These 10 short writing assignments for teens and tweens are a great way to assess student writing, leave with sub, or use as “filler” activities as needed. I keep a few copied and tucked away so I’m always covered if an extra assignment is needed! Each 2-page writing activity includes a review of key literary terms, important information needed for the assignment (format, guidelines, etc.) and a writing activity. These writing assignments can take anywhere from 20 minutes to a full class period. Feel free to time students or give them as long as they need. To stretch an activity, have students read aloud for the class or in small groups. The poetry activity is especially fun to read aloud! Writing assignments included: 1.) Descriptive writing: picture prompt 2.) Persuasive writing: letter to school board 3.) Narrative writing: overcoming challenge essay 4.) Editorial writing: school hot topic editorial 5.) Expository writing: bullying essay 6.) Poetry writing: free verse and haiku 7.) Compare and contrast writing: topic choices provided 8.) Opinion writing: social media essay 9.) Creative writing: sentence starter prompt 10.) Journal writing: two writing prompts Written in American English.

Ring in the New Year with these writing and activity pages for your mid to upper elementary students (3-6th grade). Use as warm-ups, additions to your lesson plans, time-fillers, sub assignments, or just for fun! If you have time, encourage students to share their essays and New Year’s resolutions with a partner or the class. Activities Include: New Year Celebration Word Search (with key) Reflections Writing Prompt A Look into the Future Writing Prompt New Year’s Resolutions Google Your Way into the New Year! (with key) Tic-Tac-Toe! New Year’s Writing Choice Board Blank Lined Paper (for choice board writing) Sample essay question: Imagine ringing in the New Year 20 years from now! How old will you be? What do you hope to have accomplished in life? Write a prediction of where you see yourself in 20 years. Written in American English.

“My Utopian Bedroom Descriptive Writing & Design Project” is an engaging, creative, and FUN project for upper-elementary and junior high students! Students are given the freedom to think outside the box, use their imaginations, and create a unique space that represents their interests and unique style. The best part is, while they are having fun, YOU get to evaluate their outlining, descriptive writing, and public speaking skills! Feel free to modify this project to meet the needs of your students. You can give the students a packet with all of the pages and allow them to work on the project at their own pace, or you can work on a different part of the project as a class each day. For the oral presentation, you may project the student’s bedroom floor plan on a screen for all to view, or you can require students to make a poster-sized floor plan to use as a visual aid during their presentation. File Includes: *Student Project Guidelines *Descriptive Essay Outline *Descriptive Essay Lined Pages *Bedroom Floor Plan *Presentation & Note Card Tips *Project Grading Rubric Simply print and begin! No additional supplies necessary. Written in American English.

Task Cards for junior high students are perfect for early finishers, warm-ups, time fillers, journal entries, write-pair-shares, sub assignments & extra credit! The PDF file includes 11 pages of black and white printables (total of 43 task cards–4 per page). The task cards include a variety of activities, including writing prompts and graphic organizers (both short and long activities). All topics are relevant and grade-appropriate for 6th-9th grade students. Teachers can cut and laminate individual cards or make copies and use in a variety of ways! Ideas for use: Laminate each card, hole-punch the top corner of each card, and put on a ring clip. Early finishers may then look through the cards and choose which activity they’d like to complete. You can also project one of the cards on a screen as a warm-up each day or leave one of the lengthier activities for a sub. It’s also convenient to have task cards on hand for days when the lesson ends early and you need a quick time filler! Written in American English.

Exit tickets are the perfect way to quickly assess your students’ understanding of the lesson! This set of creatively designed exit tickets work for any subject area and are ideal for upper-elementary or lower-secondary students (grades 3-9). They are an even mix of quick checks that take 1-2 minutes and short answer questions that may take up to 5 minutes. Many of the tickets use Bloom’s Taxonomy sentence stems to check for knowledge and comprehension, and encourage students to analyze or evaluate the material or teaching method. The last two exit tickets provide writing space for students to answer an essential question that YOU post on the board or projector. You can keep a set of these essential question tickets on hand for quick comprehension checks! There are also a few exit tickets that require you to assign the students a specific topic or concept to write about. For example, the prompt may ask them to “give an example of” or “compare and contrast.” Use these exit tickets as often as you’d like! Print on white or colored paper (they will print in black and white). Your students will love the fun designs and themes! Written in American English.

Persuasive messages are all around us! This lesson teaches students to identify and implement Aristotle’s 3 modes of persuasion (rhetorical appeals): ethos, logos & pathos. Appropriate for secondary students, this zip file includes 3 color and B&W posters, student notes, “Identifying Ethos, Logos & Pathos in Historical Speeches” activity, and an “Editorial Writing” activity. The student notes introduce key terms and provide a detailed diagram of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle. The 2 activities are perfect for speech, debate, ELA, creative writing, or social studies classrooms. There is not an answer key for the activities, as student answers will vary. There is an excellent opportunity for group and classroom discussion during/after each activity. Written in American English.

