Easy to Get Started: Imagine. Write. Create.
The best elementary writing lessons inspire creativity while building essential skills. By sparking curiosity and giving students the freedom to express themselves, you foster an environment where writing becomes an enjoyable and empowering experience for every student.
At Storyboard That, we believe that when students are having fun, they become immersed in the material in a way that opens them up to deeper learning. That’s why we’ve created our lesson plans and resources to provide you with a new way to teach writing, so that your students learn to write by applying visual concepts to achieve a better long-term understanding of the material—and have a blast while doing it.
To get you started, we are going to break writing down into its 4 core components:
- Mechanics and Convention
- Conveying Meaning
- The Writing Process
- Types of Writing
Mechanics and Convention
Mastering the mechanics and conventions of writing is key to helping young learners communicate clearly and effectively. From proper punctuation and spelling to sentence structure and grammar, these lessons were created to help your students build foundational skills and write in a way that is easy to read and understand.
Conveying Meaning
Effective writing is about sharing ideas clearly so others can understand. Teaching students to choose the right words, organize their thoughts, and support their ideas helps them communicate with boldness, intentionality, and creativity.
The Writing Process
The writing process helps students turn their ideas into clear, well-structured writing. From brainstorming to drafting, revising, and editing, each step builds confidence and strengthens writing skills.
Types of Writing
There are many different ways to express ideas through writing, each serving a unique purpose. Whether it’s storytelling, informative writing, or persuasive essays, each type helps students develop important skills for communicating effectively.
What is Writing?
A Powerful Tool for Expression and Learning
Writing is much more than putting words on paper—it’s a powerful tool for students to express their thoughts, ideas, and experiences. For elementary learners, writing is a way to communicate, problem-solve, and make sense of the world around them. Whether it's crafting a story, explaining a concept, or sharing personal reflections, writing helps students organize their thinking and develop their voice. As a teacher, fostering a positive, supportive writing environment is essential to building confidence and encouraging creativity. By guiding students through the writing process, you empower them to be effective communicators and critical thinkers—skills that will support their success in school and beyond.
Writing also encourages critical thinking and problem-solving. As students organize their thoughts and structure their writing, they learn how to make connections, support their ideas with evidence, and present information in a clear, compelling way. Whether students are writing stories, essays, or reports, they are not just learning to write—they are learning how to think and communicate effectively. With the right tools and guidance, writing becomes a powerful way for students to engage with the world around them and share their ideas with others.
Check out Some of Our Engaging Writing Activities!
How to Engage Your Students: Let's Make Writing FUN
Making writing engaging in elementary school is all about blending creativity, play, and purpose. Here are some strategies to make writing more enjoyable for young learners:
- Incorporate Creative Prompts and Story Starters: Use engaging prompts that encourage students to think outside the box. Examples could include, “Write about a day as your favorite animal” or “What would you do if you found a hidden door in your backyard?” Provide fun story starters like “Once upon a time in a land of sweets…” or “I woke up and suddenly had superpowers…”
- Use Writing Games and Activities
- Story Dice or Cards: Have students roll dice or pick cards with characters, settings, and problems to create unique story combinations.
- Mad Libs: Play a round of Mad Libs, where students fill in the blanks with funny nouns, verbs, and adjectives. It’s a fun way to teach parts of speech while making them laugh.
- Pass-the-Story Game: Have students start a story and pass it along to classmates, each adding their own twist. By the end, they’ll have a creative, collaborative story.
- Let Students Write About Their Interests: Encourage students to write about topics they’re passionate about, like favorite animals, video games, sports, or hobbies. This personal connection boosts their enthusiasm and motivation.
- Create Fun Writing Challenges
- Timed Challenges: Have quick, fun challenges like “Write as many descriptive words as you can about a cookie in one minute!”
- Silly Sentence Contests: Ask students to write the silliest sentence using certain words or phrases. You could even have them draw their silly sentences to add another layer of creativity.
- Write a Letter to a Character: Encourage them to write letters to favorite book or movie characters, imagining they’re pen pals. It’s a great way to blend imaginative play with writing skills.
- Incorporate Art and Visuals: Illustrate Their Stories: Allow students to draw scenes or characters from their stories. Creating imagery with Storyboard That alongside their writing brings their stories to life and keeps them engaged.
- Turn Writing Into a Real-World Project
- Class Newspaper or Blog: Create a classroom newspaper or blog where students can publish their work. They could write articles, editorials, or short stories for their classmates to read.
- Postcards and Letters: Have students write letters to pen pals, thank-you notes, or postcards from imaginary trips. Writing with a real or playful purpose makes it more meaningful.
- Celebrate Creativity with an “Author’s Day”: Host a special “Author’s Day” where students can read their stories or share their favorite piece of writing with the class. Display their work, give positive feedback, and create a sense of pride in their creations.
The Importance of Differentiation
We create all of our teacher guides and activities with differentiation in mind. Every student learns differently, so we must provide them with the tools they need to succeed. Teachers today have to take into account so many different factors that go into preparing a lesson, because our student population is rapidly changing. Kids are no longer “tracked” in the traditional sense; instead, most of our classes have students with all kinds of learning abilities, including those who may need a little extra help accessing the curriculum.
Differentiated instruction has become a way for teachers not only to deliver the key concepts to all students, but also a way to scaffold their lessons so students of all abilities can demonstrate their understanding in the ways that best suit them.
More Resources on Our Site
Looking for resources and suggested activities in other areas of the education world? You will surely find the resource you are looking for by using the search bar, or browsing the list below!
- All Lesson Plans and Activities: Our vast library of lesson plans is loaded with all kinds of engaging activities, worksheets and poster templates, and other teaching tools.
- Literature Library: Check out our growing library of novels, nonfiction books, plays, poems, and even speeches. There is truly something for everyone.
- World Languages: Do you teach Spanish or French? Another language? Storyboard That's world languages activities are just what you are looking for.
- Social Studies and History: Whether you are teaching civics, geography, or history, we have what you need in our awesome social studies library of teacher guides and activities.
- Science: Check our our premade lessons on motion, erosion and weathering, atoms, chemical reactions, energy, and so much more in our science section!
- Social Emotional Learning: Useful at any age, our SEL lessons and social emotional activities will help you discuss important social topics with your students.
- English as a New Language: Students who are immersed in a new language rely on visual tools to help them learn and understand. Our ENL activities are the perfect way to get your students to a confident place!
- Worksheets: Looking for a quick worksheet to print or use digitally? Our worksheet templates will give you what you need!
- Posters: There are so many things you and your students can do with our vast collection of poster templates. Check them out today!
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