Less than $5 Higher Education Writing Resources (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.

These winter handwriting practice printables provide a fun and effective way to improve your handwriting skills. Below is a description of the ABC worksheet related to the theme of winter:

a description:

This printable handwriting practice sheet contains the entire alphabet in beautifully designed distinct letters. Each letter is presented in both uppercase and lowercase formats, allowing learners to practice both formats.

Key Features:

Each letter of the cursive alphabet is prominently displayed, providing ample space for practice.

The letters are presented in clear, easy-to-read cursive, helping beginners and those improving their handwriting skills.

The worksheet encourages repeated tracing and writing of each letter, which reinforces muscle memory and correct letter formation.

Additional lines are provided for independent practice to reinforce letters learned and encourage mastery.

very:

The purpose of this cursive alphabet practice sheet is to help learners, whether children or adults, develop and improve their handwriting skills in a fun and engaging way. It aims to improve letter recognition, formation, and overall handwriting through repeated practice.

This printable winter-themed cursive ABC alphabet is suitable for the classroom, homeschooling, or anyone looking to boost their cursive writing skills during the winter.

NEW IN 2020: Rigorous! Engaging! Thought-provoking! This 20-page EDITABLE document will invite your students to analyze the complex characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. These daily writing activities promise to elicit dynamic engagement from all students without compromising on intellectual rigor. The worksheets will challenge your students to dig beneath the surface of the text and generate profound interpretive insights!

As you know, studying Fitzgerald’s nuanced construction of the characters is crucial for understanding this character-driven novel. These handouts will help students to develop a much deeper understanding of the characters while building skills in close reading!

What you'll get are 18 worksheets — two for each of the novel's 9 chapters — that invite students to analyze the main characters in The Great Gatsby. Each handout features a carefully selected passage that reveals key details about a character. Invite your students to write short paragraphs in which they analyze what the textual details reveal about the main characters. The worksheets focus on the following characters:

Nick Carraway

Jay Gatsby

Myrtle Wilson

George Wilson

Daisy Buchanan

Tom Buchanan

Jordan Baker

Henry Gatz

Because two worksheets are provided for each chapter, you can either select which worksheet to distribute or else allow students to choose which characters they wish to analyze. Admins and students alike will be thrilled to see you expanding students' voice and choice!

These worksheets will come to you in a 20-page EDITABLE Word document which you can customize to the needs of your students! The previews for my resources provide access to dozens of pages of actual content. Click on the green “PREVIEW” button to see what you’ll get. . . .

Thank you for choosing “Rigorous Resources”!!

Happy teaching!

Adam Jernigan, Ph.D.

adamjernigan@gmail.com

Note: These character analysis worksheets are also included in my Gatsby MEGA-Bundle. The bundle contains everything you'll need to deliver amazing and comprehensive lessons on Fitzgerald's novel: over 40 slides plus over 240 pages of content-rich handouts and activities. If you've already purchased the bundle, you don't need to purchase these worksheets. Thanks!

Click to view the Gatsby MEGA-Bundle

Click to view my TeachShare store

An interactive introduction to writing beginnings/endings and conclusions/introductions. The presentation uses a peer workshopping approach to writing beginnings and endings. Includes: Techniques to "hook" readers: Action Description Dialog Emotion Quotation Setting Examples of each Techniques to write successful conclusions. Ambiguous Circular Humor Moral Quote Restate thesis: Examples of all techniques Word Search that includes all terminologies (project and solve as a group or use as individual handouts) Uses peer workshopping and group read-arounds to complete the activites. Easy for students to follow and easy to implement in the classroom.

Become a news reporter and write your own daily column with these 22 inferencing, journalism writing activities. Newspaper format and great graphics are easy for students to work with. Uses writing process and peer workshopping strategies. Comes with two blank templates for creative fun and one lined page for extra writing space. Includes optional media and technology projects for differentiated classrooms. Excellent for use with relationship words, time order, fact vs. opinion, and more...Meets CCSS.

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.

Have fun teaching Hyperboles with this twelve pdfs that defines, illustrates, and explains the concept. Includes: Individual/whole group activities (students illustrate or make videos) Definition Examples Media links with fun Youtubes Images for use with inferencing skills and more... Easy to follow and understand. Engaging and fun way to learn and use hyperboles.

