Writing
Explore resources designed to improve writing instruction in elementary school. 
- View a visual diagram of all five practices
- Watch a topic overview and download planning templates
- Listen to an expert
Explore the subtopics below to learn more about the recommended practices:
To learn more about the research underlying these practices, view the IES Practice Guide, Teaching Elementary Students to Be Effective Writers.
Looking at Books with a Writer's Eye
Writing > Writing Process > See How It Works
A teacher shows how she uses mentor texts to teach students to emulate features of good writing. She illustrates reading aloud a mentor text and conducting a pre-writing activity for her students...
Resource Type
School Example
Writer's Workshop Every Day
Writing > Daily Time > See How It Works
Teachers describe what writing instruction and practice time looks like in their classrooms. Teachers at this school hold a Writer's Workshop every day. This is an example of how writer's workshop...
Resource Type
School Example
Including Writing in Everything We Do
Writing > Daily Time > See How It Works
Watch a fifth-grade math class integrate writing practice into a geometry lesson. Students plan their writing using graphic organizers specifically tailored to writing in the context of a math...
Resource Type
School Example
Parent Letter
Writing > Engaged Community > See How It Works
Review this parent letter to learn how one teacher engages parents in building an engaged community of writers. To learn more about building an engaged community of writers, view the presentations,...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Appositive Worksheet: How Do Experts Do It?
Writing > Foundational Skills > See How It Works
This sample material offers an example of different nonfiction sentences in a mentor text to show students how authors use appositives to craft sentences. Listen to the audio interview, Learning to...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Keep It Simple
Writing > Foundational Skills > See How It Works
Teachers can use this template to teach sentence construction in different subject areas to show sentence patterns and to help students construct simple and complex sentences. Listen to the audio...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Check This Out
Writing > Foundational Skills > See How It Works
Use the example questions from this sample material to help students understand sentence construction and different techniques that authors use to craft effective sentences. To learn how one...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Tips for Using an Author's Chair Activity
Writing > Engaged Community > See How It Works
Learn how Author's Chair can be implemented in an elementary school classroom. To learn more about how this teacher uses Author's Chair, view the presentation, There Is a Larger...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Make Time to Write
Writing > Daily Time > See How It Works
This PowerPoint illustrates the components of the Writer's Workshop and provides guidelines for how to structure workshop time. It includes sample schedules and lesson plans. To learn more about...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Writing Buddies
Writing > Writing Process > See How It Works
An important part of the writing process is sharing. Having students regularly share their writing with one another in a format such as Writing Buddies is one way to encourage daily sharing and...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Writing Conference Sheet
Writing > Writing Process > See How It Works
As part of the Writer's Workshop model, teachers conference with individual students as they share their writing at different stages of the writing process. This sample material gives some ideas...
Resource Type
Sample Material
Persuasive Writing Lessons
Writing > Writing Process > See How It Works
This sample material includes two lesson plans for teachers to help students focus on the elements of strong, persuasive writing pieces. The lessons are broken up by days to incorporate time for...
Resource Type
Sample Material
