseThe Reading & Writing Havenwriting, scaffolding writing, best practices, teaching writing, struggling writers, how to teach writing Comment
Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers
Three High-Interest Writing Assignments to Motivate Struggling Writers

Motivating struggling writers can be quite a challenge.  With struggling writers, it is important to create high-interest assignments that students will want to work on, assignments that they will want to put forth the effort on in order to succeed.  If struggling students are bored with a writing topic, they won’t be as invested in it and won’t want to put the time and effort in to make it the best it can be.

Read More
Writing Assignments, Best PracticesMeredith Dobbsstruggling writers, struggling students, differentiation, high-interest, writing, writing assignments, writing inspiration, writer's notebook, writing poems, writing process, writer's workshop, Writing Instruction, writing workshop, writing assessment, fun writing, writing topics, motivating students, motivation, English, english, engaging writers, Middle School English, High School English, high school, middle school, language arts, Language Arts, language and composition, Middle School Language Arts, summer school, struggle, screenplay, screenplay writing, project, writing projects, writing project, movie, film, film writing, tone, bias, media, writing topic, topic, list, topic listComment
Writing About Theme with an Engaging Musical Twist: An End-of-Course Assignment
Writing About Theme with an Engaging Musical Twist: An End-of-Course Assignment

Secondary ELA teachers can engage students in meaningful, purposeful writing activities at the end of the school year without burying themselves in grading and their students in hours of work -- it's true. Read on to be inspired.

Read More
FREEBIES, Best Practices, Writing Assignments, Writing WorkshopMelissa Kruseend of year writing assignments, end of year, writing assignments, writing workshop, engaging writers, music-based prompts Comments