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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This is a very basic worksheet for elementary students that have had only a little writing practice. There is an example of how to write the first part of the sentence (I want to be a) at the top ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about Mount K2. Students are asked to write a short report about Mount K2 and include the answers to the thre ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about Mount Fuji. Students are asked to write a short report about Mount Fuji and include the answers to the ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about Mount Everest. Students are asked to write a short report about Mount Everest and include the answers t ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about the Mississippi River. Students are asked to write a short report about the Mississippi River and to al ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about the Ganges River. Students are asked to write a short report about the Amazon River and to also include ...
This resource has been created for elementary/primary students. It is a research topic about the Amazon River. Students are asked to write a short report about the Amazon River and to also include ...
It's a writing worksheet. The topic is travelling in China. In this worksheet, students will learn how to write a recount about their travelling experience. Students can acquire some reading skill ...
Ten essay topics provided in this worksheet are really interesting and can easily draw the attention of students. What's more, sample compositions for each topic is given. I'm sure you'll like the ...
A private student of mine is fond of "Monster High" dolls and cartoons, and can talk about it for hours. After having noticed that more and more children started watching it, I thought that they m ...
This worksheet differentiates between sentence types: simple, compound, and complex. It provides definitions, examples and an opportunity for students to write their own sentences. It's goal is ...
In this material students will look into differences and similarities of three types of CV: Chronological, Functional and Combination. Based on the information gathered from the first task student ...
I created this worksheet for my pre-intermediate student interested in business. The topic is just right and the language is not complicated. We watch the film, the trailer and read reviews to it. ...
A creative writing worksheet to practice the use of present simple and continuous. To make it more interesting, elicit the names of famous people they dislike and then hand out the worksheets and ...
It is a writing task about pollution. Students have got a few prompts, questions and images.They can use their science knowledge about the danger of pollution and the modal verbs, such as can/coul ...
Write a story about... Nice prompts for unconventional stories. e.g. The group of teenagers went to the castle and they found there something what made them famous.
A lesson practising vocabulary connected with education in the context of reading about school life in other countries. This then leads to the students writing a short magazine article for homewor ...
This is a writing activity to practice simple present third person singular. After a short warm up reading, the students are invited to write about a day in the life of Dracula. It's a fun way to ...
This worksheet is good to introduce or practice the IELTS writing task one. It makes the student think about the data and present it logically. The selection of words to fill the gaps provides the ...
A copy of a film review to read and discuss and introduce some vocabulary. The worksheet shows the format and language used to talk of plot, characters etc. It can be used to show how to writ ...
This creative writing worksheet can be used as an extra activity when learning about the topic 'Halloween'. Students are asked to write a story titled 'The Friendly Monster'. Try to encourage stud ...
This creative writing worksheet can be used as an extra activity when learning about the topic 'Halloween'. Students are asked to write a story titled 'The Wise Wizard'. Try to encourage students ...
This ppt presentation is an adapted writing activity taken from the book by Penny Ur. Student read the story about a fox and a crow, and then they have to expand it using relative clauses. They ca ...
This is a writing task for Halloween. Students will be asked to write a horror story in groups and then tell it to the class, using some "Halloween" words and some adjectives as well. It is meant ...
Give your students a break this festive season. Let them dance to this old number (from Boney M), dance along if you like. This song has a number of versions and I chose a fast, peppy one for thi ...
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