Pre-writing materials to prepare your students for a Guided Essay or Guided Short Response

Before starting a Guided Essay or Guided Short Response assignment, we recommend that students have done some pre-writing to get an idea of what they want to write. Feel free to use your own materials, but here are some optional pre-writing materials! You can use these documents in conjunction with each other, or choose one to prepare your students for the assignment.

 

Elementary Pre-Writing Materials

💡 All the elementary pre-writing worksheets below are designed to work as printed handouts, but you or your students can also type into them directly. To complete worksheets digitally, students should download PDFs to their computers before typing into them. They can then send or upload the saved PDFs to share their work with you.

In this section:

• Nonfiction Text Response Pre-Writing Materials
• Fiction Text Response Pre-Writing Materials
• Opinion Paragraph Pre-Writing Materials

 

Nonfiction Text Response Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials before students write a paragraph in response to any of our Nonfiction Text Response prompts.

• Understanding a Nonfiction Text
  • Supports students with comprehending a nonfiction text before they write about it
• Finding and Explaining Nonfiction Text Evidence
  • Helps students find and explain text-based evidence to support their answer to a prompt

 

Fiction Text Response Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials before students write a paragraph in response to any of our Fiction Text Response prompts. 

• Understanding a Story
  • Supports students with comprehending a story before they write about it
• Finding and Explaining Fiction Text Evidence
  • Helps students find and explain text-based evidence to support their answer to a prompt

 

Opinion Paragraph Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Opinion Paragraph prompts.

• Choosing an Opinion and Reasons
  • Helps students generate an opinion that is supported by reasons
• Supporting an Opinion with Reasons and Examples
  • Helps students identify reasons and examples that support an opinion

 

Middle and High School Pre-Writing Materials

💡 All the middle and high school pre-writing worksheets below are designed to work either as printed handouts or as PDF files that students can type into directly. To complete worksheets digitally, students should download PDFs to their computers before typing into them. They can then send or upload the saved PDFs to share their work with you.

In this section:

• Argumentative Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• Literary Analysis Pre-Writing Materials
• Narrative Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• Persuasive Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• Expository/Informational Pre-Writing Materials
• Poetry Analysis Pre-Writing Materials
• Rhetorical Analysis Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• Compare and Contrast (Text Analysis) Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• ACT® Essay Pre-Writing Materials
• SAT® Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Argumentative Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Argumentative essay prompts.

• Selecting a Thesis
  • Helps students weigh two opposing debatable opinions in order to land on a thesis
• Generating a Thesis and Topic Sentences
  • Guides students through a thesis and topic sentence brainstorm
• Generating Claims from Evidence
  • Helps students decide on topic sentences by organizing evidence into claims that support their thesis
• Outlining
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail
• Outlining (with Counterargument Paragraph)
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail, including a counterargument paragraph

 

Literary Analysis Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Literary Analysis essay prompts.

• Analyzing a Text to Brainstorm Essay Ideas
  • Helps students analyze key elements of a text to brainstorm ideas that they could develop into a thesis
• Evidence Cards
  • Helps students collect evidence from a text to help them generate a thesis or to support a thesis students already have
• Generating a Thesis that Responds to a Prompt
  • Guides students through analyzing a prompt in order to land on a thesis that responds to it (especially helpful for students preparing for a standardized test with a prompt) 
• Identifying a Theme to Use in a Thesis
  • Helps students identify one of the text’s themes and use that theme to land on a thesis
• Generating Supporting Ideas from Evidence
  • Helps students decide on topic sentences by organizing evidence into supporting ideas
• Outlining
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail

 

Narrative Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Narrative writing prompts.

• Brainstorming Conflict
  • Helps students brainstorm a conflict for their narrative by considering character desires and challenges
• Developing Setting and Characters
  • Helps students brainstorm details about their narrative’s setting and characters (especially helpful for planning how to set the scene at the beginning of a narrative)
• Outlining Your Narrative’s Conflict
  • Supports students as they plan out their narrative’s main conflict in more detail (especially helpful for developing the action in a narrative’s middle section)
• Brainstorming Theme from Conflict
  • Helps students brainstorm a theme for their narrative by considering how the main conflict will impact the story’s characters (especially helpful for planning the end of their narrative)

 

Persuasive Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Persuasive essay prompts.

