Welcome to my blog index page featuring posts for upper elementary students who want to improve their writing skills. Teaching writing can be challenging, so I’ve compiled a range of posts to help you with your lessons.
My post categories include writing strategies, writing skills, capitalization and punctuation, narrative writing, teaching text structures with songs, teaching text structures, teaching persuasive techniques with commercials, and parts of speech. You’ll find ideas and free teaching materials to make your lessons more effective and engaging.
You can browse my posts by clicking on the images below or using the search bar on the right. You can also subscribe to my newsletter for updates on new posts and freebies. Whether you’re looking for tips on enhancing your students’ skills, making writing more fun and interactive, or integrating writing with other subjects, you’ll find something worthwhile on my blog.
I hope these posts will support your upper elementary students’ writing development and inspire them to become confident writers. Happy teaching!
May 01
Do your students know when to capitalize directions? Most second graders proudly capitalize cities, states, and countries like seasoned travelers with a passport and a pencil—but those pesky direction words? A whole different compass. Whether it’s North Carolina or just “heading northeast,” students often struggle to decide when north, south, east, and west deserve their …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=7361
Mar 27
Fifth graders + commas = chaos with a sprinkle of misplaced punctuation. If you’ve ever seen commas tossed into a sentence like confetti—“My dog, barks, loudly, every, morning,”—you know the struggle is real. Luckily, this post has everything you need to help students master comma rules and enjoy the process. From quick-reference charts to video …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=3095
Feb 27
Students should use different ways to start sentences. Teaching students to use a variety of sentence structures can greatly improve their writing. This post contains a step-by-step lesson plan with printables for teaching students this very important skill. The activities in this lesson can easily be divided across multiple days into mini-lesson or taught as …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=3446
Feb 20
Teaching prepositions can feel a little tricky. Students often mix them up or struggle to see how they actually change the meaning of a sentence. The good news? With the right mix of visuals, movement, and practice, prepositions can become one of the most fun grammar lessons you teach. Below you’ll find engaging preposition activities, …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=1243
Jan 16
Adverbs can be so much fun to teach once students understand how they bring action to life! The trick is showing them how adverbs answer the questions how, when, where, and to what extent. With the right mix of songs, games, books, and visuals, students will start spotting adverbs everywhere. Below, you’ll find classroom-tested adverb …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=1236
Dec 05
Most students will be able to say that the setting of a story is where and when the story takes place; however, writing a setting is a whole new story (pun intended). This lesson includes five activities that help students write descriptive settings for their narratives. The handout for this blog post is now available …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=7491
Nov 28
Verbs are the engines of sentences. They show what is happening, what has happened, or what will happen. Helping students understand action, linking, and helping verbs (and their tenses) gives them the tools to write with clarity and power. This post is packed with engaging activities, videos, games, books, posters, and free resources you can …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=1232
