Thanksgiving Topic on a Conversation at the Table

Use a seasonal or monthly sheet as a weekly journal entry, or pick the end-of-year letters for the last weeks of 8th grade. Read the planning step aloud first, since students write better when the chart is full.

Write 4 lines of dialogue from a remembered Thanksgiving meal, note what was left unsaid and reflect in 10 lines. The directions on the page read: Write 4 lines of dialogue in Step 1, fill in both parts of Step 2 and write 10 lines in Step 3.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade writing topics, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

It describes something that happened and then explains what it showed the writer. Compare How You Handled Two Setbacks Years Apart charts the reaction and result of each setback before students write about how they have grown.

Sheets here look back on all three years, such as Soundtrack for Your Three Years of Middle School, and look ahead, such as Spring Topic on Finishing Middle School Well. Thank Your Teachers in a Promotion Speech names teachers by role.

Several sheets ask for initials instead of real names, such as the arguments in Summer Topic on Stepping Away or Staying in an Argument. Students choose which memories to share, and the May sheet reminds them to talk to a trusted adult if stress feels like too much.