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 9 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.
• 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
• Paradigm - Online Writing Assistant - Need help with teaching students how and what to write? Here is a site that will give you a lot ideas for lessons.
• Poetry Express - A great resource for getting students started on writing various forms of poetry.
• 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.
• A+ Research and Writing: Step-by-Step - As the title states, this site is very well laid out to aid students of middle years and up in the process of writing a research paper.
• The A+ Guide to Research & Writing - a page from the Internet Public Library Web Site designed to assist high school students with writing a research paper
• Common Errors in English - An alphabetized list of common errors in the English language. The aim of this site is to students avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way they write or speak.
• Teaching High School English - A series of Web Links for students and teachers that deal with Spelling Words, Grammar & Writing, Research, Poetry, Literature, Famous Authors, Vocabulary and Literature Guides
• Elements of the Short Story - Short stories often contain structural and character elements that are familiar to students. These elements can be used as "signposts" to help students think about the actions, themes, and contexts of the play.
• 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.
• Exploring Prose - from England, a bank of online lessons that explore writing Prose. Includes story and plot, setting, theme, character, narrative voice and irony
• English Literature - Poetry - from England, a bank of online lessons in Poetry
• Learn New Poetry Forms - Information about Ghazal, Haiku, Renga, Sijo, and Tanka poetic forms.
• 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.
• Saskatchewan Writes - A searchable data base with photos and biographical data on Saskatchewan authors.

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