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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ESL Articles
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Change One Event [CREATIVE WRITING PROMPT]

Change One Event [CREATIVE WRITING PROMPT]

Creative writing prompt:   If you could change one event in your life, what would it be and why? Do you think the present would be different?
8 Views 7,659 All
Why We Have Winter: Ancient Greek Legend

Why We Have Winter: Ancient Greek Legend

The Ancient Greek legend on why we have winter, involving Persephone, Hades and Demeter. students will read the story and answer comprehension questions about it. Finally, they will have to write ...
43 Views 36,585 ElemPre-Int
Basic Essay Outline

Basic Essay Outline

Writing
There are two worksheets that can be used together as a way of teaching basic essay writing processes to ESL students. The first worksheet is a mind map, the second is a more detailed outline for ...
3 Views 19,601 ElemPre-IntInt
Comic Dialogue: Primary Worksheet

Comic Dialogue: Primary Worksheet

Give each student a workshee of three picture-dialogue. Get them to write a short dialogue between these two character. When finished, aske them to cut it into three parts. Mix all the dialog ...
12 Views 23,953 BegElem
Collocations With 'Money'

Collocations With 'Money'

This is a very useful worksheet for those who teach or learn collocations. It consists of four exercises on two pages: a matching exercise, opposites, synonyms and a gap-filling exercise. It can b ...
46 Views 31,692 Pre-IntInt
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Daily Routines Poster

Daily Routines Poster

25 pictures dealing with daily routine activities to practise the present simple tense in all forms: affirmative, negative and interrogative. The students can also use it to write about their dail ...
73 Views 132,330 ElemPre-IntInt
The Lorax: Movie Review

The Lorax: Movie Review

The following worksheet is to be used as a response and review of The Lorax. Using a combination of following directions, writing and drawing skills this worksheet focuses on the students' opinion ...
6 Views 29,697 ElemPre-Int
Draw and Write Template

Draw and Write Template

Writing,
This is a simple but versatile draw and write template with dotted writing lines. Has been used with first graders with much success for everything from writing stories to creating written+visual ...
3 Views 20,625 BegElem
Sequencing Activity

Sequencing Activity

Writing
This is worksheet on sequencing using time-order words. Pictures of the sequence of the activity which is on hand washing are used as prompts. Key sequencing or time-order words are provided in a ...
4 Views 32,080 Elem
Writing Descriptions

Writing Descriptions

I designed this activity for students who find it hard to write descriptions (they generally write very short texts). In this worksheet they are asked to compare descriptions and choosing the best ...
11 Views 21,286 BegElem
Auto-dictation Game

Auto-dictation Game

A wonderful and funny group work game. Very interesting and suitable for different levels... Objectives: This activity focuses on several skills development: - Vocabulary - Grammar - Spelling - ...
21 Views 31,608 All
Sample High School Skills Exam

Sample High School Skills Exam

This worksheet is a sample of a reading, listening and writing exam I use for the second course of high school. It includes reading (matching headings with the paragraphs, replacement words, ...
8 Views 16,673 ElemPre-Int
Writing Movie Reviews: Tim Burtons' Corpse Bride

Writing Movie Reviews: Tim Burtons' Corpse Bride

This is for my (higher level) second year SHS students to look at paragraph writing. In this class we focused on writing movie reviews- first they look at a review of the movie Twilight, then we ...
10 Views 19,665 IntAdv
Let's Talk About Paul

Let's Talk About Paul

This exercise can be used for oral or written practice. Following the instructions in the body and outside it students can guide themselves to talk about his name, physical appearance, nationalit ...
7 Views 16,069 Elem
Song Worksheet: We Are The World

Song Worksheet: We Are The World

Watch the video clip of we are the world, and complete with words you hear. Then there are compehension questions that help to better understand the topic. Then the students are asked to label th ...
11 Views 20,043 Pre-IntInt
Feelings Vocab + Writing Practice

Feelings Vocab + Writing Practice

A simple activity in which students have to fill in the blanks in the text using feelings/emotions and then finish the story with their own ideas. PS: The vocabulary about feelings/emotions must h ...
8 Views 17,274 Pre-IntInt
Shapes: Listening and Speaking

Shapes: Listening and Speaking

This is a very useful worksheet to practice shapes through listening and speaking. Teacher's words: Listen to the teacher's instructions and blacken the circle needed. e.g. TASK 1: BLACKEN the va ...
13 Views 17,218 Elem
The Analysis of the Text

The Analysis of the Text

The scheme of the analysis will be useful in teaching pre-intermediate and intermediate students who improve their descriptive writing. The material can be added and rearranged. It can be used as ...
11 Views 11,911 Pre-IntInt
Back to School Worksheet: ABC's of Me

Back to School Worksheet: ABC's of Me

This worksheet is called 'Back to School Worksheet: ABC's of Me' and it was kindly presented by Laura Candler: visit http://www.lauracandler.com/ for more worksheets and teaching ideas. This eigh ...
20 Views 38,652 ElemPre-IntInt
Story Time

Story Time

Writing
Students are supposed to use EVERY picture to create a story. I use this with adults even. It takes up a good 30 minutes due to most adults ESL learner's arrogance, which rules! Encourage them to ...
3 Views 8,691 Pre-IntIntAdvExam
How To Write An Essay (+exercise)

How To Write An Essay (+exercise)

Very complete worksheet. "How To Write an Essay" guided notes: paragraphs, information, grammar, style, adverbs, usage, background, catch the interest, spelling, organization, thesis, verbs, verb ...
50 Views 131,481 All
Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay

Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay

Writing
Outline for a Five-Paragraph Essay - A simple exercise in getting students to structure their ideas in an essay format. Good for lower level writing lessons. I find that this is really good with l ...
14 Views 34,852 BegElemPre-Int
Dictogloss - Nothing is as it seems

Dictogloss - Nothing is as it seems

Dictogloss is a classroom dictation activity where students are required to reconstruct a short text by listening and noting down key words, which are then used as a base for reconstruction. It ...
21 Views 29,537 Pre-Int
Story Prompts [495 Story Elements: Settings, Characters, Situations, Objects, Times]

Story Prompts [495 Story Elements: Settings, Characters, Situations, Objects, Times]

A categorised index of 495 story elements including: settings, characters, situations, objects, and times. Ideal for prompting writing exercises and class discussions. Can easily be used section ...
77 Views 45,229 Pre-IntInt
Diagnostic Mechanics Assessment

Diagnostic Mechanics Assessment

This 32 item multiple choice diagnostic mechanics assessment includes commas, capitalization, ending punctuation, parentheses, and quotation marks. In other words, everything in the K-6 Common Cor ...
10 Views 18,072 ElemIntAdv

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