6th Grade Writing-Expository Handouts (by date, oldest first)

Show your students exactly how it should be done with this handy guide. Clear instructions, examples, and a page for their own notes!

This free resource goes perfect with the All Things English for Middle and High School Students book!

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• Do you need help getting your students to understand how text is structured and how authors craft their writing?
• Do you want them to practice aligning ideas and writing their own?

Help your students master paragraph structure with this comprehensive resource designed for middle and high school learners. "Building Strong Paragraphs" focuses on key writing skills such as identifying topic sentences, supporting details, and crafting thesis statements. This ready-to-use packet includes practice worksheets, engaging exercises, and thesis sentence-building activities that will enhance your students' writing abilities.

Ideal for both informational and argumentative writing, this resource walks students through the entire process of constructing well-organized, coherent paragraphs. Whether you're teaching how to develop supporting sentences, transition between ideas, or conclude effectively, this resource covers it all!

What's Included:

• Graphic Organizer for understanding structure
• Identification exercise
• Two Unique Passages per skill: topic sentences, thesis statements, supporting sentences & concluding sentences
• 9 Passages
• 20 Pages
• Available as a PDF and a Word Document

Perfect for:

• Grades 6-10
• English Language Arts (ELA) Teachers
• Writing Workshops
• STAAR Writing Prep
• Argumentative and Informational Essay Practice

Benefits of this Resource:

• Aligned with Common Core Standards and TEKS for writing.
• Great for differentiated learning in classrooms with ELLs and students needing extra practice.
• Supports critical thinking and writing clarity.

Who is this for?

• Middle and High School Teachers: Perfect for educators looking to strengthen their students’ paragraph-writing skills with structured, step-by-step activities.
• ELA Teachers: Aligned with TEKS and Common Core standards, this resource is ideal for anyone teaching informational and argumentative writing.
• Students Preparing for Standardized Tests: Great for test prep, including STAAR writing, helping students improve clarity, coherence, and overall writing structure.
• Special Education & ELL Support: Easily adaptable for differentiated instruction, making it an excellent tool for classrooms with diverse learners, including English Language Learners and students with varying writing levels.
• Homeschool Educators: A valuable resource for guiding students through the fundamentals of paragraph writing at home.

This includes two Articles "How do hurricanes form? A step-by-step guide" and "How Do Hurricanes Form?" plus a graph titled "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale" . After reading these two articles students are given a prompt for an expository essay on how hurricanes are formed. There is also an outline sheet included for students to use in order to help them organize their essay. Plus a rubric for easy grading of final essay.

***** Check out my other Writing Resources*****

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Essay prompt and articles :Narcissism

Essay prompt and articles: Colonization in Africa

This includes two Articles "How do hurricanes form? A step-by-step guide" and "How Do Hurricanes Form?" plus a graph titled "Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale" . After reading these sources students are given a prompt for an expository essay on how hurricanes are formed. Includes a outline sheet that can be easily filled out in Google Docs as well as a rubric. This product works great in any digital classroom. This is editable in Google Docs. You must have Google Drive to use this product! You may sign up for Google drive for free Visit here for help with Google Drive

This is an informational handout to help students who have problems writing effective introduction paragraphs. ***** Check out my other Writing Resources***** Writing Thesis Statements Counterclaim and Rebuttal Writing Graphic Organizers Interactive Essay Writing Flipbook Argumentative Essay Essay prompt and articles :Narcissism Essay prompt and articles: Hurricanes Essay prompt and articles: Colonization in Africa

Includes prompts for writing informative and argumentative essays. Also includes writing powerpoints, outlines, and rubrics

Engaging Writing templates for boys and girls!

Fifteen fun front and back templates!

A fun border design for each template:

1. Spooky Spiders
2. Horses
3. Pandas
4. Safari Animals
5. Woodland Creatures
6. Sweet Desserts
7. Junk Food
8. Frogs
9. Gorillas and Bananas
10. Puppies
11. Naruto
12. Princesses
13. Harry Potter
14. Aliens
15. Butterflies and Flowers

This 3-page form asks students to specifically rate their performance on the 6 components of effective effort on a given essay: TIME, FOCUS, RESOURCEFULNESS, USE OF STRATEGIES, USE OF FEEDBACK, and COMMITMENT. This product is modeled after teachings from The Skillful Teacher by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca, and Robert Gower and encourages a growth mindset in students. I provide this form to my students every single time I assign a paper and am always pleasantly surprised at how honest they are in their responses, especially as the incentive for guessing their grade is 2 bonus points! ____________________________________________________________________________ Also, check out this great lesson plan for teaching Effective Effort by Language Arts Excellence: ⭐Effective Effort Lesson Plan ____________________________________________________________________________ ⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

