I love putting a simple spin on "everyday" activities to make them more engaging for my students.  Every year I notice that I have a hard time getting many of my students writing.  Let's be honest...sometimes getting a student to write more is worse than "pulling teeth"!  After lots of experimenting, I found these 3 activities made my students want to write while improving their skills at the same time. 1. Morning Journals Why I love it : Builds stamina and confidence. I start off by giving each of my students a journal and let them decorate it.  Each morning I put a topic on the front board for them to think about.  My students then write about either the topic on the board or anything that is on their mind.  My only rule is that they write! Each day, I collect a small group of journals.  I take a few minutes out of the day to quickly read through and respond to their journal entries.  If they don't want me to read a page, I ask ......