By 6th grade, students should be able to write a decent paragraph, however, review is always good. Writing a paragraph does not seem as overwhelming as a large paper might. The review reiterates some of the basics of writing. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence. Each sentence thereafter should pertain only to the topic sentence. For example, a paragraph on football should not have any sentences about badminton. Read some paragraphs to your students. Ask them to tell you which sentences do not belong in the paragraph. Ask kids to write essays to practice having a topic sentence with six or seven other sentences all having to do with the topic. Switch papers around so students can read another student's paper to practice looking for topic sentences and keeping on topic.
Poetry can be help students learn about different processes of writing because so many different kinds of poetry are possible. Include as many different types of poetry in your lessons as possible. Include rhyming poetry (with simple rhythms of ABBA or ABAB), cinquain (a five-line poem with the following number one, two, three, four, one), limerick (a funny poem using a couplet and a triplet) and haiku (Japanese poems with three unrhymed lines of three, five and seven syllables).
Students can write essays on almost any topic. Mix the essays up a bit during the school year. Sometimes give the students a topic to write about, other times let them choose their subject matter. Encourage the students to brainstorm before beginning to write, no matter what the topic. Brainstorming is writing down any thoughts that the student might have that he might want to write about. This task is not graded, but it will help the student to later organize and develop his thoughts into a cohesive essay. Tell the students to remember that an essay is normally one to two pages in length; it usually includes a lot of the writer's feelings and opinions.
When 6th graders get the assignment to write their first research paper, it can be overwhelming. Teach the students about the process of writing research papers by breaking the task into a list of steps so the student can work on one task at a time. For example, the first step they need to take is select a topic. You may want to have a list of topics to choose from, such as an American from the 1800s or a war involving the United States. Keep the topics large so that you can show them how to narrow their focus. The next step is writing an outline. The outline will help to narrow the topic while helping the student in the next step, which is research. Show the students how to create note cards. The student uses all the research he has gleaned to write a paper. For 6th graders, a research paper should be about three to four typed pages, not including the title page or the bibliography page.