This 3-page form asks students to specifically rate their performance on the 6 components of effective effort on a given essay: TIME, FOCUS, RESOURCEFULNESS, USE OF STRATEGIES, USE OF FEEDBACK, and COMMITMENT. This product is modeled after teachings from The Skillful Teacher by Jon Saphier, Mary Ann Haley-Speca, and Robert Gower and encourages a growth mindset in students. I provide this form to my students every single time I assign a paper and am always pleasantly surprised at how honest they are in their responses, especially as the incentive for guessing their grade is 2 bonus points! ____________________________________________________________________________ Also, check out this great lesson plan for teaching Effective Effort by Language Arts Excellence: ⭐Effective Effort Lesson Plan ____________________________________________________________________________ ⭐Click to Follow Language Arts Excellence⭐

14 non-fiction and 1 fiction scenarios with speech and thought bubbles for students to make inferences, practice point of view, and practice writing dialogue. Non-Fiction Scenes Include: Skiers Musicians Basketball Player Hiking Art Babysitting Mechanics Friends Salesman Accident Garden Skateboarding Science Parking Lot and Aliens (fiction) Can be used individually or with whole groups for journal writing, writing text evidence based on visual clues, on-demand writing prompts, writing reader's theater/plays, practice grammar skills, spelling, vocabulary, and more.

Instill gratitude for our Armed Services with these 20 Veteran's Day Thank You Cards. Write a note of thanks, color images, fold, and give to make a veteran smile! Includes a mix of English and Spanish gratitude phrases, black and white images to color, and one blank card for students to create their own Veteran's Day message. Highlights each branch of the Armed Services: Army, Marines, and Navy. Includes female and male armed services members. Use as across curriculum government/history/social studies and ELA lesson, to practice fact-based letter/note writing skills, develop social skills, learn more about U.S. history, practice vocabulary, and meet local veterans in your community. Contact your local Veteran's of Foreign Wars (VFW) for a list of veterans in your area.

Need help with organizing cause and effect essays? These 7 charts will guide students through planning and pre-writing cause and effect essays. Step-by-Step graphic organizers with note about cause and effect definitions, paragraph writing tip, and writing challenge to reorganize the essay on each handout.

Excellent for assessment practice, college test prep, standardized test prep, and expository writing. Helps build critical thinking skills. Meets state and federal ELA guidelines.

40 prompts to help students with on-demand writing. Each handout has a black and white image to color that is non-fiction, real life related. Factual, lined page, story starters for critical thinking, assessment-style, standardized writing practice. Topics include: In my future, I see... Some people say I'm a dreamer... The road of life has many obstacles... The root system of a tree is as complicated as... Home represents... If I could soar like a bird... To walk a mile in another's shoes... The world's future is.... One of the biggest exaggerations I've heard or told was... I have a place in my heart for... Gossip spreads like wildfire. An example of this is... My friends are as unique as leaves on a tree... plus so many more fact-based prompts... Full page lined writing handout for 2 sided copying Copy and handout to students for on-demand, non-fiction writing practice, diagnostic testing, assessment practice, peer workshopping practice, and more. Meets Common Core and State ELA Standards for writing.

20 Non-fiction writing prompts to help students with assessment writing. Comes with 20 handouts with graphics and writing space. Includes:

In my future I see...

People say I'm a dreamer...

My life is like a song...

Home represents...

Gossip spreads like wildfire...

plus 15 more non-fiction writing prompts that relate to students' lives!

Excellent for assessment prep, journal prompts, non-fiction connections to readings. Use the prompts as introduction into research then use the writing process and peer workshop essays for Common Core requirements.

Students can chart Earth's changes from the beginning of time through the future with this 35 page, interactive timeline for students to make and share. Uses fact-based writing, inferencing skills, interpreting information, research skills, application of knowledge, and writing skills.

Includes handouts/printables of:

Directions

Extra Handout/Video Resources

5 Title pages

5 The End pages

My Earth Timeline page to fill in

Covers time periods:

Beginning of Earth

Compare/Contrast over how Earth was formed

Cambrian Period

Permian Period

Mesozoic Period

Forming of 7 Continents

Stone Age

Ice Age

Neolithic Period

Bronze Age and hieroglyphics

Pyramids/Stonehenge

Iron Age

Hellenistic Period

Roman Period

Byzantine Period

Middle Ages: Classic, Middle, Modern

Renaissance and Reformation

Enlightenment and Age of Reason

Industrial Revolution

20th and 21st Century

What about Earth's future?

A brief overview of Earth's time periods for students to learn about, and review then apply knowledge to complete their books. Can be used for assessment, journaling activities, history/social studies, for celebrating Earth Day, or as overview of unit on how Earth was formed and changed. Requires critical thinking skills for completion.

