7th Grade Writing-Essays Centers

Transform your students’ writing skills with this STAAR ECR Mastery Resource, designed to make essay writing both engaging and effective for grades 6-8. This product breaks down the often overwhelming task of essay writing into clear, manageable steps, ensuring that your students feel confident and prepared for the Extended Constructed Response (ECR) section of the STAAR exam. Whether for classroom instruction, intervention, or test prep, this resource delivers everything you need to support your students in writing strong, structured essays.

✅ Thorough Skill Development Across 3 Days

This 3-day lesson plan guides students through each critical step of informational essay writing. Starting with a solid foundation in developing a thesis, students will then practice writing claims, supporting them with evidence, and providing sound reasoning. By the end of the unit, students will have completed a full-length informational essay on a highly engaging topic—Fortnite—a subject that captures their attention while reinforcing essential writing skills.

✅ Engaging and Interactive Resources

To maintain student engagement, this resource includes interactive slides that break down each element of essay writing. These slides are designed to support all learners by making the concepts of thesis development, claims, evidence, and reasoning more accessible and relatable. The step-by-step instructions and accompanying answer keys ensure that students receive clear feedback and can refine their skills with guided practice.

✅ Real-World Topic for Practice

Students will have the opportunity to write a complete essay on Fortnite, a popular video game that they are likely familiar with and excited to discuss. This essay topic makes practicing the skills they need for STAAR ECR a fun, relevant experience, allowing them to see the real-world application of writing techniques.

✅ Key Features of the Resource:

• Full 3-Day Lesson Plan: Walks you through each stage of essay instruction, from teaching concepts to peer review and revision.
• Comprehensive Essay Practice: A full-length essay assignment on Fortnite to engage students while practicing thesis, claims, evidence, and reasoning.
• Interactive Slides: Detailed slides to introduce and guide each stage of writing, ensuring clarity and engagement.
• Answer Keys: Provided for every activity so that students can receive clear, actionable feedback.
• Test Prep and Intervention: Ideal for helping students strengthen their essay writing skills, both for general classroom use and targeted interventions.

✅ Perfect for Test Prep and Classroom Instruction

This resource is perfect for helping students master the skills needed to succeed on the STAAR Extended Constructed Response. Whether used for whole-class instruction or focused intervention, the STAAR ECR Mastery Resource delivers everything you need to elevate your students' essay writing abilities.

Prepare your students for STAAR writing success with a resource that not only builds essential writing skills but also keeps them engaged and excited to learn. Perfect for middle school teachers looking for practical, engaging ways to improve writing outcomes.

Additional STAAR resources:

ECR Relay Race: Engaging STAAR Writing Prep Grades 5-8 Comprehension 12 Prompts!

Thanksgiving Argument Writing Unit Debate Topics & Lesson Plans 4 STAAR ECRs

Calling all reformed villains! This holiday season, ditch the coal and rewrite your story. This activity allows students to use their imagination and persuasive writing skills to convince Santa Claus they deserve a spot on the nice list!

What's Included:

• Reformed Villain Graphic Organizer: Help students brainstorm and visualize their villainous character and their path to redemption.
• Persuasive Letter to Santa Template: Provide a structured format for students to craft their convincing arguments.
• List of Infamous Villains: Offer inspiration and a starting point for character selection.

⭐Want more writing for Christmas?⭐

Trapped in a Snow Globe | Narrative Writing

Who Will Guide The Sleigh | Persuasive Writing**⭐**

⭐Thanksgiving narrative writing: How the Turkey Escaped Thanksgiving Dinner**⭐**

⭐Journey to the center of the Earth narrative/descriptive: Earth Layers**⭐**

Don't forget to share with me how it went with your little ones. I hope it was useful in your classroom.

If you like this product, follow my store -Mettry Teaches- for more.

Should the federal minimum wage be increased? This is an argumentative essay prompt, 3 articles, graphs , and outline sheet. Your kids will all have their own opinions about the federal minimum wage and whether or not it should be increased. This comes complete with rubric

Looking for more argumentative prompts with articles?

Cell phones in School: Argumentative prompt, articles, and outline sheet

Facebook: Argumentative prompt, articles, and outline sheet

Did Shakespeare write his own stuff?:Argumentative prompt, articles, and rubric.

Should Schools Ban Soda? - Argumentative prompt, articles, and outline sheet

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.

Looking to make your classroom more welcoming this back to school season?

This bright Writing Center Banner is a great way to welcome students and visitors into your classroom each day! It will liven up your space and motivate your students....plus, it's so cute!! Prints two letters per page for a total of 8 pages. There are also three printable pencils in different colors which can be printed out and attached to the banner to your liking.

