Miscellaneous Writing Sites and Ideas, page 3

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

Using Photography To Inspire Writing
An educator shares ideas that have worked well in his classroom.

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. It is designed for elementary students.

Writing Fun
Young writers will enjoy using this site, which offers graphic organizers, tips, and models for different kinds of writing, descriptive through persuasive.

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.

You be the Author
High school students will work with a partner to write and illustrate a children's book that relates to material they are learning in math, science, or history.

You Can Teach Writing
Practical advice from a teacher. Aimed at teaching expository writing to middle school and high school students.