730 FREE Writing Worksheets
BusyTeacher Home » Writing

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.

Filter by Level
NEW
  • Complete Beginner (77)
  • Elementary (304)
  • Pre-Intermediate (234)
  • Intermediate (249)
  • Upper-Intermediate Advanced (181)
  • Exam Level (44)
  • Suitable for All Levels (107)
Clear filters
Filter
Dramatically improve the way you teach:




Make A Word Search:

Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!

Make A Word Scramble:

Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!

Make A Double Puzzle:

Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!

ESL Articles
Rate this Category
4.1 out of 5, rated by 10 teachers




Sort by: Most Recent | Most Viewed | Rating
Postcard to a Classmate

Postcard to a Classmate

It's such fun getting a postcard! Students are given a sample postcard, which they can use as a model. They can cut out the blank postcard, make a drawing on the other side about their holiday (th ...
10 Views 27,631 ElemPre-Int
How To Write Emails In English

How To Write Emails In English

This is a PowerPoint presentation describing some basic rules when writing formal/informal emails in English, introducing some common phrases and things to avoid. It also includes two examples of ...
39 Views 88,634 IntAdv
London: Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Writing

London: Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Writing

It is a modified article from Wikipedia. It talks about London, a brief history and states its importance to the world. It also contains information about London's sightseeings. It contains a voca ...
23 Views 52,040 Pre-IntInt
Argumentative Writing

Argumentative Writing

The worksheet is intended to teach argumentative writing and the suggested layout. Students are prompted to the lesson by a short video about the topic of "Euthanasia". They first watch the video ...
9 Views 14,750 Adv
Price Dictation Exercise

Price Dictation Exercise

Did he say $.15 or $.50? Numbers can sound very similar. This dictation exercise requires students to listen carefully and circle the price that was dictated. The second part gives students pra ...
8 Views 24,923 Elem
Put BusyTeacher in your inbox

Sign up for the BusyTeacher Weekly and be the first to get direct links to our latest teaching articles, worksheets and lesson plans. Goes out to 323,134 subscribers every Wednesday.
See last week's issue.

Writing Lesson Plans

Writing Lesson Plans

Writing
Following are nine writing lesson plans, each lesson plan contains the following elements: o Objectives o Composition focus o Prewriting o Drafting o Revising o Editing o Publishing o Materials ...
15 Views 19,414 Int
Level B1 Writing for Teenagers

Level B1 Writing for Teenagers

Students often have difficulties in creating written texts in English,especially when they don't feel very familiar with the practical use of the language. Writing through answering questions abou ...
9 Views 17,402 Int
Writing Skills

Writing Skills

Young learners need support when creating written texts. This set of questions supports students' first attempts to create written texts by providing an easy and familiar topic of writing. The way ...
4 Views 15,306 Elem
Storytelling:

Storytelling: "Monkey Puzzle" Animals

This worksheet contains a story and a set of pictures that can be used in order to teach or revise the names of certain animals and also the parts of their bodies. There are also two lesson plans ...
14 Views 14,320 ElemPre-Int
How to Write a Story

How to Write a Story

It contains tips to write a perfect story. It has ideas to write a story and can be used with students who are learning to write short story. It is a power point ellaborated with pictures and the ...
10 Views 38,771 Elem
Trace the Dots

Trace the Dots

Writing
it is just a worksheet for grade one students in the beginning of the year to learn simple motor handwriting skill. I ask the students to hold the pencil in the correct way then trace the dots t ...
2 Views 12,320 Beg
Writing a Paragraph

Writing a Paragraph

Writing
This worksheet contains a short explanation on how to write a paragraph, explaining what the topic sentence, the supporting sentences and the closing sentence is. An activity for the learners is a ...
23 Views 65,220 Int
Short Quiz

Short Quiz

This is a short quiz for an ESL English course I gave this June in Summer school. This worksheet contains types of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory. It also has a ...
8 Views 13,021 BegElemPre-IntInt
Poem Worksheet: Serious Luv by Benjamin Zephaniah

Poem Worksheet: Serious Luv by Benjamin Zephaniah

Super interesting poem by Benjamin Zephaniah to work with school situations, memories y past habits. It's also an opportunity to work with authentic material and explore different spellings of the ...
12 Views 13,674 IntAdv
Postcards from Somewhere

Postcards from Somewhere

This is a Mad Lib-like activity I created where students must make a list of verbs, nouns, adjectives, and other words, that they then plug into a template of a postcard from a vacation. Hilarity ...
26 Views 47,001 Int
Musical Writing Prompt

Musical Writing Prompt

Hi all, this a really nice activity I use to motivate my students to write an original and interesting story using musical ideas. All you need is pick four different musical pieces. You might want ...
8 Views 13,765 BegElemPre-IntIntAdv
Writing About Tom: Basic Writing Prompt

Writing About Tom: Basic Writing Prompt

This worksheet is for begginers. it contains easy vocabulary and structures such as he is wearing... or he is .......(action). Using this worksheet you can teach children how to write a very short ...
8 Views 14,628 Beg
Adjectives Writing Prompts for Age 9+

Adjectives Writing Prompts for Age 9+

This worksheet scaffolds writing for students who have learned some adjectives of description. They are given ideas for a person/character to describe and some adjectives to use, or the opportunit ...
14 Views 14,012 Elem
Punctuation: Sentences and Direct Speech

Punctuation: Sentences and Direct Speech

Punctuation for ages 9 to 12 years (grades 3 to 6) Begins with the short story as example of how to use punctuation. Includes punctuating sentences and direct speech. Can be used for revision of ...
21 Views 47,601 Int
Webquest On Advertising

Webquest On Advertising

This is a webquest on advertising which will guide your students through the process of designing a webquest. In this worksheet your students will read about propaganda strategies and techniques. ...
7 Views 15,838 IntAdv
I Am Writing To Apologize: An Informal Letter of Apology

I Am Writing To Apologize: An Informal Letter of Apology

This is a sample of an informal letter of apology. The worksheet starts with some warm up questions that student's answer. The sample letter is simultaneously a 'fill in the gaps' activity. There ...
20 Views 36,783 Pre-IntInt
Pre-Entry + Entry1 Phonology (2)

Pre-Entry + Entry1 Phonology (2)

This handout can be used after the students have been previously taught about some graphemes and simple words (e.g. "oo" / "ee"/ "th" / "all" / "ow" / "sh" / "ch"/ "ea" / "ing" / "ink" / "ame"/ "a ...
13 Views 12,972 Elem
Pre Entry + Entry 1 Phonology

Pre Entry + Entry 1 Phonology

This handout can be used after the students have been previously taught about some graphemes and simple words (e.g. "oo" / "ee"/ "th" / "all" / "ow" / "sh" / "ch"/ "ea" / "ing" / "in ...
8 Views 20,567 BegElem
Punctuation Flashcards

Punctuation Flashcards

Here is a set of high quality flashcards for teaching or revising punctuation. There are excellent illustrations and basic rules. The cards are recommended for elementary students and they can al ...
14 Views 20,642 BegElem
Punctuation Picture Dictionary

Punctuation Picture Dictionary

This is a picture dictionary which can also be used as a classroom poster for teaching or revising punctuation. The worksheet is available in both colour and black and white version.
19 Views 50,285 BegElem

Got a great worksheet on Writing? Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!

Submit a Worksheet