• Selecting a Thesis
  • Helps students weigh two opposing opinions in order to land on a thesis
• Generating a Thesis and Topic Sentences
  • Guides students through a thesis and topic sentence brainstorm
• Generating Reasons from Evidence
  • Helps students decide on topic sentences by organizing evidence into reasons that support their thesis
• Outlining
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail

Expository/Informational Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Expository/Informational essay prompts. 

Planning for All Expository/Informational Essays

• Generating Ideas, Evidence, and a Thesis in Response to a Prompt
  • Helps students annotate a prompt, then brainstorm ideas and collect evidence in order to land on a thesis
• Generating a Thesis and Topic Sentences
  • Guides students through a thesis and topic sentence brainstorm
• Generating Supporting Ideas from Evidence
  • Helps students decide on topic sentences by organizing evidence into supporting ideas that support their thesis
• Outlining
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail

Planning for Cause/Effect and Compare/Contrast Essays

• Planning for a Cause/Effect Essay
  • Helps students brainstorm causes or effects of their topic in order to narrow their focus and generate a thesis
• Planning for a Compare/Contrast Essay
  • Helps students brainstorm similarities and differences between two topics in order to generate a thesis

Poetry Analysis Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Poetry Analysis essay prompts.

• Reading Closely to Arrive at an Interpretation
  • Helps students brainstorm an interpretation with scaffolded questions that move them through several readings of a poem to arrive at a deeper meaning or message
• Glossary of Terms to Describe Features of a Poem
  • Supports students in identifying and describing poetic devices with a glossary of terms and annotated examples
• Outline
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Rhetorical Analysis essay prompts.

• Generating a Thesis
  • Helps students identify the author’s purpose and rhetorical choices in order to land on a thesis
• Analyzing a Text to Develop a Thesis
  • Helps students analyze the rhetorical choices an author makes, selecting the choices that best support the author’s purpose in order to develop a thesis
• Finding and Analyzing Evidence
  • Helps students collect evidence of an author’s choices from a text and identify how these choices impact the audience and support the author’s purpose
• Outlining
  • Supports students as they plan out their essay in more detail

Compare and Contrast (Text Analysis) Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our Compare and Contrast essay prompts.

• Brainstorming Ideas for Comparing Texts (Poems or Narrative Texts)
  • Helps students analyze key elements of two poems or narrative texts to brainstorm ideas they could develop in their essays
• Brainstorming Ideas for Comparing Texts (Argumentative or Informational Texts)
  • Helps students analyze key elements of two argumentative or informational texts to brainstorm ideas they could develop in their essays
• Generating a Thesis Using a Venn Diagram
  • Helps students brainstorm similarities and differences between two texts in order to generate a thesis 
• Generating Topic Sentences from Evidence
  • Helps students decide on topic sentences by organizing evidence into ideas that support their thesis statements
• Outlining and Collecting Evidence
  • Supports students in choosing an organization strategy and outlining their essays with evidence

ACT® Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our ACT essay prompts.

•  Analyzing the Prompt and Coming Up With a Thesis
  • Helps students analyze the prompt’s issue and perspectives and decide on a nuanced thesis
• Time Management Strategies for the Test
  • Suggests a time management strategy that students can practice and use on test day
• Outlining
  • Supports students in planning their essay with a quick outlining approach they can replicate on test day

SAT® Essay Pre-Writing Materials

Use these pre-writing materials with any of our SAT essay prompts.

• Analyzing a Text for Persuasive Strategies
  • Helps students analyze an author’s strategies in a persuasive text (especially helpful for planning an SAT essay in an untimed practice setting)
• Time Management Strategies for the Test
  • Suggests a time management strategy that students can practice and use on test day
• Outlining
  • Supports students in planning their essay with a quick outlining approach they can replicate on test day

Learn more about Guided Essays and Short Response

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2. How do I use Guided Essays in my classroom?