Teaching writing doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the right strategies, you can transform your students into confident, creative, and skilled writers. Whether you're focusing on persuasive essays, memoirs, research projects, or creative writing, these hacks will make your writing lessons engaging and effective.
Here are ten hacks for teaching writing that will boost your students' success while making your job easier.
1. Provide Lots of Opportunities and Choices for Writing
Students thrive when they have frequent and varied opportunities to write. Offer engaging tasks such as:
➤ Writing about their favorite memories in this MEMOIR writing unit
➤ Creating fictional stories based on fun story cubes like this adventure writing FREEBIE
➤ Completing journal entries or quick writes like these for SEL
Letting students choose from a range of options encourages ownership and creativity in their writing.
2. Use Targeted Mini-Lessons to Teach Specific Skills
Focus on one specific writing skill per mini-lesson to make your instruction clear and actionable. For example:
➤ Writing strong leads
➤ Incorporating vivid sensory details
➤ Improving transitions between paragraphs
➤ Eliminating redundant sentences
Mini-lessons keep students from feeling overwhelmed and give them tools they can apply immediately.
3. Teach the Elements of a Genre Before Starting a Writing Unit
Before diving into a new writing project, explicitly teach students about the elements of the genre. For instance, if you're teaching narrative writing, cover elements like character development, plot structure, and dialogue. Use mentor texts to analyze these elements, and create anchor charts that students can reference as they write. Targeted genre studies like these set students up for success!
4. Provide Writing Opportunities in a Variety of Formats
Make writing exciting by incorporating diverse formats, such as:
➤ Writing fables or children's books
➤ Designing brochures or advertisements
➤ Writing imaginary pet sketches
Offering these options ensures that students stay engaged and practice writing for different purposes.
5. Sneak Writing Activities into Holidays and Special Occasions
Use holidays and special events to make writing festive and fun. Try activities like:
➤ Writing spooky Halloween stories
➤ Creating a Valentine's Day rebus
➤ Drafting gratitude projects for Thanksgiving
➤ Writing limericks for St. Patrick’s Day
These themed activities make writing feel fresh and enjoyable.
6. Encourage Students to Evaluate Writing While Reading
As students read, teach them to analyze the author’s style, organization, and use of details. Questions like “What makes this introduction effective?” or “How does the author build suspense?” help students develop a critical eye, which they can then apply to their own writing. Grab a set of free reading bookmarks about writing HERE.
7. Make Writing Assignments Interesting and Hands-On
Engage students with creative, hands-on assignments. For example:
➤ Create a picture frame filled with research writing
➤ Write in response to social emotional learning prompts on pennant flags
➤ Create thank you pockets with notes of gratitude
➤ Make 3D giftboxes with research about international holidays
These activities make writing feel purposeful and interactive.
8. Use Rubrics and Guides to Make Evaluating Easier
Grading doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Use clear rubrics that break down writing into specific criteria, such as organization, grammar, and voice. Share the rubric with students before they write so they know what to focus on. Peer and self-assessments can also streamline the process and encourage reflection. Every one of these turn-key writing units includes a rubric to easily evaluate writing.
9. Encourage (and Don’t Grade) Creative Writing
Let students explore creative writing without the pressure of grades. Offer fun prompts like, “What if your pet could talk for a day?” or “Imagine you discovered a secret room in your school.” Focus on self-expression and joy rather than mechanics to help students develop a love for writing. Find an entire collection of creative writing lessons HERE.
10. Celebrate Creativity in Writing with Displays and Sharing Opportunities
Showcase your students’ hard work by celebrating their creativity. Try ideas like:
➤ Hosting a Literacy Café where students read their work aloud
➤ Creating a class anthology of stories or poems
➤ Displaying writing pieces on a bulletin board or in a digital gallery
➤ Organizing a classroom poetry reading
Sharing writing builds confidence and helps students take pride in their accomplishments.
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With these 10 teaching writing hacks, your classroom will be buzzing with creativity and productivity. From hands-on projects to literacy cafés, these strategies will inspire your students and streamline your teaching process.
What are your favorite writing hacks? Share them in the comments below!
Thanks for stopping by!
Mary Beth
P.S. If you're looking for more ways to liven up your ELA instruction, be sure to sign up for the Brain Waves Instruction newsletter here.
