Thankful Writing Prompt and Lesson

This week is a great time to take advantage of the upcoming holiday and focus on expository writing skills! I like to have students write a short paragraph about three things for which they are thankful. It’s relevant, meaningful, and something nice for your students to share with their family. I’ll list each step of the writing process below. If you want to save some prep time, you can grab the printable and digital lesson here.

Brainstorm

Start the lesson by having students fill in a bubble map with things in their life for which they are thankful.

Pre-Writing

Have students select the three most meaningful things from their bubble map. After selecting three things, have students create a tree map to record each item and explain why that item is special.

Outline

Use the tree maps to set up the structure of the paragraph. Providing students with a sentence-by-sentence outline for writing their paragraphs, will help them stay focused and organized.

Rubric & Examples

If you’re using a paragraph grading rubric, now is good time to review the writing expectations. This would also be a beneficial time in the writing process to show students an example of a paragraph that meets each criteria of the rubric.

Final Draft

When the paragraph outline is completed, students will be ready to write their final drafts! Fall-themed writing paper makes for a fun and polished-looking final draft. Plus, it makes the writing assignment more festive to bring home to parents.

Click the link below to download a printable and digital version of this comprehensive writing lesson! Everything you need for a structured and meaningful expository writing activity is included! Want more ELA activity ideas for Thanksgiving? Click here to view five more standards-based activities.