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 worksheet aims to engage students in talking about seasons and the problems extreme weather can cause. Since there is no specific focus on grammar (except a small task on modals), it can be p ...
This worksheet has been designed in order for learners to practise the use of the simple future form through an illustrated adventure story. There are unavoidable facts shown in the pictures so t ...
Do you like reading? A writing activity to talk about your reading habits (do you like reading? what's your favourite book, why do you like this book? What influence did the book have on you, do y ...
It is a worksheet for learners to practice the use of past simple and past continuous through misfortunes they had during their last last holiday. There are pictures and cues so that the writing c ...
It is the story of the Little Red Riding Hood with comprehension questions so that we can ensure that students have understood it. Students will have to draw pictures from the story to have fun, a ...
This worksheet is designed for EFL/ESL learners to use when they read books in English and make some records. Title, author, publisher, pages, vocabulary, and reflection are all included in this w ...
Find an English magazine or newspaper and cut out about 40 words ensuring you have a balance of parts of speech and stick them onto a sheet of paper in no particular order something like in the pi ...
I used these steps to teach my students how a formal letter of application must be organized. When students are getting ready to perform a job interview role play, they have to write this letter ...
When trying to check an A2 - B1 student's knowledge about these grammar aspects, this worksheet might come in handy. As a student works through the worksheet, the teacher might reinforce the knowl ...
It's good for beginner and elementary learners to improve their writing. The students have the clues of what they are going to write about. They complete their personal information in the chart fi ...
Objectives: pupils will be able to demonstrate basic listening and reading comprehension skills as well as HOTs – inferring (reading between the lines) and generating possibilities. Aft ...
This is a worksheet to help first graders to learn how to introduce themselves and their family members. The worksheet is designed in a way with some help initially and then no help. There are two ...
Prompt students to develop their writing skills by drawing a sequence of pictures and describing what had happened in each of them. I bet students will find it entertaining and easy to write the s ...
Using as many adjectives as you can describe a person important to you. It can be your family member, someone famous or yourself. Don’t just list the qualities, explain. Use minimum 50 words ...
The song about romantic feeling expressed through unromantic objects. The author wants to be a portable heater, coffee pot or even a car to be closer to his partner. The great song by Arctic Monke ...
This is a presentation for beginner-intermediate level students. As the title says, this is a guide for basic punctuation including example sentences. How to use a comma, colon, semi-colon and per ...
This will be useful for any teacher of writing at any level. I teach business English for a wide range of levels but this can be used for school teachers also. Please let me know of any mistakes ...
This is a detailed presentation about business writing. Including formal letters and emails; correct usage of punctuation, spelling, number usage, layout guidelines, salutations and valedictions. ...
Manners and behaviour was initially designed for interactive whiteboards but not only. What are good manners? Do we behave differently when we want to impress that special someone? Our classes rea ...
Use the song "Always" to teach the difference between past perfect and past simple. Moreover, it offers a chance to practice the writing skills inventing love stories. After some group works there ...
This is a comic made into an easy-to-use PowerPoint presentation. Be careful about your audience as some people may find it inappropriate. However, I teach English to young adult learner ...
A very popular song from the 70's about a father and a son who have problems communicating. This worksheet includes a pre-reading task for prediction, a listening task (inserting the lines in the ...
This is letter writing assignment intended for intermediate to advanced ESL students.The questions are prompts for writing a thank you letter aimed at parents. The prompts include: a cherished mem ...
A worksheet to assist the study of the film "The Great Race"(the classic Tony Curtis comedy); a great film to deal with a range of ideas in a very 'safe' environment. The worksheet is focussing on ...
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