We have several free ESL writing lessons on this page, including sample essays, sentence patterns, writing assignments, and more! If you like these lessons, consider buying our ESL writing textbooks to get even more content just like this!
Beginner ESL Writing Lessons
The four units below are all taken from our book Write Right: 9 Beginner ESL Writing Lessons, available for instant download!
UNIT 1
Sample Essay: “My Hobby” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their own essays
Sentence Pattern: Start/stop verb+ing – Practice adding “ing” to verbs after “start/stop/quit/begin”
Grammar: Past Tense – Simple introduction to past tense verbs
Error Correction Worksheet – Correct the errors in this sample “My Hobby” essay
Assignment: “My Hobby” – Use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 1 to write an essay titled “My Hobby”
UNIT 2
Sample Essay: “A Funny Story” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their own essays
Past Tense Error Correction Worksheet – Review of past tense; rewrite the paragraph and correct the past tense errors
Indention and Quotations – Teaches students to indent new paragraphs and use quotation marks correctly
Indentions and Quotations: Error Correction Worksheet – Identify and correct the mistakes in the paragraph
ESL Writing Assignment: “A Funny Story” – Students use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 2 to write an essay titled “A Funny Story”
UNIT 3
Sample Essay: “My Favorite Place” – Introductory sample essay that students can reference later when writing their own essays
Sentence Pattern: Although / Even though – Introduction to “although” and “even though”, with sample sentences and practice exercises
Sentence Pattern: not…at all – Introduction to the sentence pattern “(not)…at all”, with sample sentences and practice exercises
Error Correction Worksheet – Identify and correct the mistakes in the paragraph
ESL Writing Assignment: “My Favorite Place” – Students use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 3 to write an essay titled “My Favorite Place”
UNIT 4: “Letter to a Relative”
Sample Essay: “Letter to a Relative” – Introductory sample letter that students can reference later when writing their own essays
Writing Lesson: The Elements of a Letter – Introduction to the elements of a letter (greeting, body, conclusion)
Writing Lesson: Conjunctions – Introduction to the conjunctions and/but/or/so, with an explanation of how to punctuate them correctly
Error Correction: Conjunctions – Identify and correct the mistakes in the letter
ESL Writing Assignment: “Letter to a Relative” – Students use the grammar and sentence patterns from Unit 4 to write an letter to one of their relatives
Intermediate/Advanced Writing Lessons
The writing lessons and worksheets below are taken from our book Write Right: Transitions, available for instant download!
Writing a Formal Paragraph
Topic Sentences (Introduction) – Introduction to topic sentences and their function in a formal paragraph
Introduction to Similes and Metaphors – Using similes and metaphors to write interesting topic sentences
Similes and Metaphors Review – Practice describing people and things using similes and metaphors
Topic Sentences (Review) – Practice writing topic sentences
The Body of a Paragraph (Introduction) – Introduction to the body of a paragraph and the information that should be contained therein
The Body of a Paragraph (Review) – Practice thinking of information to use in the body of a paragraph
Concluding Sentences (Introduction) – Introduction to concluding sentences and their function in a paragraph
Concluding Sentences (Review) – Practice writing concluding sentences
Punctuation and Conjunctions
Sentence Fragments and Complete Sentences – Introduction to sentence fragments and a review exercise to practice identifying them
Run-on Sentences – Worksheet to practice correcting run-on sentences
Comma Splices and Conjunctions – Worksheet to practice using conjunctions correctly to fix comma splices
Commas and Conjunctions (“and”) – Explanation of how to correctly use commas with the conjunction “and”
Semi-colons – Introduction to this often baffling piece of punctuation, with a review exercise
Transitions and Connectors
Listing Things in Order – Practice listing items or events in order using words like “First”, “Next”, “After that”, “Finally”, etc.
In addition / Additionally / Moreover / Furthermore / Plus / …as well – Introduction to these commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences
In addition / Additionally / Moreover / Furthermore / Plus / …as well – Review worksheet to practice writing sentences with these transitions
However / Nevertheless / Still / Despite that / Nonetheless / Even so – Introduction to these commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences
However / Nevertheless / Still / Despite that / Nonetheless / Even so– Review worksheet to practice writing sentences with these transitions
Therefore / Consequently / As a result / Thus / For this Reason – Introduction to these commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences
Therefore / Consequently / As a result / Thus / For this Reason – Review worksheet to practice writing sentences with these transitions
Review of these Transitions and Connectors – Review worksheet to practice using all of the transition words above
More Transitions and Connectors
Although / Even though – Introduction to these commonly used transitions, with several sample sentences and review exercises
Though – Introduction to “though” and it’s various uses in a sentence
Despite / In spite of – Introduction to these commonly used transitions, with sample sentences
Despite / In spite of – Review worksheet to practice writing sentences with these words
Despite vs. Although – Explanation of how to use these similar transition words, with several sample sentences
Despite vs. Although – Review worksheet to practice using “despite” and “although” correctly
Because vs. Because of – Explanation of how to use these similar transition words correctly, with several sample sentences
Because vs. Although – Explanation of the difference between these two words, with several examples and a review exercise
Because of vs. Despite – Worksheet to practice using these transitions, which have nearly opposite meanings
Regardless of – Introduction to this commonly used transition, with several sample sentences
Regardless of / No matter – Review worksheet to practice using these transitions correctly, including an explanation of “embedded questions”.
Review of Transitions and Connectors
Transitions and Punctuation – Explanation of how to correctly punctuate transitions using commas, periods, and semi-colons. Also includes a review worksheet.
Transitions and Punctuation (2) – Students rewrite a short essay, adding punctuation around transition words as needed.
Review of Above Transitions and Connectors – Fill in the blanks with an appropriate transition word to complete the essay
Additional Review of Transitions and Connectors – Review of several transition words/phrases (For this reason / Despite the fact that / No matter / Due to / Consequently / As a result / In spite of / Regardless of / Owing to)
Additional FREE ESL Writing Worksheets, Activities, and Ideas:
Useful Phrases and Sentence Patterns
Instead of / Rather than – Handout explaining how to use these phrases, with sample sentences
Instead of / Rather than – Review – Worksheet to practice using “instead of” and “rather than” correctly
Instead – Worksheet reviewing different ways to use the word “instead” in a sentence
Would rather – Handout explaining how to use “would rather”, with sample sentences
Would rather – Review – Worksheet to practice using “would rather” correctly
Prefer – Worksheet to practice using “prefer” correctly
Regardless / Regardless of / No matter – Examples and practice sentences
Gradually / Eventually / Sooner or later / At some point / In the end / …end up… – Examples and practice sentences
More sentence patterns and phrases (in no particular order):
Just because [A] doesn’t mean that [B]
If it weren’t for [A], then I never would have [B]
If I hadn’t [A] then I wouldn’t have [B]
ESL Writing Activities
Putting pen to paper doesn’t always have to be boring. Here are some activities and game-like things to make writing a bit more enjoyable.
Interactive Stories – Students collaborate to write each others’ stories.
The Lying Game – Guess which statements are true and which statements are lies!
Idiom Worksheets – Give advice using idioms. Less a “game” than an “assignment,” though the idioms tend to make things a little more interesting.
Explain the Idiom – Try to guess what the idioms mean, and use them in a dialogue.