**For personal and single classroom use only. If using with multiple classrooms, please purchase additional licenses at the discounted rate.**

Best of all, this banner coordinated perfectly with my best-selling Writing Tools Folder: get your students writing at a higher level by offering them a colorful and coordinated reference for your Writing Center!! This reference guide is ideal for middle school students to use during independent writing assignments. Whether it is class work, center work, writing workshop, or homework, it provides quality writing The pages can be placed in a folder, booklet, or even displayed in a writing center. It helps eliminate questions and shows students ways to write effectively. This is going to help your students work independently while writing. This product is geared toward middle school but can also be used in upper elementary. I make a bunch of these Writing Tools Folders and keep them in my Writing Center and love how it helps students become more organized and independent while writing.

This resource includes 8 Anchor Charts and 3 Cover Page Options

Character Traits which comes in 4 different colors with chevron and swirls styles. The chart contains over 100 character traits that students can use to refer to during various writing activities.

Elaboration Stems which features writing stems students can use while elaborating on evidence in their essays. This chart is essential because students can refer to them while writing but gradually start incorporating them as it becomes a force of habit.

**Other Ways to Say...**which offers students multiple synonyms for overused words such as happy or sad. Great for displaying in your writing center!

Transitions which includes a strong set of transitions every writer should be using to aid in the flow of their writing, whether it's for emphasizing, giving an example or concluding an essay!

Said is Dead! which features other words for said, which is terribly overused in my classroom when there are tons of better choices!

Use This...Not That! which features better word choices for commonly used words and expressions.

Mood...which offers a great choice of words that depict either a positive, negative, or neutral mood!

Tone...which offers a great choice of words that depict either a positive, negative, or neutral tone!

★★I would love to have you as my newest follower!★★ Click here to follow.

This packet includes 2 essay templates that are useful for students who are just beginning to write an essay or for students who are going to write a rough draft after brainstorming.

If you download this product and like it, please leave me a quick positive review! :)

Inspire Your Students with Our Thanksgiving Turkey-Themed Writing Paper!

Perfect for fall and Thanksgiving activities, this fun turkey-shaped writing paper will make assignments more engaging. With charming clip art turkeys surrounding the main shape, students will enjoy writing their thoughts and stories in a festive way! Choose from six different line styles to fit your classroom needs, and each style is available with or without name and date lines for added convenience.

Ideal for creative writing, thankfulness prompts, or Thanksgiving-themed reflections, this paper adds a seasonal touch to any assignment.

Check out my store for more themed writing paper!

1. 90 Day Reading Comprehension Bell Ringer Warm-Up Routine: This daily bell-ringer routine provides 90 days of reading comprehension practice, helping students build consistency in analyzing texts, identifying main ideas, and drawing inferences. Perfect for regular, bite-sized practice that reinforces key comprehension skills.
2. ECR Relay Race: Engaging STAAR Writing Prep: This interactive relay race activity is designed to make STAAR writing preparation engaging. With 12 prompts focused on extended constructed responses (ECR), students will work on crafting thoughtful, structured responses, honing their ability to articulate ideas clearly and support their answers with evidence.
3. STAAR ECR Mastery Resource for Informational Essays: This resource focuses on informational essay writing with a strong emphasis on developing thesis statements, claims, and supporting evidence. It’s a targeted approach to mastering the essential components of STAAR informational essays, equipping students with skills in organization and argumentation.
4. Thanksgiving Argument Writing Unit: Debate Topics & Lesson Plans: This seasonal resource engages students in argument writing through Thanksgiving-themed debate topics. Students will practice constructing persuasive arguments, making claims, and providing relevant evidence—core skills for STAAR ECRs and persuasive writing in general.

This bundle provides comprehensive practice in reading comprehension, essay structure, argumentation, and evidence-based responses, setting students up for success in standardized test preparation.

Should schools ban soda? This is an argumentative essay prompt, three articles, and outline sheet. Your kids will all have their own opinions about sugary drinks and whether or not schools should ban soda. This comes complete with rubric.

Google Drive Version can be found here

Looking for more argumentative prompts with articles?

Cell phones in School: Argumentative prompt, articles, and outline sheet

Facebook: Argumentative prompt, articles, and outline sheet

Did Shakespeare write his own stuff?:Argumentative prompt, articles, and rubric.

