Writing the conclusion of an essay can often seem like a superfluous or daunting task. Support your young writers in understanding the various types and purposes of a conclusion paragraph, such as summarizing key points of a paper or...

Are your pupils ready to move beyond a thesis statement by adding additional detail to their introductory paragraphs? Provide this handout to give your class some ideas for spiffing up their work. The page includes a sample paragraph...

Organization is key in essay writing. The two organizational charts included in this resource model the block approach and the point-by-point approach to organizing a compare and contrast style essay. After examining the...

Next time you assign your young historians to write a persuasive essay, use this document as a starting point and support them with a rubric, tips for writing a successful persuasive piece, and a general essay outline.

Set up your writers for writing strong introductions with a formula for putting together supported thesis statements. This reference page breaks the process down and provides an example of how to compose a thesis statement, develop a...

Inspire essay organization with this handout and exercise about outlining. Writers read through a brief outline model and then practice writing their own outline by completing a second model. Scholars not only complete the outline, they...

Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...

This site provides a guideline for writing a comparative essay for the AP World History Test. It also provides practice exercises and samples.

Introduce your classes to the Art of Rhetoric with a lesson that focuses on Aristotle's persuasive appeals and how they have been used, both ethically and unethically, to influence opinion.

If you would like a concise overview of MLA formatting, this two-page handout provides it. It addresses page layout, parenthetical citations, and works cited (including when and how to use ellipses to indicate an omission), but it does...

If you are a teacher OR a student looking for a well-informed website on elements of the writing process, you are in luck! This site from the Capital Community College is very comprehensive and easy-to-navigate. From grammar basics to...

This website provides a series of links to detailed information about each segment of how to write an academic essay from how to read the assignment to the final edits. Use the links to the right. W.9-10.1a claims/intro/org, W.9-10.2a...

A tip sheet on how to write and develop an introduction to a research paper.

This tutorial lists and discusses the steps to writing a good essay and provides a downloadable guide. It also allows you to view a sample essay. W.11-12.2a Intro/Format

This resource presents many guidelines here that will be helpful as you write your first draft. Click on the topic you want to know more about and the guidelines will load.

This resource explains how to write an essay. Provides information regarding length, order, and opening strategies. W.9-10.1a claims/intro/org

Resources for helping students to write historical essays. Includes a movie trailer to demonstrate the traits of a good introduction, tips for writing a paragraph, tips for formal writing, and guidelines for citing sources.

This page has eight basic steps for writing expository essays: select topic, write the thesis, choose a method of development, organize, write topic sentences for body paragraph, write the body paragraphs, write an introduction, and...

This resource provides good insight on how to structure a well organized effective persuasive essay.

This Indiana University of Pennsylvania Writing Center site provides tips to writing a strong conclusion to an essay. The article discusses incorporating an anecdote, a basic summary, a startling summary, famous ideas, and/or hints to...

Explains the thesis statement and distinguishes it from the purpose statement. Gives an example of a paragraph containing both. Be sure try the link at the bottom of the page, "Developing a Thesis Statement." This page goes into further...

An excellent tip sheet on how to write and develop a conclusion to a research paper. Includes in-depth information and examples.

This writing center tutorial explains why the opening paragraph is so important. It also addresses six common problems to avoid.

This handout focuses on organizing exploratory or inquiry essays including the introduction, the body paragraphs, and the conclusion. W.11-12.2 Informative