Raise your hand if it’s not just your students who dread the beginning of a writing unit. Do you also groan when it’s time to start writing an essay with your class? If so, we get it. There is SO much that goes into any writing piece, and it can all feel very overwhelming, particularly when students are reluctant and disengaged.
We, too, felt that dread for several years when we began teaching; but fortunately, things changed when we developed our EB writing framework. Now, every writing unit we create begins with what we call an “Into” lesson. These lessons are designed to maximize engagement while providing students with important background information about the genre of writing they are working on.
In today’s episode, we share our favorite engaging introductory lesson activities for several different genres of expository writing. Listen in to hear how you can create these activities in your classroom to get your students eager and excited about your next writing unit. Engagement is more than half the battle in helping students reach their full potential as writers.
Tune in now to hear:
- [00:45] Students’ and teachers’ limiting beliefs about writing
- [01:35] The EB Writing framework–that anyone can use!
- [03:40] An engaging activity to get students writing an expository piece
- [05:30] An exciting lesson to get kids engaged in persuasive writing plans
- [07:30] How to use a murder mystery short story to engage students in argumentative writing
- [09:00] A short text that will help you create murder mystery lessons in your room
- [10:00] How to get our FREE murder mystery lesson!
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