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
Advertising campaign

Advertising campaign

40 minutes activity for groupwork. To write and present a radio advert and to guess what products are being advertised.
32 Views 22,251 Adv
Facts and myths

Facts and myths

20 minutes activity for pairwork. To guess common myths ans compare them with the facts that disprove them.
26 Views 14,804 Adv
Lifestyle profiles

Lifestyle profiles

40 minutes activity for pairwork. To write a character profile of a person and to match it to a picture of a person.
12 Views 31,007 Adv
My kind of people

My kind of people

20 minutes activity. Defining relative clauses. To write sentences and find out who wrote them by asking questions.
22 Views 14,784 Adv
Permission to lie

Permission to lie

40 minutes activity for groupwork. Music idioms. To play a team game guessing correct definitions and writing false definitions for words.
17 Views 13,788 Adv
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.

Something strange happened on the way to...

Something strange happened on the way to...

30-40 minutes activity for groupwork. To create a story by inventing answers to questions.
5 Views 6,404 Adv
The grass is always greener

The grass is always greener

20 minutes activity. Wish. To write sentences about things you regret and find out who wrote them by asking questions.
12 Views 8,600 Adv
Useful objects crossword

Useful objects crossword

40 minutes activity for pairwork. To write clues for a crossword and to complete it.
6 Views 8,781 Adv
What have we got in common

What have we got in common

, Writing
20 minutes activity. To write personal details and find people in the class with the same information.
11 Views 8,898 Adv
Whose life is it?

Whose life is it?

30 minutes activity. Talking about future. To fill the questionnaires anonymously and guess who wrote them.
22 Views 19,639 Adv
A Crossword - Transport

A Crossword - Transport

Doing a puzzle with words related to transport.
23 Views 15,367 Pre-IntIntAdv
Telling stories

Telling stories

To develop storytelling and editing skills.
5 Views 8,663 Int
In the news this week

In the news this week

To work on short news items - writing and answering questions about facts and figures and writing headlines.
15 Views 14,508 Int
Writing home

Writing home

Writing
To practise writing postcards/short letters from a variety of places.
3 Views 3,637 Int
Lots of letters

Lots of letters

Writing
To study and practise different styles of letter writing for different occasions.
6 Views 4,915 Int
Where to go and what to see

Where to go and what to see

To practise writing simple tourist literature describing the attractions of the area.
9 Views 8,961 Int
Looking after yourself

Looking after yourself

Writing
Writing simple warnings and advice - dos and dont's.
2 Views 3,686 Int
Create a word puzzle

Create a word puzzle

, Writing
Creating a simple word puzzle, writing clues and choosing the vocabulary.
4 Views 3,843 Int
My CV

My CV

Writing a simple curriculum vitae, following a standard format.
11 Views 12,498 Int
Are you green?

Are you green?

Activating vocabulary connected with the environment and green issues by completing the writing of a questionnaire and answering a letter.
14 Views 9,869 Int
A warm welcome

A warm welcome

Introducing vocabulary for hotel facilities and practising writing a letter to reserve hotel accommodation.
14 Views 10,090 Int
Consequences

Consequences

Writing
writing consequences.
2 Views 4,479 Elem
Colours

Colours

, , Writing
lesson plan for writing a simple story and comparing stories.
9 Views 5,199 Elem
An English Weekend: Writing A Letter That Requests For Further Information

An English Weekend: Writing A Letter That Requests For Further Information

Writing,
This nice little lesson plan is good for writing a letter that requests for further information. Use it with students whose level is Pre-Intermediate and above, and this activity will help them pr ...
28 Views 12,123 Elem
Product Reviews

Product Reviews

, Writing
Practice language related to product reviews
1 Views 21,943 Adv

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

Submit a Worksheet