Creating, presenting, and displaying individuality flags is a great way to build a positive classroom community! Students will enjoy being creative and sharing unique information about themselves while teachers are able to assess not only their creativity, but writing and presentation skills. This 3-part project is best suited for grades 5-8, but may be modified for younger or older students. There are several parts of the project that are left to the teacher’s discretion (flag size, use of essay or notes during student presentations, requirement of a final draft, length of presentation, etc.). Modify the assignment to meet the needs of your learners! Supplies (for each student): Large, white construction paper, card stock, or poster board Markers, map pencils, or paint (for flags) Computer access Table of Contents: Individuality Flag Project Student Guidelines Page 2 Symbols (Information, examples & websites) Page 3 Colors (Color symbolism information & websites) Page 4 Personal Motto (Information, examples & websites) Page 5 Essay Outline Pages 6-8 Rubric Page 9 Written in American English.

his propaganda mini-unit has everything you need to teach your students about persuasive techniques used in advertising and media! The zip file includes: -PowerPoint -Student notes outline (to go with PowerPoint) -Internet scavenger hunt activity -Identifying propaganda techniques in news headlines activity (with answer key) -Flash cards (printable foldable template) -Colorful classroom propaganda poster -Quiz with answer key My students really enjoy this unit! If you have time for a project, students can make a propaganda book with clipped ads (from magazines or internet) and display in a creative book to present to the class. This mini-unit is perfect for any secondary ELA, speech, debate, or social studies class! Written in American English.

Logical fallacies are all around us in advertising, the media, and in daily conversations! Students should learn how to identify these sometimes confusing persuasive techniques. This is a great unit for speech, debate, law, English, and public speaking classes! The zip file includes logical fallacy posters (or can be used as a word wall), student handout/notes with definitions, worksheet/activity, and definition cards (may be used as task cards or flash cards). Logical fallacies defined: -Ad hominem -Slippery slope -Red herring -Straw man -Begging the question -Hasty generalization -False dichotomy -Ad populum -Appeal to authority -Emotional appeal -No true scotsman -Appeal to nature Written in American English.

Spring has sprung! Assess your students’ writing with these spring-themed writing prompts for mid-upper elementary. This 18-page file includes narrative, descriptive, and persuasive writing prompts (5 of each) with lined paper and an additional lined page to print on the back. PLUS, review the difference between narrative, descriptive, and persuasive writing with a flower-themed notes page for your students! INCLUDED: 3 Types of Writing Student Notes Narrative Prompt 1: Fresh start or something new Narrative Prompt 2: Memorable spring break Narrative Prompt 3: Spring fever Narrative Prompt 4: Showers & storms Narrative Prompt 5: Family vacation Descriptive Prompt 1: Perfect spring Saturday Descriptive Prompt 2: Spring holidays Descriptive Prompt 3: Favorite outdoor space Descriptive Prompt 4: Picnic by the lake (picture) Descriptive Prompt 5: Fishing on the dock (picture) Persuasive Prompt 1: Pets at school? Persuasive Prompt 2: City or country? Persuasive Prompt 3: Ice cream party? Persuasive Prompt 4: Gardens at school? Persuasive Prompt 5: Mandatory recess? Blank Lined Paper (for back page of prompts) SUGGESTIONS FOR USE: • Quick writes • Warm-ups • Timed writing • Sub assignments • Extra credit • Write and share (oral reading) Written in American English.

Charades is a game that students (and adults) have enjoyed for years! This classic game is perfect for rainy days, class parties, brain breaks, and team building! In addition to being entertaining and highly engaging, mid to upper-level elementary students will learn to use their nonverbal communication skills to convey messages using only gestures, body movements, and facial expressions. Student directions are included, but you may change or modify the directions as necessary. File Includes: -Teacher’s notes -Student directions -6 charades kid-friendly categories (Categories: Children’s books, movies, animals, transportation, school terms & landmarks) -110 pre-written topic slips -Blank page for you or the students to write your own Written in American English. Enjoy!!

Your upper elementary/secondary students will enjoy playing travel agent as they complete this informative 3-part project! Allow students to choose a country from the list of 195 countries provided and review the project requirements with the class using the student guidelines page. A project rubric is provided for easy grading. If time allows, consider encouraging students to present information about their country and browse each other’s brochures. Modify this project (or point values on rubric) to meet the needs of your learners! PDF Zip File Includes 13 pages of resources! -List of 195 countries -Travel brochure template (print front/back) -Project guidelines -Research outline -Essay pages -Project rubric -Percentage/conversion chart for rubric Written in American English.