Eerie story starters to get your students in the mood for writing scary stories! Great visuals with one liner story starters. Colorful and imaginative prompts for creative writing practice and peer workshopping. Includes: Perhaps we could become friends... Two eyes peered back at me... I've had a very interesting life! Come closer... Let me tell you how I ended up here... C'mon out...there's nothing to be afraid of! Meet my new friend The eerie glow of the pumpkin... I know what you did! Have a seat and let me tell you my story! The howl of the wolf scared me. Something went bump in the night I started up the winding road... The blaze lit up the night's sky... Let me show you my castle! "Help!" screamed the principal. We found the shipwrecked boat... Great Halloween writing prompts for practicing creative writing, storytelling, and peer workshopping skills!

The 20 slide PowerPoint with peer workshopping activities introduces: Sentences: beginnings, dialogues Proper Nouns: people, I, my Specific Places and Dates: General vs. Specific, Days of Week/Month, Holidays Everyday Life: Organizations, Companies, Institutions, Specific Products, Aircrafts, Ships, Spaceships, Ethnic Names, Languages, Nationalizations, Religions Extra Resources Examples are given so students can follow authors' imitations. Easy explanations of color-coded rules and guidelines for using capital letters sentences and essays. Peer workshopping activities help reinforce capital letter rules.

10 days of writing prompts to address goal setting, time/anger/stress management,interpersonal skills. Wonderful visuals will stimulate response from students. Excellent for group discussions and journal sharing.

An easy-to-follow guide to using and writing effective titles: what to capitalize, what to italicize, plus includes examples of effective titles, and discussion slides of famous novels and their alternate titles: 1984 Gone With the Wind The Great Gatsby Treasure Island Vanity Fair Also, includes an activity slide for writing titles with articles, pictures, and essays. There are 12 slides.

A great way to get students journaling is to combine visuals with words to stimulate the mind. The eleven-slide PowerPoint addresses study skills, time management, stress management, interpersonal relationships and goal setting. Great for group discussions and story starters, as well.

Explains and defines three kinds of irony: dramatic, situation, verbal. Includes examples with worksheet activities for application. Students choose the correct answer for the examles given. Can be complete individually or in groups. Excellent Irony assessment tool!

Do your students have trouble determining when to use "I" or "Me"? This easy-to-follow PowerPoint includes: Simplified Rules for Using"I" and "Me" Easy to follow Examples Peer Workshopping Activity This to-the-point presentation is for individual, small, or whole group introduction and review.. Make learning to use "I' or "Me" easy!

Fun and interactive activity for students to relate real life writing to the use of comma rules. Have plenty of magazines, brochures, or newspapers on hand for students/small groups to cut out comma examples and paste them under the correct comma rule headings. Group or individual activity is enjoyable to students, who will discuss rules as they work! (Reminder: review the 3 Kinds of Writing PowerPoint and Using Commas in Writing to help students understand the different guidelines for academic, creative, and journalism writing, along with comma rules).

Defines the term "paragraph" plus how to build paragraphs along with different types of paragraphs and relationship words for each. Included are: General, Analysis, Chronology, Least to most important, Most to least important, Logical, Subordinating, Coordinating. Easy to follow with examples of styles given.

What's it take to be a peer workshopper? This quick introduction to peer workshopping will help students understand the process and includes a Peer Workshopping Checklist, as well as an example, to get students started! Use with college prep, homeschool, flipped classrooms, upper level learners, higher ed, and teacher training/professional development programs to introduce what peer workshopping is and how to get started. Excellent prep for writing tests. Follows Common Core and State Assessment Writing guidelines.

Are your students ready to write novels? Then this is the interactive (with activities) PowerPoint to guide them. Seventeen slides tackle plot development, setting, characterization, and publishing. Includes plot line, characteristics chart, visualizing setting, and resources for publishing, as well as how to write query letters and tackle rejections. Samples and extra resources included.

Journal writing prompts that reflect winter activities(no religious holidays/symbols). 24 Great story starters for journal writes, essay writings, or on-demand practices. Wonderful, engaging visuals with easy-to-understand sentences.

Overview of standard English composition essay guidelines for upper level writers. Basic, straightforward, and easy to follow. Includes examples of cover sheet, no cover sheet essay, and text model.