171. Building Writing Confidence: 5 Fun Routines for ELL Students

Welcome back to Equipping ELLs! In this final episode of our language domain series, host Beth Vaucher dives into one of the most challenging yet rewarding skills for English Language Learners: writing.

If you’ve missed our previous episodes on listening, speaking, and reading, be sure to check them out, as all language domains build on each other to create a strong foundation for ELL students. Today, we tackle why writing is essential for language development, the common struggles ELL students face, and most importantly, five easy and engaging routines to build writing fluency and confidence.

Beth shares practical strategies like modeled writing, picture prompts with sentence frames, the five W’s and how method, collaborative storytelling, and the writer’s gallery walk. These fun and structured approaches will help students overcome limited vocabulary, grammar confusion, fear of mistakes, and lack of writing stamina.

Beth also highlights bonus activities, including pre-writing discussions, peer feedback, shared journals, and writing celebrations, all designed to make writing more natural and enjoyable for ELLs. Whether you're a classroom teacher, ELL specialist, or homeschooling parent, this episode will equip you with immediately actionable tools to help students express themselves clearly and confidently in writing.

Don’t forget to grab the free downloadable PDF that includes all these routines for easy reference in your lesson planning. Plus, check out the writing intervention bundles and speaking & writing cards available on Teachers Pay Teachers or through the Equipping ELLs membership.

Links and Resources:

• Get your Free Writing Activities Cards Download
• ⁠⁠⁠Join the Equipping ELLs Membership
• Shop our TpT Store