Writing Skills Resources

Below are listed Internet Resources to help complement and enrich your teaching of the ELA Middle Years Language Arts Curriculum in the Grade 8 Writing Strand.

• Writing Strategies - Teaching strategies for the writing process are outlined and categorized in detail at the Sask. Learning Resource Site. Each stage of the writing process is covered in an overview,while the site includes a peer conferencing guide, mini-lessons, suggestions for writers' workshops, and portfolio and assessment checklists.
• Writing Prompts / Journal Topics - If you are having your students practice journal writing every day and you get the inevitable, "But I don't know what to write about," complaint, here is a list that will help you to keep them targeted.
• Word Safari - Vocabulary Expeditions - What's in a word? Your students will have a chance to be word sleuths as they track down how writers use their chosen words. The word choices are challenging but not above high school level, and will certainly sharpen vocabulary skills.
• The Five Paragraph Essay - During middle school your students should become masters of the basic five paragraph essay. This site will help; it is a rich resource for tips and techniques, troubleshooting, revision, spelling, and more. Perhaps every student should have a copy of the structure of the 5 paragraph essay ready to use in their English binders
• Middle School Teacher / Student Resources - a collection of Grammar and Writing - related Web Sites
• Writing with Writers - from Scholastic comes this site where students work with authors, educators, and illustrators to guide them in developing their writing skills. Contains links to a large variety of writing genres
• Grade 8 Writing - an assembly of links from the Ottawa-Carleton School Board for teachers and students. Includes Spotlight, Lesson Plans/Activities, and Background Information / Resources
• The Web English Teacher - This is large Web Site devoted to the teaching of English at Middle Years level and above. The site includes online resources for teaching Vocabulary, Book Reports, Drama, Grammar, Mechanics and Usage, and much more.
• More Ideas than You'll Ever Use for Book Reports - 140 Ideas for teachers and students on how to present books they have read.
• The Art of Living and Writing Quotations - a wonderful list of inspiring quotations about writing and the writing process suitable for posting in your classroom.
• Learn New Poetry Forms - Information about Ghazal, Haiku, Renga, Sijo, and Tanka poetic forms.
• Forms of Poetry for Children - Mother Goose, Poems Set to Music, Limericks, Free Verse, Haiku, Cinquain, Concrete, and more.
• Video V219 - Three Writers - 29 minutes - Presents a series of interviews with people who write. With one exception, they are not writers. They work at a variety of occupations but they all need to write well to be successful in their work.
• Grammar: Pronouns - These sites explain the different types of pronouns, including personal, possessive, demonstrative, and more. There are charts, handouts, online games, an animated movie, and audio of a Schoolhouse Rock song.
• Grammar: Verb Tenses - These sites explain the different verb tenses and provide examples on how to use them. The tenses include present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, present progressive, past progressive, and future progressive. Test your knowledge by completing the numerous interactive quizzes. There are also links to eThemes Resources on regular and irregular verbs.
• Writing: Persuasion - A bank of Web Sites that focus on persuasive and argumentative writing for middle and high school students. Learn about the persuasive techniques used in letters, essays, and advertisements. There are suggested hands-on activities, graphic organizers, writing prompts, and assessment sheets. Includes a link to an eThemes Resource on debate.
• Writing: Research Papers - a bank of Web Sites that focus on the steps involved in writing a research paper. Learn how to brainstorm a topic, organize information, use transition words, and write bibliographies. There are tips and handouts on how to evaluate online sources, plus links to child-safe search engines. Includes links to eThemes Resources on online resources and graphic organizers.
• Writing: Personification - These sites explain how to use personification to improve your writing. Includes definitions, numerous examples, and classroom activity ideas. There are also links to two eThemes Resources on other types of figurative language.
• Writing: Memoirs - These sites explain how to write memoirs and include ideas for getting started. There are also some writing examples and lists of recommended children's books that use this form of writing.
• Writing: Alliteration, Idioms, and Hyperbole - Learn how to use different types of figurative language to improve your descriptive writing. Includes definitions and many classroom activity ideas for each topic. There are links to eThemes Resources on personification, and similes and metaphors.
• Teaching Tips: Writing Assessment Tools - These sites include rubrics, scoring guides, and checklists for assessing student writing. Ideas for peer editing and student self-evaluation are included. Several of these assessment tools can be used as they are while others can be constructed online.
• Matters of Fact a read-aloud novel by Brian Kellow - This collection available from the Curriculum Materials Centre contains thought-provoking essays and anecdotes suitable as read-alouds and as models of non-fiction writing. Teachers are advised that response questions following selections are suggested for use as discussion prior to engaging in the extending activities or as reader response prompts. Included are a table of contents as well as contents by alternate themes, contents by form, and an author index.
• Saskatchewan Writes - A searchable data base with photos and biographical data on Saskatchewan authors.
• Multisensory Grammar Activities - This is a collection of worksheets in PDF format for a variety of multisensory grammar activities. To open these files, you will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader™ 4.0 or above installed.
• Meeting Individual Needs - These printable activity pages are designed to help you address a range of ability levels in your classroom.

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