730 FREE Writing Worksheets
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FREE Writing Worksheets

As ESL teachers, we’ve all had those students who do great on their grammar exams, speak up confidently in class, and are always first to raise their hands for activities - and yet, when it comes time for a writing assignment, they can barely squeeze out a few short sentences. This can be frustrating for the student and teacher alike - but it’s the symptom of a problem that’s well-known in every teaching community: Speaking and writing are two very different skills.

As with any new skill, practice is key - but students who have trouble writing aren’t usually keen to take on even more writing practice. After all, they might think, if their grammar and vocabulary are correct, and they don’t need to write in English for their jobs, what’s the point of drilling this skill? The answer is, of course, that the ability to write in English is key in the world and the workplace - from writing cover letters and CVs to drafting emails and client presentations. The responsibility is at least partly on you, the teacher, to provide assignments that draw your students into the writing process.

BusyTeacher.org is your number-one stop for exactly those kinds of assignments. Our 730 writing worksheets will provide your students with intriguing writing prompts, and with a variety of writing exercises that’ll help them watch their own improvement as it happens. Our worksheets even break down the writing process into its core components, so you can figure out exactly where in the process each student is struggling, and intervene with exercises to help him or her through that trouble spot.

The writing worksheets here on BusyTeacher.org will help familiarize your students with all the sub-skills involved in writing - from choosing a topic and constructing that first paragraph, all the way to writing movie reviews and short poems. Some of our worksheets even cover basics like handwriting and sentence structure - so no matter how much your students need to brush up on their fundamentals, we’ve got worksheets to meet them where they are.

You’ll find worksheets on any topic you can imagine, from daily routines and holidays to pop culture, news, and even poetry and song lyrics.  Some worksheets just help you lead simple fill-in-the-blank exercises, while others present thought-provoking topics for full essays, or include plans for your students to create their own newsletters. And for students who need help with English school assignments, you’ll also find worksheets on writing essays and test responses.

You can browse all of our 730 writing worksheets in thumbnail view, so you don’t have to wait for any of them to load to get an idea of what they’re like. As you scroll down the page, just click on any worksheet that catches your eye - they’re all completely free to download, print, and share in any way you like. And they’re all created and classroom-tested by real ESL teachers all over the world - which means you can be confident they’ll work in your classroom, too. If you’ve got a worksheet of your own that you’d like to share with your fellow ESL teachers in the BusyTeacher.org community, just click the “Submit a worksheet” button at the bottom of this page.

All of these writing worksheets are here to help you - so pick out a few that look interesting, and give them a try in your classroom today. We’re sure you’ll love them as much as the other ESL teachers in our community already do.

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Peer Editing Sheet for Beginners

Peer Editing Sheet for Beginners

This sheet can be used for peer-editing or self-editing an essay. It's designed for beginners so it covers indenting at the beginning of a paragraph, capital letters and periods for sentences, spe ...
8 Views 48,657 Elem
Everything You Throw Away Comes Back (Creative/Free Writing Prompt)

Everything You Throw Away Comes Back (Creative/Free Writing Prompt)

"Everything you throw away comes back" was originally an environmental social ad that I used for free writing with my ss. But some of them started to speak beyond throwing away trash but also abou ...
8 Views 10,917 Pre-IntIntAdvExam
Let Us Imagine

Let Us Imagine

Boosting the speaking and writing skills of pre-intermediate learners by means of comic created online and a strip story. The learners are invited to brainstorm in pairs ideas about the first cart ...
7 Views 18,492 ElemPre-IntIntAdv
Valentine's Day - Writing a Narrative

Valentine's Day - Writing a Narrative

This exercise is for ESL beginners. Starting from a comic strip about Valentine's Day, the students must write a short narrative in the present simple tense. You might want to first go over the ...
9 Views 19,209 Elem
Romulus and Remus - Narrative Writing Activity

Romulus and Remus - Narrative Writing Activity

Starting from a dialogue relating the story of Romulus and Remus, your students will be asked to write a simple narrative in the present tenses, based on pictures. This ESL activity was done in re ...
2 Views 14,331 Elem
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Creating a Fun Group Story

Creating a Fun Group Story

This has been one of my favorite activities since childhood. A group of ss work in a group to create one story. But each time a student writes something, he/she folds the paper so that the others ...
12 Views 22,602 ElemPre-Int
Agony Aunt Letters and Giving Advice

Agony Aunt Letters and Giving Advice

In this activitity there are 14 letters of desperate people looking for advice. They have written to Agony Aunt Anne and are waiting for an answer .Can you help them? Use any suitable modal verb. ...
19 Views 150,021 Pre-Int
Stories in the Past

Stories in the Past

I use this worksheet to help my students practise telling stories in the past. They have to imagine that something quite unusual has happened to them (they've met a ghost/an alien; won a lottery e ...
12 Views 26,724 ElemPre-Int
Past Simple and Continuous Gap Fill and Dictation

Past Simple and Continuous Gap Fill and Dictation

This is a worksheet that focuses on the use of past simple and continuous combined. The first exercise is a gapfill where the students have to write the verb in brackets in past simple or continou ...
3 Views 28,868 Pre-Int
Venn Diagram

Venn Diagram

This is Venn diagram which can be used with students of any level for comparing and contrasting any topic. For example, I used it to compare and contast lifestyle in New York and London. This diag ...
6 Views 9,255 All
Research Topic - Chinese New Year

Research Topic - Chinese New Year

This worksheet asks students to find out some information about the 12 animals that make up the Chinese zodiac. This can be used as an extra resource when teaching children about the Chinese New Y ...
4 Views 19,907 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Pig)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Pig)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
3 Views 7,538 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Dog)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Dog)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
3 Views 8,100 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rooster)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rooster)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
3 Views 7,181 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Monkey)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Monkey)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 5,339 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Goat)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Goat)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 6,133 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Horse)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Horse)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
3 Views 6,395 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Snake)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Snake)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 4,412 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Dragon)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Dragon)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
4 Views 7,015 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rabbit)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rabbit)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 4,440 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Tiger)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Tiger)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 6,506 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Ox)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Ox)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 5,656 Elem
Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rat)

Chinese New Year - Story Starter (Year of the Rat)

This worksheet asks students to look at the picture and write a creative story to go along with it. This resource can be used when teaching children about Chinese New Year or as a creative writing ...
2 Views 5,091 Elem
Technology Webquest / Project

Technology Webquest / Project

This is a pre-intermediate - intermediate webquest or project which can be completed over a few lessons. The students can do this as a classroom activity or it can be given as homework. The studen ...
9 Views 18,387 Pre-IntInt
Environment

Environment

This is a test which consists of text comprehension: true/false sentences and questions on the text; matching exercise related to the text ; crossword puzzle: wild animals. Grammar: Modal verbs ...
11 Views 27,184 Elem

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