Have students write their own expository, fact-based newspaper articles and complete their own entertainment reviews with Talkin' Turkey Times. Plenty of templates for students to: draw pictures work on grammar skills work on spelling/vocabulary write themed articles paste related images (great for lower levels/extensions) practice main ideas write headings write titles form topic sentences work on paraphrasing/summarizing develop paragraphing skills work on proofreading/editing Easy to use, and great for bulletin board displays during Thanksgiving. Send home for students to complete with Thanksgiving memories while on holiday break. Great assessment tool and meets Common Core Standards.

Everything students need to know about Abraham Lincoln! And,written in comic book format that comes with a second set of pages that have blank text boxes for students to paraphrase/summarize/research then fill-in facts. Includes: Early Life: Birth, School, Manhood, Death of Mom, Step-Mother Young Adult Years: Employment, Politics Famous Quotes Law License John Todd Stuart, First Law Partner Mary Todd Lincoln & Marriage Four Sons (Birth & Death) Political Timelines Speeches (House Divided, 2 Inaugural Speeches,Gettysburg Address, Last Address) Political Slogans Noah Brooks' reporter's viewpoint Black Hawk War Civil War Ford Theater Death Fun, easy, interactive way to learn facts about Abraham Lincoln, his life and political career. Can be used for ELA, history, social studies, as well as plays, bulletin boards, posters, etc... Meets CCSS fact-based, non-fiction standards.

Get students thinking about presidential elections and political campaign promises with 16 handouts that generate higher level learning.The journal-like prompts include historical facts that will have students wondering, "What if.I was president..?" Social issues to write about include:

family issues

government growth

importing goods

internet issues

laws and rules

leadership style

national debt

national security

social security

space exploration

succession

transportation problems

war

world peace

There are sixteen famous presidents, with their greatest accomplishments. Included are: Adams, Bush, Clinton, Cleveland, Coolidge, Eisenhower, Jackson, Johnson, Kennedy, Lincoln, Nixon, Reagan, Roosevelt,Washington

Includes Extra Resources (videos, web-links) and Ideas for Use in the classroom.

Can be used with English, Government, History classes.

Expository and creative writings abound with these real life, fact based connections to ELA, history, and science! Fun, creative, and educational, yet uses critical thinking skills to introduce 10 Kids Who Changed the World through coloring format handouts with 20 writing activities. Kids: Ryan Hreljac, Ryan's Well Foundation for clean water for kids Malala Yousafzai, education for girls in Pakistan Ryan White, HIV/AIDS foundation for kids Anne Frank, Holocaust author Louis Braille, inventor of Braille Olivia Hallisey, inventor of new Ebola virus vaccine Jacob Barnett, expanded Einstein's Theory of Relativity & founder of Jacob's Place for kids with autism Cassandra Lin, inventor of process for recycling cooking oil for heat David Zhao, creator of Instruments for Change Alexandra Scott, Alex's Lemonade Stand for kids with cancer Writing Handouts Include: genre explanations advertising blog writing Braille writing brainstorming activities charts for business writing and KWL cause and effect writing diary writing informative writing governmental act writing letter writing listing marketing medical/business flow chart personal narrative writing persuasive writing poetry writing secret code writing service learning project map symbolism using chronological/sequential/time order using transitions Fact Based, Real Life Topics Include: bullying benefits of.... business planning climate change community service communication skills goal setting and meeting goals handicap guidelines and regulations hobbies/talents ethical/moral choices, decisions, and outcomes government acts to improve quality of life influential people in students' lives personal strengths point of view of kids who changed the world sensitive medical topics: Asbergers, autism, bullying, cancer, HIV/AIDS, Holocaust service learning setting up a non-profit organization survival & techniques reflection on school and learning Excellent for across curriculum writing connections, discussions and debates, homeschool, flipped classes, teaching empathy, teaching real life application, introducing career and workforce connections, introducing service learning projects, and student assessment of writing genres and writing skills. Please note that sensitive topics are included in this lesson plan. Unique, unusual, and fun interactive writing assignments! Cooperative learning with an emphasis on social skills! Can be used with Christian based curriculums. Like this format for learning? Then, try: American Revolution Comic Book Writing Galveston Juneteenth Oklahoma Land Rush Texas History 1 & 2 Remember the Alamo Spindletop Gusher

High interest, critical thinking, on-demand writing prompts that include research based facts and references for citations. Great for college and career rigor standards with fact-based, textual evidence writings. Use as individual handouts or for whole group prompts. Includes: Aliens Bigfoot Chupacabra Ghosts Lochness Monster Mermaids Mothman Vampires Werewolves Zombies Fun, on-demand expository, informational, or persuasive prompts that stimulate creative, critical thinking writings! Great for discussions and debates, too. Meets CCSS.