Guided Writing Activities Teaching Resources
Get guided writing activities, prompts, and more to help your students develop their writing muscles in your classroom. This elementary school teaching resource collection was created by the expert ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team.
These curriculum-aligned resources will save you time on your ELA lesson plans with classroom-ready printable and digital worksheets and activities that you can edit to differentiate instruction for individual learners.
What Is Guided Writing?
Guided writing is a technique used to help individuals improve their writing skills by providing them with a structure or set of guidelines to follow while they write. This can include prompts, examples, or specific instructions to help the writer focus their thoughts and organize their ideas more effectively. The goal of guided writing is to help the writer improve their writing skills and develop their own unique style over time.
What Does Guided Writing Look Like in the Classroom?
In a classroom setting, guided writing typically involves you, the teacher, providing students with a specific topic or prompt to write about, along with a set of guidelines or instructions to follow. This could include a specific word count, a specific format (such as a persuasive essay or a descriptive paragraph), or a set of key points that the student should address in their writing.
You may also provide examples of well-written pieces that students can use as a model for their own writing as well as giving feedback on the students' writing so that they can improve their writing skills.
Guided writing can take place in a whole-class setting, where a teacher leads the class through the writing process, or in small groups or one-on-one sessions where a teacher can provide more personalized instruction and feedback.
How Does Guided Writing Help Students Improve Their Writing?
Not sure if you want to add guided writing to your instruction techniques? Our teacher team has dug through the educational research on the topic for a more in-depth view.
Research has found that guided writing can be effective in improving various aspects of students' writing skills. For example, studies have shown that guided writing can:
- Improve students' writing fluency, increasing their ability to generate written text quickly and easily
- Enhance students' writing accuracy, including improved grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Increase students' writing complexity, helping students achieve a higher level of sophistication and maturity in their writing.
- Help students develop a greater sense of self-efficacy
- Encourage students' motivation to write
- Facilitate the provision of feedback and support from the teacher
Of course, the effectiveness of guided writing will depend on the specific approach and context in which it is implemented. For example, some research has suggested that guided writing may be more effective when it is used in conjunction with other writing instruction methods, such as independent writing, peer review, and self-reflection.
In general, when guided writing is well-designed, it can be an effective tool for improving students' writing skills, but we suggest using it as part of a comprehensive writing instruction program.
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Synonyms or Antonyms? Upper Grades Sorting Activity
Identify synonyms and antonyms with a sorting activity designed for upper elementary students.
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Ocean Animals Report - Crab Writing Template
Research, write and create a crab report with a printable crab-themed animal report template.
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Using Possessive Nouns - Task Cards
Practice writing phrases using the correct singular or plural possessive noun with a set of task cards.
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Daily Grammar - Sentence Structure Warm-Ups – Grades 3 and 4
An engaging 40-slide interactive Google Slides deck to use in grades 3 and 4 when learning about grammar and sentence structure.
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Shapes in the Alphabet - Handwriting Letters Posters
A set of 4 posters explaining the handwriting shapes and strokes found in the letters of the alphabet.
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Narrative Text Structure Anchor Charts
Brighten up your classroom narrative writing display with this set of narrative writing posters!
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If I Were a Sloth... - Writing and Craft Activity
Excite your students to write with this super cute sloth-themed imaginative writing prompt.
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Write About It! Spring Sentence Writing Worksheets
Introduce new writers to writing complete sentences in early grades with a group of kindergarten writing prompts about spring.
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Christmas Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Celebrate Christmas time and practice those writing skills with your young sentence writers.
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Write About It! Winter Sentence Builder Pack
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled informational writing prompts about winter
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Write About It! How to Cook a Turkey
Bring Thanksgiving dinner into the classroom with a group of leveled informational writing prompts about turkey!
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Write About It! Spiders
Differentiate writing instruction in primary grades with a group of leveled informational writing prompts about spiders
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Write a Spooky Story - Scaffolded Writing Project
Inspire your struggling writers to write spooky stories that contain all of the story elements with a set of scaffolded writing activities and final draft paper.
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On the Farm - Vocabulary and Writing Prompts
Inspire young farmers to read and write about the farm with farm-themed writing prompts and word wall cards.
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Adverbs Google Interactive
Provide your students with engaging, interactive activities to help them improve their usage and identification of adverbs.
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Dinosaurs - Vocabulary Cards and Writing Prompts for Second Grade
Inspire young paleontologists to read and write about dinosaurs with a dinosaur-themed writing center and word wall.
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Farm Activities for Preschoolers - Printable Book
A fill-in-the-blank mini-book to help students learn about things on a farm.
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Fire Prevention Week Writing Prompts
Enhance writing skills during Fire Prevention Week with fire safety writing prompts for kids.
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How to Carve a Pumpkin - Accordion Book
Get crafty and inspire potential pumpkin carvers to write with a “How to Carve a Pumpkin” accordion book.
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Ocean Writing Center
Build stronger vocabulary and writing skills with an ocean-themed writing center.
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Ocean Mini Book
Learn about ocean life with a printable book for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first-graders.
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Identifying Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Adverbs - Task Cards
Identify positive, comparative, and superlative adverbs in sentences with a set of twenty task cards.
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Alphabet Interactive - Letter L
Bring technology into your guided reading lessons, and learn the sounds of L with a Google Interactive activity.
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Pumpkin Possessives Worksheet
Practice identifying possessive nouns with this fall-themed worksheet.
- Guided Writing Activities for For Kindergarten
- Guided Writing Activities for For 1st Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for For 2nd Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for For 3rd Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for For 4th Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for For 5th Grade
- Guided Writing Activities for For 6th Grade