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!
Sep 25
Firsthand and secondhand accounts are one of those things that are easy to say but a little trickier to teach reading skills. Before we dive in, here’s a little story from my family archives. My dad was a genealogy buff. The kind of guy who had color-coded binders and could connect us to people like Frances Scott Key. …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=3097
Jul 03
Storytelling techniques are essential tools that help bring narratives to life and captivate readers’ imaginations. By learning storytelling techniques like foreshadowing, flashbacks, and plot twists, students can take their writing to the next level. These techniques don’t just make stories more fun to read; they also help students grow as writers. When students learn to …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=1629
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 …
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 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 answer important questions about how, when, and where actions happen, but students often overlook them. This lesson focuses on teaching adverbs through visual examples, interactive practice, and writing strategies that help students add clarity and detail to their sentences. Grade Level3–5 Skill FocusUsing adverbs to clarify how, when, and where actions happen StandardsL.3.1g–5.1a • …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=1236
Dec 05
Most students can say that the setting of a story is where and when it 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. Grade Level4th–6th Skill FocusWriting Narrative Hooks StandardsW.4.3.A • W.5.3.A • W.6.3.A FormatPrintable & …
Permanent link to this article: https://bookunitsteacher.com/wp/?p=7491
