In fact, essays can be your students' favorite part of the school year!

Hi! I'm Olivia.

I have SO much fun teaching my students how to write amazing essays, but it didn't used to be this way. I remember groaning as I stared at stacks of ungraded papers, most riddled with unorganized rants and questionable support. I avoided essay units whenever I could get away with it!

But now? Essays are actually the easiest thing I teach, and I've even overheard one of my reluctant students saying, "I've never had this much fun in school before!"

That's right. Essays can be fun for your students and easy for you.

Introducing ONE YEAR of captivating essays for middle school.

Imagine that this school year . . .

Engage your students with prompts that they can't stop talking (and writing) about:

1. Who stole the artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum?
2. Is pizza a vegetable?
   
3. Design a theme-park ride that represents your most recently read book.
4. Who is responsible for the Tylenol Murders of the 1980s?
   
5. Which letter could we eliminate from the alphabet?
6. Describe your classmate as they truly are beyond the surface.
   
7. Was the Fyre Festival a scam from the beginning?
8. Which mythical creature would be most likely to survive in the real world?
   
9. Build a sandwich that encapsulates a character from your book.
10. Who abducted Madeleine McCann, and where is she today?
    
11. Invent a new sport with elements based on the book you read.
12. If you had to nominate a book character as the world's next superhero, who would you choose?
    
13. What is the worst gift you could possibly give a person?

The Distinguished English essay method:

Rather than starting with an introduction and rambling their way through to the conclusion, your students will start with the most important building block of their essay: the thesis statement.

From there, they will build their topic sentences and move on to their support/evidence.

Finally, they will finish with an introduction and conclusion that complement the content of their essays.

Individual rubrics are included for each step of the process so your students can check their work as they go and YOU can grade their papers AS they're being written!

This resource will help your students . . .

• Develop a thesis statement

• Write logical topic sentences
  

• Support their claims
  

• Find credible sources
  

• Analyze literature

• Use sensory and figurative language

• Build logically organized essays (5-8 paragraphs each)
  

• Self-assess their writing
  

• And more!
  

What's Included?

• Teacher tips to guide you through the essay-writing process

• 13 student handouts with engaging essay prompts
  

• 169 Fillable student handouts that build 13 separate 5-8-paragraph essays when put together

• Rubrics for each section of the papers (for student self-assessment and teacher grading)

• A put-it-all-together handout that shows students how to organize their essays
  

• Evidence tip sheets to help students get started with any needed research

• 13 sample essays for students to reference as they write

"My students said they'd never worked with such an interesting topic." -Jessica S.

What can you expect in this full-year essay bundle?

13 Engaging essay prompts will grab your students' attention.

Your students will build one piece of an essay at a time to better understand essay structure.

Individual rubrics are provided for each section of the essay so your students can self-assess their writing, and YOU can grade their essays as they're written!

"Normally for students, 'fun' and 'literary essay' don't go together, but this activity succeeds! Thank you!" -Kayte R.

230+ Pages Included!

"My students were so into it, and they now want to turn their papers into debates. Great resource and I cannot recommend it enough!" -Alyssa D.

Make this your best school year ever!