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
ANZAC at WWI: How It All Began

ANZAC at WWI: How It All Began

This worksheet is an introductory task on creative thinking and writing in relation to the initial events that sparked the First World War. Teachers who will use this worksheet will have to be fa ...
6 Views 6,267 Pre-IntIntAdv
Reported Questions [Practice]

Reported Questions [Practice]

, Writing
This worksheet follows my presentation. The examples have been taken from the book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". There are two pages, each having fifteen sentences for practice. I hope y ...
11 Views 23,443 Pre-IntInt
Let's Talk: Writing/Speaking Prompt

Let's Talk: Writing/Speaking Prompt

Let’s Talk 1 Practises verb tenses: Present Continuous, Past Simple, Future Simple This worksheet can be used for conversation practise and preparation for oral exams. My adult students fi ...
35 Views 25,198 Pre-Int
Kitchen Verbs Word Search

Kitchen Verbs Word Search

, , , Writing
Easter is approaching and many of us will present some traditional recipes to our students. But first let's make sure they know necessary vocabulary. This worksheet represents a fun way to revise ...
15 Views 33,573 Pre-IntInt
Happiness

Happiness

The handout includes several pictures connected with happiness. It can be useful while telling about happy moments in people's lives. Excellent for speaking in classroom as well as during individ ...
16 Views 17,037 Pre-IntIntAdvExam
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.

Mr. Bean Activity

Mr. Bean Activity

This is a worksheet I prepared to my teens students who were studying simple present and daily routines, adverbs of frequency and free time activities. Nice one to practice grammar, they have to w ...
13 Views 20,441 Elem
Writing Conclusion Paragraph

Writing Conclusion Paragraph

Writing
Students are provided with the introduction and body paragraph. First they will read these parts and then complete the remaining part which is conclusion. While writing it is important to use conc ...
10 Views 33,006 ElemPre-IntInt
Song Worksheet: I Love This Bar by Toby Keith

Song Worksheet: I Love This Bar by Toby Keith

Simple worksheet which uses Toby Keith's video to have students practice classification. I use it a a precursor to a classification paragraph. Since it mentions bars and the video has a brief glim ...
8 Views 5,367 IntAdvExam
Appositives (Fun Sentences)

Appositives (Fun Sentences)

This worksheet is designed for pair work (but can be changed to one on one or a bonus if needed). The first sentences have students combining two different sentences with appossitives. The last fe ...
9 Views 24,423 IntAdvExam
Writing A Body Paragraph In A Giving Reason Composition

Writing A Body Paragraph In A Giving Reason Composition

Students need to find three reasons of why nuclear energy is dangerous for world. Their sentences should be related to the thesis statement of the introduction paragraph. I have supplied the signa ...
13 Views 16,328 Pre-IntIntAdv
Syllabication Rules

Syllabication Rules

, Writing
19 rules: explanation of how to separate words into syllables. Intermediate and advanced levels. Really helpful fo those who are teaching how to separate words in syllables in English. Including e ...
11 Views 26,092 AdvExam
At the Restaurant Worksheet II

At the Restaurant Worksheet II

This is a worksheet for teaching restaurant related vocabulary. There is a study sheet with restaurant vocabulary, useful words and phrases and food related adjectives followed by an activity in ...
42 Views 76,406 Pre-IntInt
Marking Punctuation

Marking Punctuation

Writing,
This PowerPoint presentation presents punctuation marks in a fun way. The following punctuation marks are presented: period, comma, question mark, exclamation point, semi-colon, quotation marks, p ...
27 Views 45,779 BegElemPre-IntInt
Dreams and Nightmares

Dreams and Nightmares

This is a mixed skills worksheet that you can make use of according to your focus. There are reading, speaking, writing, and pronunciation activities. All the activities are designed according to ...
24 Views 47,315 ElemPre-IntInt
Template: Writing Personal Response

Template: Writing Personal Response

Writing
This worksheet/template is designed to guide Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate ESL learners to write personal responses to a wide range of literary genre. It strikes a balance between what the t ...
6 Views 19,835 IntAdv
Regrets and Criticism Worksheet: Should Have, Shouldn't Have

Regrets and Criticism Worksheet: Should Have, Shouldn't Have

This is a worksheet for practising should have/shouldn't have. The verbs are given and there are picture prompts as well to help the students complete the sentences. The key is included. Who says ...
31 Views 49,981 IntAdv
Make Your Own Invention [TEMPLATE]

Make Your Own Invention [TEMPLATE]

A simply designed page for you students to create their own inventions. It includes a space for drawing, and is good for language focus on question words "Why?" and "What?" It works well for any s ...
9 Views 30,034 ElemPre-Int
Speech Marks Punctuation

Speech Marks Punctuation

Inductive approach to teaching speech marks, using extracted text as a reference point. Collaborative learning exercises are encouraged so that target audience can learn from and clarify with each ...
7 Views 20,482 ElemPre-Int
Reported Speech Activity

Reported Speech Activity

Two worksheets for practising transforming sentences from direct into reported speech and vice versa. Distribute worksheet A to one half of the class (they should report the dialogue in their note ...
21 Views 19,086 Int
Spooky Story

Spooky Story

Even though it's a three page long magazine article, it's one of my favourites to give my students for homework to read. It is very captivating and they all seem to like it. I want to make them sp ...
22 Views 19,305 Pre-IntIntAdv
Reported Questions: Flashcards

Reported Questions: Flashcards

Here is another set of 24 flashcards, this time for practising reported questions. There are 12 cards containing yes/no questions and 12 containing wh-questions. They can be used after the student ...
40 Views 30,752 Pre-IntInt
Reported Statements, Commands and Requests: Flashcards

Reported Statements, Commands and Requests: Flashcards

Here is a set of 24 flashcards for practising reported statements, commands and requests. Cut them and laminate them. You can use them any way you want. I usually put my students into groups of si ...
59 Views 54,766 Pre-IntInt
ECCE Writing

ECCE Writing

, Writing,
Some easy plans, explanations and topics in order for students to tackle more efficiently the Writing Part of the ECCE examination. There is an explanation of every possible essay or letter type r ...
11 Views 43,862 IntExam
Space Exploration: Creative Writing

Space Exploration: Creative Writing

, Writing
This is a guided task for intermediate students attending level 6 - it may be done through pairwork. It allows students to make a gist about the possibilities and the odds involving space explorat ...
6 Views 12,420 Int
Business E-mails

Business E-mails

A very thorough worksheet dealing with business e-mails: how to address different people depending on your relationship, giving reasons for writing, reminding the reader of any previous meetings, ...
59 Views 111,494 IntAdv

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

Submit a Worksheet