Miscellaneous Writing Sites and Ideas

Ace Writing
Designed for 5th grade writers, this site includes includes games and resources for teachers and students, including a list of places for publishing student writing.

Basic Guide to Essay Writing
A set of links designed to support students who are writing a basic essay.

Bits: Ideas for Teaching Composition
This blog offers quick tips for using a composition handbook effectively.

Dr. NAD's Prig Page
Quiz tests of grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, and style in the English language. An interactive collection of submitted pet peeves and related links is maintained as well. A prescriptive grammar page with enjoyable attitude.

The Five Paragraph Essay
"Everything you need to know" plus practice writing prompts in expository, narrative, and persuasive modes.

Garbl's Writing Center
Links to sites on creative writing and thinking, the writing process, style and usage, types of writing, and others.

Grammar Goes Green?
In this lesson, students review what qualifies as a grammatically complete sentence. They then use a Times article about the movie, Hulk, to help them identify interesting and challenging nouns and verbs that they can later mix and match to form new sentences.

Graphic Organizers
A variety of sites with suggestions for using graphic organizers.

A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
Definitions and examples of 60 rhetorical devices, from alliteration to zeugma.

Helping Our Lil' Buddies
Students develop writing skills as they help an animal from the local shelter find a home. Good project-based learning.

How to Write a Screenplay
An extensive collection of links to advice on screenwriting.

Introduction to the Nature Journal
"Students exercise the observation skills that are essential to writing, visual art, and science." This lesson from the Smithsonian Institute is designed for all grade levels.

Knowing Write from Wrong: Exploring Common Writing Errors in the Electronic Communications Age
"In this lesson, students explore how the informality of electronic correspondence has affected communications in the workplace. They then develop pages for a basic writing guide that contains rules and examples to help correct common writing errors."

Nonfiction Writing
A series of four lessons asking students to write a description, an interview, a profile, and a review.

The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
This site offers suggestions related to thinking, style, structure, evidence, and mechanics. Easy to navigate and written by someone who has taught composition for 15 years, this site will prove useful for both secondary and college instruction.

Pencil Pals
PencilPALS is sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild and designed to make reading and writing a first person experience for children in elementary and middle schools. Each child involved in this program has an opportunity to write and illustrate his/her own letters and stories. The childrens' letters are then mailed to a Performing Artist for Literacy in Schools. PALS are volunteer performers from the BookPALS program with whom the children can share their thoughts and school happenings. PALS write response letters to the children.

Perfect Editing Solutions
This site offers proofreading and editing services FREE for up to 500 words. (Other services are available at a reasonable rate.) Do you know a student who could benefit from one more pair of eyes checking out a piece of writing? This might be just the place.

Protecting Our Space: Developing Public Service Announcements to Offer Information about Online Safety Concerns for Teens
"Students share opinions and information about safety issues and concerns on social networking Web sites. They then develop public service announcements designed to inform their peers and guardians."

Purpose and Audience
Nine short lessons, with activities for #2 and 4 and links to related online items at Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Rewrite, Revise, Recycle: Updating Classic Literary Storylines for Today's Television Audience
Students "explore classic themes and storylines, and create modern versions to cater to a contemporary audience. They then compose backstories to develop characters for current television shows." This lesson plan is based on an article from the New York Times (included).

Screenwriting
The links at this site acquaint writers with screenplay format writing rules and screenwriting etiquette.

Scribble Pad
This great site has a little bit for all ages. Its target audience is writers, not teachers; but teachers will find some great ideas here.

Scriptwriting in the Classroom
Rationale, strategies, and resources for writing scripts.

Sensitive Language
The editors at Random House offer suggestions to avoid language that emphasizes differences needlessly.

Stack the Deck Writing Tips: Teaching Tips
Practical ideas for helping students revise.

Tee-Hee T.V.: Exploring Satire by Creating Original Television Parodies
Students learn about satire and develop original television shows that parody existing programs.

Ticker Text Parade
Students examine news headlines and create very brief news pieces in the style of news tickers. They then write papers reflecting upon these experiences and on the value of concisely written news reports.

Transitional Words and Phrases
A chart listing transitions according to type. Scroll down for suggestions for building coherence without using transitions.

Using Questions as a Pre-Writing and Organizational Technique
This site uses five steps in prewriting. It includes an outline and webbing or mind mapping.

Unusual Five Paragraph Theme Assignments
Ten unorthodox approaches to the traditional essay format.

A Value-Added, Outside-the-Box Sea Change
An interesting blog on clichés that don't mean what people think they do. Responses are invited.

Write a Letter
This lesson uses 3 letters by poet Paul Laurence Dunbar as models. It is designed for third grade and up. Access requires Adobe Reader or compatible application.

Writer's Digest Writing Contests and Competitions
Contests for all age levels, including one for kids under 13.

Writer's Tips from Kimberly Willis Holt
These tips for writers are appropriate for all ages.

Writing
This extensive site offers teacher support for every step of the writing process. Scroll down to find a peer conferencing guide, several suggestions for assessing student work, ideas for approaching specific writing skills, and much more.

Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment
This lesson uses Richard Wilbur's poem "The Writer" to encourage students to develop an extended metaphor describing themselves as writers.

Writing Assignments and Student Essays from Bedford St. Martin's
Sample assignments and student essays for the following types: Explaining an Insight, Profiling a Person or a Place, Re-creating an Experience, Narrating an Event, Summarizing Two Readings, Analyzing a Reading, and Arguing a Point.

Writing a Character Sketch
This activity includes a model and graphic organizer.

Writing Ideas
Journal prompts for high school or college writers.

Writing: Instructional Philosophy and Teaching Suggestions
This extensive page includes an explanation of the writing process, a description of four stages of writing development, a list of strategies for each step in the writing process, suggestions for implementing the process in the classroom, ideas for responding to student writing, and a section on assessment and evaluation, and descriptors of best practices in the writing classroom.

Writing Intensive Courses - Sample Writing Assignments
The top of this page lists ideas for using writing to encourage learning across the curriculum. Scroll to the bottom to find ideas for using writing to demonstrate learning.

Writing Prompts/Journal Topics
This extensive collection of prompts is intended for elementary students, but many of them are also appropriate for older students.

Writing Style for Print vs. Web
A researcher discusses the ways Web writing must adjust to typical online reading strategies. (Write differently for a Web site because people read differently online.)

The Writing Teacher's Strategy Guide
These examples are aimed at upper elementary students, but the strategies can be used on all levels. Access to this 124-page, professionally developed document requires Adobe Reader or compatible application. (Suggestion: download the entire file but only print the pages you want.)

Writing to Learn/Writing to Think Activities (that don't drown the teacher in paper)
An extensive list of ideas to support writing across the curriculum as a learning tool.