Scratching your head when it comes to engaging writing prompts? Check out a list of prompts designed for middle school classes, which includes topics for persuasive writing, expository writing, how-to essays, personal narratives, and...

An extensive collection of lessons and activities includes many writing, grammar, and proofreading exercises. With templates and worksheets that cover several steps in the writing process, from sentence to paragraph to essay, this...

A three-part assessment challenges scholars to write opinion essays covering the topic of the student council. After reading three passages, writers complete a chart, work with peers to complete a mini-research project, answer...

Open-ended and intriguing, a writing prompt about two people from history is sure to get your young scholars thinking. Have them choose two historical figures, and after brainstorming their similarities and differences, successes and...

Scholars read excerpts from the story, Heidi, in a three-part assessment that focuses on comparing and contrasting characters. Each part contains three tasks that challenge learners to discuss, answer comprehension...

How do you know what traits a character displays in a story? Learners select a character and find list three traits for this character, explaining why they chose each trait. They then put this information together into a paragraph or essay.

Characters in a story are more than a name to remember. Use a character builder worksheet to write out a character's appearance, background, personality, attributes, and story relevance, including whether they are a main or minor...

In this literature resource, students are presented with 8 short answer and essay questions about The Diary of Anne Frank. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...

In this using spatial organization in writing worksheet, students read the explanation of spatial organization, interactively explore a photograph, record their impressions, compare various impressions, then write an essay telling an...

Your young writers will practice identifying the hook, position statement, and main points of two examples of persuasive writing.

In this word choice worksheet, learners will read a 5 paragraph essay about an igloo hotel. Then students will replace 10 verbs with more descriptive verbs. Next, learners will use strong verbs from a word bank to complete 14 sentences...

When it comes to writing, cliches are as old as dirt. A handout on tired phrases provides examples of cliches, as well as a description of the negative effects they have on a paper. Writers discover specific words and phrases to avoid,...

A great student reference tool and graphic organizer in one worksheet! Young writers can read a detailed description of each section of a standard five-paragraph essay before completing a graphic organized with their own writing. The...

Get your writers started on their personal essay with a worksheet that gently guides them into formulating some ideas they might use. Strengths, weaknesses, major experiences, influential individuals, all offer something that can be a...

Music is a universal pleasure, but writing about it can be a little trickier. An informative handout discusses common types of music writing assignments that one might encounter in a college-level course. Individuals read about musical...

Just like with any skill, test-taking aptitude improves with practice. Learners complete the handout, answering reading comprehension questions and engaging in timed writing exercises. The test includes multiple-choice and constructed...

Twelve categories of verbs exist in the future tense, ranging from simple present to future perfect progressive, but only three have a place in academic writing. Those three tenses make up the content of an informational handout that...

How can an unfamiliar place help you learn something about yourself? Use a narrative writing prompt as you culminate your unit on Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic. Kids consider the ways that, like the main character from the...

Guide your writers in the pre-writing stage of a research project. Print this sheet to help each writer select an appropriate research topic. They practice narrowing and broadening two different options provided. A natural follow-up...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 10 short answer and essay questions about Zola's Nana. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

Despite the formal nature of academic writing, personal pronouns frequently appear in high school and college papers. While your first instinct may be to cross them out, sometimes it's okay to use them, an idea covered in a handout that...

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 15 short answer and essay questions about Dream of the Red Chamber. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the novel at the bottom of the page.

In this literature worksheet, students respond to 3 short answer and essay questions about the works of Sandra Cisneros. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the stories at the bottom of the page.