Writing is an essential skill, and learning to be a good writer will serve your students for the rest of their lives. Teaching writing can sometimes feel tedious, but there are many fun ways to practice writing that are sure to engage even the most reluctant learners. Read on for a few of our favorites.

 

Letter Writing

Practical life application is one of the easiest ways to get students excited about learning. Letter writing is a fantastic way to weave essential life skills into your teaching. What’s more, the letter-writing options are endless:

• Students can write letters to pen pals and get to know them throughout the year.
• They can even write letters to other students in their class or school.
• Students can write letters to you as their teacher at the beginning of the year to introduce themselves.
• At the end of the year, have students write letters to next year’s students, filling them in on all there is to know about your classroom.

Letter writing helps students practice essential writing skills such as punctuation, paragraphing and descriptive language. It also allows students to learn traditional salutations and closings that they’ll use in written communication for the rest of their lives.

 

Paragraph of the Week

Paragraph writing is an important skill to master, and practice brings progress. These paragraph of the week prompts are quick, simple, and engaging.

They can easily be used as morning work or homework as well. Getting your students used to writing a paragraph each week is a fantastic way to keep their writing skills fresh all year long and expose them to various writing styles, including narrative writing, opinion writing, and informational writing.

 

Picture Prompts

On a day when you’re ready to change things up picture writing prompts can be a great start. Choose a funny or unusual picture and use it as your writing prompt. You might as your students to write a letter to the person in the picture giving them advice. Or you might ask them to write a newspaper article to accompany the picture. You might even ask them to tell a story about what happened right before the picture was taken. With a well-chosen picture and some imagination, picture writing prompts can be educational and entertaining!

 

Use Graphic Organizers

Well-structured writing doesn’t come naturally to all students, so we love using graphic organizers. Graphic organizers such as this Yummy Paragraph activity are an excellent way to help students organize their thoughts. The fun graphics help engage reluctant and passionate writers alike while also helping them ensure their paragraph has all the necessary parts. Writing good paragraphs is an essential academic skill, and fun graphic organizers can bring it to life.

 

The next time you find yourself on the struggle bus with teaching writing, we hope one of these fun writing activities will give you and your students the inspiration you need.