Minimum Wage: Argumentative Prompt, articles, and outline sheet

For Middle Grade Students, all writers have it, but do you know what style is and how to recognize it? This 15 page presentation for will help students understand and analyze their own writing styles, as well as other authors' styles. Easy to follow format will have students analyzing style in no time! Includes: Checklist for Authors Handout Definitions for Author's Style . Examples of Classic Literature and Fairy Tale to Analyze How to Find Author's Style in Writing Extra Style Analysis Activities Author's Style Workshopping Handout How and Why to Improve Student's author's style Terminologies and definitions include: Audience—listeners, readers, viewers of work Author’s voice—sets writing apart from others; uniqueness of writing Genre—category/organization pattern of writing Purpose—intent of writing Mood—reader’s emotion to the writing Tone—author’s attitude about subject matter Sentence fluency—cadence, flow, transitions used Sentence variety—lengths/mixture of sentences Word choices—descriptions, figurative language, repetitions, synonyms… Excellent for introducing style, writing concepts, standardized testing reviews, class assessments, college readiness, CCSS, literacy centers, and grammar/editing revisions, Students will be able to identify their authors' styles after working through this presentation.

• STAAR ECR Mastery Resource Informational Essay Test Prep Grades 6-8 Thesis Claim
  This comprehensive resource breaks down the Extended Constructed Response (ECR) process for middle school students. It guides them through crafting a solid thesis, developing claims, and supporting their ideas with evidence and reasoning. The engaging, step-by-step format ensures students master the writing skills they need for STAAR success.

• Thanksgiving Argument Writing Unit Debate Topics & Lesson Plans 4 STAAR ECRs
  Make argumentative writing fun and seasonal with this resource. Students tackle Thanksgiving-themed debate topics while practicing essential STAAR ECR skills. The unit includes structured lessons, 4 debate topics, guided notes, and activities that focus on developing strong arguments with evidence and counterarguments.

• ECR Relay Race: Engaging STAAR Writing Prep Grades 5-8 Comprehension 12 Prompts!
  Turn essay writing into a collaborative, competitive game! This relay race-style resource includes 12 engaging prompts and helps students build comprehension and writing skills through interactive learning. Ideal for both individual and group work, this resource is perfect for STAAR test prep and building writing confidence.

Digital Task Cards are a great way to help your students with claim, counterclaim, and rebuttal! These cards can work on a computer or mobile device! No printing of cutting just assign the deck to your students and you are ready to go! Boom Learning is free to sign up for. Students get immediate feedback and teachers can take advantage of reporting tools. Easy and effective! Great for distance learning or in a digital classroom. A total of 20 task cards.

*****READ MORE ABOUT BOOM CARDS: Boom Cards are self-grading, DIGITAL resources. They live in the cloud. They can't be printed. They play on most modern browsers, Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. You open a Boom Learning℠ account to play them (to protect the children). Create Fast Play pins to assign your Boom Cards to students.

Boom Learning also has premium accounts. Premium accounts offer advanced assignment tools, individual and whole class performance tracking, and more. If you are a new Boom Learning customer, when you redeem your Boom Cards purchase you get 90-day free trial of a premium account. When your trial ends, you can renew or move to a free account. You may upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time. Free accounts use purchased Boom Cards with Fast Play pins.

***Did you know??? You can use Boom Cards in Google Classroom™! Just CLICK HERE to find out how!

Simple, to the point 5 slide presentation that walks students through using For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (FANBOYS) in their writings. Includes: Rules Tips Practice Exercises Peer Workshopping Component Meets Common Core Standards for grammar usage.

Includes prompts for writing informative and argumentative essays. Also includes writing powerpoints, outlines, and rubrics

Make using and working with symbolism collaborative, fun and educational (Meets CCSS) with this interactive writing project that focuses on 850 B.C. and the discovery of the Snake Circle: Includes: 1. KWL Chart 2. Extra Resources: Take a tour of Ancient Greece, learn about the lives of adults and children, and watch videos to understand the time period of 850 B.C. 3. Uncover its origin: The Snake Circle object came from the days of Homer, so explore its meaning with the use of two symbolism sheets. 4. Discuss and interpret the Snake Circle shield handout. 5. Write stories: choose a genre; then Peer Workshop essays 6. Color the shields--review students' colorful examples 7. Display for all to enjoy! Comes with: handouts to complete writings, students' samples, and class project photos. Everything needed for writing fun! Excellent for teaching how to interpret and use symbolism, reinforce concepts and skills, and working with multigenres. Combination of historical technology resources with writing and using literal concepts.

Students are Hollywood stars in this movie-themed, narrative writing project. Differentiated writing project Includes: Brainstorming handouts Plot line for upper level students Lined essay paper Credits/playbill page Directions for use Narrative definition Project Extensions for GT/AP Supplemental Resources Fun, engaging format for working with narrative writing. Use as introduction to narratives or for assessment purposes. Meets CCSS.