5 Fun Small Group Writing Activities to Boost Elementary Students’ Skills

Why teach writing in small groups? We all know the benefits of teaching writing in small groups: more one-on-one time with the teacher, easier tailoring to students’ needs, increased engagement, building student confidence, and honestly, teaching in a small group is fun! Read on for fun small group writing activities to boost your students’ writing skills! This post does contain Amazon Affiliate Links. If you purchase something through these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks so much!

Small Group Writing Activities If…Then Scenarios:

As a teacher, I loved teaching writing in small groups! I always wanted to help my students be the best they could be. Here are some writing activities for common skill deficits you can teach during small group writing.

If students are struggling with handwriting,

then try these small group writing activities:

• Set up a “Letter Formation Station” with different writing tools (pencils, markers, sand trays, stencils, Amazon Affiliate link) and letter formation alphabet charts. Students can practice writing letters, words, or short sentences.
• ABC Everyday! Use the free ABC Everyday writing page in Primary Planet’s Free Resource Library to have your students practice writing the alphabet daily. This is a perfect activity for a small writing group, as you can closely watch students as they write their letters. If a student is struggling with a particular letter, you can assist them. When students are finished, ask them to circle their best-written letter. Have students identify a letter that they still need practice with and have them practice that particular letter on paper or a whiteboard.
• Pre-Writing Activities: Sometimes, students need to build up their small muscle control. Do pre-writing activities with your small group, like squishing playdough, squeezing a stress ball, and cutting and tracing activities. Building up students’ small hand muscles will help them better hold a pencil and form the letters.
• If you have a child severely struggling with handwriting, talk to your school’s OT (Occupational Therapist) if you are lucky enough to have one. They may recommend things like a weighted pencil, a slanted writing surface, or other accommodations that may be needed.

If students struggle with forming complete sentences,

then try these writing activities:

• Step-By-Step: Make sure your students understand what makes a complete sentence. Practice identifying a complete sentence, and then study the parts that make a complete sentence: subject (noun) and predicate (verb).
• Model, Model, Model: In your small group, have students choose a subject and a predicate. Show your students how to use those 2 things to write a sentence. Use a sentence frame: The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (subject) is _____________ (predicate). The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (subject) can _____________ (predicate). Show your students several different ways to write a complete sentence.
• This Complete Sentence: Sentence a Day resource has activities, visual writing prompts, and daily complete sentence writing practice.

If students are learning to use proper punctuation,

then try these small group writing activities:

• Give your students a checklist of punctuation marks. In your small group, go through the checklist. Model writing a sentence and have your students help you with which punctuation mark should go at the end.
• Sentence Types: In your small writing group, teach your students sentence types and the types of punctuation each one uses.
• Have your students make a reminder box at the end of the sentences that they write. Tell students that the box is for punctuation. If the box is empty, they need a punctuation mark.
• Use and editing checklist: Teach your students to use an editing checklist—model using the checklist on a sentence you wrote. Then, practice using the checklist on sentences you write together as a group (deliberately make mistakes you and your students can correct together).

If students have difficulty coming up with ideas to write about,

then try these writing activities:

• Brainstorm: When you teaching writing in small groups, brainstorm writing topics with your group. Let them choose a topic from the brainstorm. You can find a fun brainstorming freebie in The Primary Planet Free Resource Library (you can get access by signing up for my fun teacher newsletter).
• Use pictures. Show your students a funny picture. Students can write about the picture.
• Use writing prompts. Give your students a prompt to write about.
• Use Picture Writing Prompts: Combine these 2. Try these fun picture writing prompts and your students will always have something to write about. You can try them for free when you sign up for my Free Teacher Newsletter! You will find them in my Free Resource Library.

If students need to improve spelling and vocabulary,

Then try these small group writing activities:

• Play a “Word Hunt” game where students find and write down words from a word wall, classroom posters, or books. They can add these words to their personal spelling dictionaries (word collectors) and use them in sentences or stories.
• Student Glossary: Use a notebook or writing booklet to help students create a glossary. Have students draw a picture and write the meaning of words they may struggle with. This is a great place to put content vocabulary.
• Use spelling words to spark ideas for writing. In your small group, read and review the spelling words together. Give each student a spelling word to write into a sentence. Review the sentence with the students in the group to make improvements.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope that you found some fun small group writing activities for your small writing group instruction! Pin the image below for later reference:

Happy Teaching,

To be continued…