Topic Development Teacher Resources

An engaging and quick presentation on writing topic sentences is sure to grab the attention of your elementary writers. The PowerPoint can be modified and includes relevant visual examples.

Finding a topic that engages young writers can be difficult. The four prompts offered by this resource focus on pets. Whether it be writing a story about an imaginary pet or about preparing for a pet, your pupils will find something here...

Strengthen writing skills with a introductory exercise to learn how to write topic sentences. Using an informational reading passage, pupils delineate the types of sentences they read and discern what the topic sentence should be.

Students brainstorm a list of writing topics for a "Memories of Mom" book, choose one of the topics as the subject of a daily essay and combine a week of daily essays into a book to give their mothers for Mother's Day.

In this writing worksheet, students read a topic sentence or supporting details of ten paragraph. Students fill in the missing information to create a complete outline.

Eight graphic organizers to choose from? That's right! Each of these organizers relates to writing or reading. From narrowing a writing topic, to responding to literature, to planning a writing project, you'll find many purposes for...

Revision is an important part of the writing process. Focus on revising topic sentences and details with the plan described here. This is part of a unit, so pupils have already filled out a graphic organizer about traveling libraries...

A degree in communications incorporates disciplines such as business, law, and media as well. A writing handout offers prospective communications majors information about what kind of assignments to expect in a typical course....

A three-minute exercise warms-up scholars' writing abilities in order to follow a writing process that ends in an essay. The essay's topic is a barrier and the values used to break it. Four steps include choosing a topic, jotting-down a...

You can't publish a story until after it has been revised and edited! Budding authors investigate the writing process while drafting an original story. They select a topic, complete a rough draft, edit it, revise it, and finally publish...

Help your young writers produce high-quality topic and thesis statements that go beyond basic wording and really illustrate complex ideas and critical thinking skills. From however and compound sentence statements to using rhetorical...

A great resource for informational texts as well as writing topics, the New York Times website provides writing prompts about various news articles through The Learning Network. This particular worksheet provides a very short reading...

An information-rich resource, this webpage will provide your class with all the information they need to explore a relevant real-world and little understood topic: the Middle East and the people's revolutions that shook it in the spring...

This versatile resource from The New York Times website provides a short opinion piece on smart phones and the amount of time we spend playing games on them as well as several possible writing prompts pupils could consider in response to...

A thesis statement is one of the most important aspects in a paper; make sure your class can create solid, concise statements for each of their large essays, particularly analytical essays. This presentation is extremely thorough, and it...

Ideas don't naturally flow from one to another. They need transitions to help them connect. Part of a larger Writing the Paper series, the resource introduces writers to the concept of using transitions in their writing. Topics covered...

Taking a day off of school can feel like a lot more work than going because of the time and effort that goes into making sub plans. Make your life easier with a daily plan for a guest teacher designed to meet the needs of sixth graders...

Students write a topic sentence to a paragraph and explain that it introduces the main idea. After a whole-class demonstration, students write a complete paragraph with their topic sentence and supporting sentences. There are some...

Introduce expository writing to your elementary learners. Young authors write a three-paragraph informational paper using the steps of the writing process. They follow guided lessons to experience each of five steps. Included are tons of...

Organization can take a paragraph from mundane to first-rate. Try out a graphic organizer for an accordion-style paragraph, which includes a topic sentence, three reasons with details and transitions, three explanations, and a concluding...

Show a Powerpoint presentation about descriptive writing. Fourth graders brainstorm a list of writing topics and place them in graphic organizers. Then they write their own paragraphs describing topics of their choice and create...

Students brainstorm ideas for a teacher selected writing topic. They demonstrate seven steps for writing an academic essay. They jot down words or phrases using different colored pens. They write a thesis statement and create an outline...

Students complete writing lessons to help students select a writing topic, prepare a writing plan, and create an interesting beginning. In this personal narratives lesson, students complete intensive modeling activities to write their...

What an interesting presentation! Learners discuss alternatives to the use of the word said in their writing. The suggestions include the words bellowed, demanded, laughed, and mumbled. This is a creative approach to this topic. Use this...