Descriptive Writing: Writing Leads and Conclusions Strategies

Listen to the full episode to hear about writing leads and conclusions:

On this podcast I’ve discussed various components of descriptive writing, several techniques, and the importance of instilling the writing process in your students. Today’s episode is essential to student writing, as it is the key to engaging the reader right away and wrapping it up in a conclusive way. I’m sharing strategies for writing leads and conclusions so they can begin incorporating them into their own writing. 

I’ve said it in previous episodes and I’ll say it again: writing is hard and it takes a lot of modeling and practice in order for students to feel comfortable with it. Writing effective introductions and conclusions of writing is no different. Nevertheless, by using these 6 strategies, students will get better at developing them on their own. Those strategies include:

1. Explore examples
2. Share your own drafts
3. Explore what doesn’t work
4. Use storytelling
5. Peer assistance
6. Rework the beginning of the first draft

Along with helping your students generate attention-grabbing leads and jaw-dropping conclusions in their writing, there are a few leads that are guaranteed to be a success for your students. During the episode, I share my top four leads and ways to model them in your classroom. 

Taking time to make leads and endings the focus of your lessons, your students will quickly improve their overall writing skills. Which, let’s face it, is the ultimate goal! This upcoming school year, pick one strategy and give it a try! If you’re ready to see your students’ writing transform before your eyes, make sure you incorporate these strategies for writing leads and conclusions!

In this episode on writing leads and conclusions, I share:

• The three ways to show students how not to write a conclusion
• Why reworking the beginning of a first draft is so crucial 
• Specific examples of hooks and conclusions that you can model with your students
• How students can work together to craft strong leads and conclusions
• 4 engaging go-to leads that your students can use in their own writing

Resources Mentioned:

• Monthly Writing Prompts
• Writing Hooks and Writing Conclusions Anchor Charts 
• Descriptive Writing Anchor Charts Bundle

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About The Literacy Dive Podcast:

Do you find yourself seeking new ideas when it comes to literacy instruction in elementary classrooms? The Literacy Dive Podcast was created to offer actionable steps and to share information for teachers, like you, who are always looking to improve their craft! ELA is our jam and we are excited to dive into all things reading and writing with you!

Your host, Megan Polk, is the creator and owner behind The Literacy Dive and loves to support students and their teachers with curriculum, literacy instruction, best practices, and engaging literacy activities.

Dive in with us every Monday for a new episode from Megan! She, and her guests, will chat about various literacy topics and will bring you tips and tricks that can easily be implemented in your classrooms. You can tune in wherever you get your podcasts! Listen to The Literacy Dive Podcast on platforms like Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, and more! If you find value from listening to this podcast, please rate this show, leave a review, and follow!