Public speaking can be difficult for students, but allowing them to chose their topic makes them more interested and engaged in the research and speech writing process! This zip file includes TWO choice boards (9 informative topics on each board), a two-page guide for students, and a grading rubric. The choice boards cover a variety of topics: science, environmental issues, history, and arts/media. Sample topics: -What are the effects of global warming? -What medical advancements have been made over the past 20 years? -Who is a leader that changed the world? -What are the impacts of media on society? The speech guidelines explain the basics of informative speaking, including speech format/structure, purpose, use of note cards, length, etc. Students will actually enjoy researching and speaking about a topic that interests them! The grading rubric makes the evaluation process fair and allows students to clearly see what they did well and how they can improve. Written in American English.

Your 1st-5th grade students will enjoy making this reflective end-of-year memory book! With 15 pages to choose from, you can pick and choose which pages to include or use them all! The back page is slightly larger than the other pages to show the grade level (print the grade-level page on colored paper), then simply stack the pages of the book and staple together. Pages included: -Memory book cover page (for student’s name) -My favorite things -All about my teacher -How I’ve grown -Field trip fun -My favorite book -All about “Specials” -Celebrations -Goals for next year -Special friends -Lunch time! -Autographs -My greatest accomplishment -Map of my classroom -A lesson I’ve learned -Plans for the summer Included in PDF files: -Back pages of booklet (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade options) -Cover page for booklet -15 booklet pages Written in American English.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this activity pack for mid to upper-elementary students! With a variety of writing and research activities, your students will enjoy this festive day learning about the traditions of the Irish! Activities include: -2 full-page writing prompts -Internet research scavenger hunt (suggested websites listed) -8 quick write or discussion topic cards -St. Patrick’s Day word search (with answer key) -Limerick writing (examples and lines to write their own) Written in American English.

Teaching directions and parts of a compass can be engaging and fun with this mini-unit comprised of student notes and five map and labeling activities for mid to upper- elementary students! Allow students to work in pairs or individually and use the “Which Direction?” labeling activity as a quiz or timed game. In addition to these writing activities, give students opportunities to give verbal directions so they become even more comfortable using directional words. Modify each of these activities as necessary depending on their age and learning level. Don’t forget to download and print your full-color compass directions classroom poster! Table of Contents: Student Notes Page 2 Mini-Map and Directions Activity #1 Pages 3-4 Mini-Map and Directions Activity #2 Pages 5-6 U.S. Map Activity (*map pencils required) Page 7 The New Kid is an Alien! (map & writing activity) Page 8-9 Which Direction? Labeling Activity Page 10 Answer Keys Pages 11-12 *Full-color 18X24 poster Written in American English.

*The purpose of this current event speech is to encourage your secondary students to learn about the world around them, share their knowledge with others, and improve their research, writing, and public speaking skills. *Students will need access to computers/internet and a printer. *If you prefer not to assign the speech, you can simply assign one current event analysis per day, week, or month. Students can read an article and fill out the “Current Event #1” activity sheet. *Modify the activity to meet the needs of your learners! INCLUDED (PDF Zip File): • Current event informative speech guidelines (handout for students, 1 page) • Current event analysis activity sheets (3 pages) • Speech outline (2 pages) • Grading rubric (1 page) Written in American English.

What a deal! Decorate your bulletin boards, walls, and doors all year long with EIGHT FULL SETS of colorful letters, numbers & special characters. Each set is a different color with a black outline (aqua, royal blue, green, purple, red, orange, yellow & hot pink). Simply print, cut, laminate, and decorate! *Included in each set: Capital letters A-Z, numbers 0-9, punctuation/special characters ? ! & ‘ # . *Full-color, printable PDF files (in a zip file). *Print on standard 8 ½ x 11 paper, laminate, cut & decorate! Save paper and print only the pages you need! *For longer-lasting, more durable letters, print and laminate on white cardstock instead of printer paper. *Some pages had space for multiple letters (for less printing). Feel free to ask questions before purchasing. Enjoy!

Clean desk notes are a great classroom management tool to acknowledge students who are taking pride in their personal work space! Write a note on the back or pair with a small treat, and make your students feel special! *6 printable designs *Full color and black/white/gray *FREE!

Teaching a unit over argumentation, debate, or persuasive speaking? These 30 words are basic vocabulary words that every debater should learn and use in rounds! Print each on a full page or 2+ per page to create a FUN and colorful word wall!! You can also print these (several per page) and have students make flash cards with definitions! **BONUS debate vocabulary list with definitions included in file!