8th Grade Writing-Expository Handouts (by date, oldest first)

• 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.

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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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*****

Writing Thesis Statements

Counterclaim and Rebuttal

Writing Graphic Organizers

Interactive Essay Writing Flipbook

Argumentative Essay

Essay prompt and articles :Narcissism

Essay prompt and articles: Colonization in Africa

This includes two Articles "The History of Narcissistic

Personality Disorder" and "Selfies, Facebook, and Narcissism: What's the Link? Exploring the link between Facebook and Narcissism" plus a graph titled "College Students' Narcissistic Personality Inventory Scores 1982-2006" . After reading these two articles students are given a prompt for an expository essay on narcissism. 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*****

Counterclaim and Rebuttal

Interactive Essay Writing Flipbook

Argumentative Essay

Writing Thesis Statements

Essay prompt and articles: Hurricanes

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

This handout provides a thorough and clear explanation of how to properly embed quotations within a paper. The handout will introduce students to the three methods they should be using to introduce textual evidence. It offers a lucid account of how to properly punctuate quotations, how to properly alter quotations, and how to properly cite evidence from different literary genres (novel, plays, poems, etc).

Tired of reading papers in which students repeat the exact same phrases to introduce a series of quotations? Tired of reading papers in which students contextualize evidence by writing, On page 34, it says, "blah blah" ?? Look no further! I developed this resource after listening to my talented English colleagues chat about their shared frustrations over how students frame quotations in their papers. If the teachers at your school are facing similar frustrations, then you might find this handout to be helpful.

As it turns out, there are only three strategies that writers employ when embedding quotations in a paper. This handout explains when and how students should use each of the three strategies:

1. Block Quotations: The best technique for framing a long quotation is to use a block quotation. The examples in this handout will model not only how to punctuate a block quotation but also how to follow up with analysis by picking out key words from the quotation and unpacking their significance.

2. Clause-and-Colon Method: The best technique for framing a mid-sized quotation is to introduce the quotation with an independent clause followed by a colon (:). The examples in this handout will model the grammatically correct way to use a colon to set up a quotation.

3. Integration-of-Keywords Method: The best technique for framing shorter quotations is to integrate the quotations into the writer's own sentences. The examples in this handout demonstrate how to integrate quotations seamlessly into the flow of one's sentences.

Here's my suggestion for how to use this handout. What I'd recommend is that you distribute this handout to your students before you distribute your next writing assignment. After reading and discussing each of the three methods, you might announce that all students will be required to utilize both the "clause-and-colon method" and the "integration-of-keywords method" at least once in their next papers. Should you do that, I promise their papers will improve!

My store is called “Rigorous Resources” because all of the materials prioritize rigorous content over decorative graphics. While there are plenty of sellers whose lessons feature beautiful design elements, my resources promise to improve students' writing by equipping them with practical skills used by published academic writers.

The previews for my resources provide direct access to several pages of exemplary materials. Hit the green “Preview” button to see exactly what you’ll get. . . .

This 3-page document will come to you in two separate formats: a Word doc *and* a PDF. Because the Word doc is editable, you'll be able to costumize the resource to suit the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access the resource as a PDF — which is easy to navigate and quick to print.

If there's anything I can do to support your amazing work in the classroom, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

Feel free to check out these other resources on writing:

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NEW IN 2021: Rigorous! Thought-provoking! Discussion-Based! This 45-page EDITABLE poetry curriculum promises to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The literary devices quizzes, discussion prompts, and analytical writing assignment will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!!

Here are some highlights from this 45-page curriculum:

• 10 Poems by Langston Hughes: The 10 poems in this mini-unit feature Langston Hughe's BEST works of poetry: "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Mother to Son," "I, Too," "Theme for English B," "Let America Be America Again," "Harlem," and more. The poems are split between two homework packets, each of which features 5 poems. Each homework packet is followed by a classroom packet with discussion questions and quizzes related to the poems. (12 pages)

• Discussion Questions: This bundle features a list of discussion questions for the first poem in each of the homework packets. The discussion questions will ensure that every class discussion starts on a productive note. Every discussion question is grounded in concrete textual details and challenges students to arrive at lucid interpretive insights! The questions lend themselves to a range of different pedagogical uses: 1) to focus students’ thinking prior to beginning a discussion, 2) to prompt in-class writing, 3) to assign written reflections for homework, etc. Guaranteed to elicit student engagement and foster deep thinking! Answer keys included. (12 pages)

• Quick Writes: The quick writes give students an opportunity to capture and refine the best ideas generated in the discussion. Quick writes can also help reticent students to gather their thoughts so they'll feel ready and eager to contribute. (3 pages)

• Literary Devices Glossary: A glossary with definitions and examples of the various types of figurative language, imagery, stanzas, and syntactic devices. Many teachers already have a glossary of literary devices, but I'm providing this in case you need one. (2 pages)

• Literary Devices Quizzes: Open each class with a quiz of 10 questions to assess whether your students can accurately identify the literary devices used in the poems from the homework packets: metaphor, personification, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, etc. Answer keys included. (4 pages)

• Analytical Writing Assignment: Challenge students to take their interpretations one step further by writing an analytical paper on a poem of their choice. The assignment sheet contains detailed instructions for how to generate a formalist analysis of a poem (analyzing how the poem's formal features contribute to its meaning). This kind of formalist analysis is exactly what students are asked to generate on the AP Literature exam! Sample paper included. (3 pages)

The entire 45-page unit will come to you in two separate formats: Word doc *and* PDF. Because the Word doc is fully editable, you'll be able to modify the resource to suit your teaching style and/or the skill levels of your students — year after year! If you don't have Microsoft Word, you'll still be able to access the entire unit as a PDF file, which is easy to navigate and quick to print!

Because I believe that teachers should be able to see exactly what they'll be getting before they purchase, the preview for this resource allows viewing accesses to 30 pages. Click on the green "preview" button to see exactly what you’ll get. . . .

Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

P.S. Don't forget to click “follow” for email updates on new products by Rigorous Resources. New products will be 50% OFF for the first 24 hours!

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.

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.

Complete set of 7 graphic organizers for cause and effect writings. Easy to use and follow, and comes with: Cause and Effect Relationship Word Chart Cause and Effect Topics Sheet Categories: Arts, Humanities, Music, Education, STEM 7 different Graphic Organizers to Xerox Writing Tips Writing Challenges Reinforces fact based writing, cause and effect relationship words, planning stage, working with writing process, and peer workshopping. Critical thinking skills needed! Great for ELA and STEM connections, AP, charter, ESL, GT, dual credit, and homeschool students.

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.

New standardized tests, such as ACT and SAT, ask students to define the problem, sort through solutions, find the best solution, and explain why they chose their answers. This free graphic organizer will help students with working through the process!

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