How to Set up a Writing Corner in your Classroom

Let me tell you what I want most for my students as writers. I want them to love writing. Pretty simple, right? I also want them to be excited to jot their words down on paper. I want them to know that their stories and opinions matter and deserve to be shared. 

A few years ago, I was assigned to teach fourth grade. In our district, fourth grade is a HUGE writing year since we have a standardized test focusing only on writing. I knew that setting up a writing corner and writing bulletin board in my classroom was crucial. My students loved it and I loved it.

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Why are Writing Corners Important in the Classroom?

We can teach students to love writing no matter where they are, but there’s just something magical about having a writing corner. Writing corners are important because they are a dedicated space where students have access to the tools, anchor charts, and examples needed to craft an amazing piece. Because all of these materials are in one place, they encourage students to want to write something. By showing that a particular spot exists for the task, writing becomes more exciting and therefore more important to them. That’s what we want right? 

Writing Corner Bulletin Board

You’ve decided to start a writing corner (yay!), but now you need to know how to decorate it. Just like the anchor charts that we have in our classroom, we want the bulletin board in our writing corner to have resources that are accessible and meaningful for students. Below are some of the resources I display on my writing bulletin board.

Writing Process Pencil: 

The writing process pencil was not only an attractive addition to my bulletin board but also a great visual tool to help guide my students through the writing process. This pencil can also be used as a clip chart to help remind students of what phase of the writing process they are in.

Prefix & Suffix Anchor Chart: 

I displayed an Affix anchor chart to help students add important prefixes and suffixes to their words. By expanding their vocabulary, students are able to enrich their writing.

Descriptive Writing Word Booklet (Free):

Sometimes our students use the same words repeatedly to describe something. It’s our job to help them discover new words to make their writing juicy. Having descriptive writing word booklets accessible for my students to reference helped them to utilize richer adjectives in their writing. This is a FREE resource in my TPT store!

Citing Evidence Sentence Starters:

RACE posters help students remember to cite evidence and give them the sentence starters to do so. RACE teaches them the importance of restating their answers and adding evidence to support their claims. This was such a beneficial tool for my fourth graders working on answering text-based prompts. 

Want to strengthen your students’ ability to cite evidence? Click out my post Teaching Students How to Cite Text Evidence to learn how.

Types of Writing Posters: 

I found these Types of Writing Posters on TPT and they were the perfect addition to our writing corner! 

Colorful Writing Pennants:

Looking to add some color to your writing corner? These editable writing pennants are a cute way to add decoration to your writing corner bulletin board. 

Writing Traits Posters:

I love teaching the 6 Writing Traits! These  Writing traits posters remind students of the importance of word choice, sentence fluency, and voice, among other traits. By hanging posters like these, we can teach students about the traits powerful writers possess.

What Materials Should Be in a Writing Corner 

Pretty pencils – rainbow pencils or chunky lead pencils are a class favorite. I like to save special pencils only for the writing corner as it helps add an excitement factor for writing time.

Cards and envelopes – allowing students to write on a card instead of a piece of paper creates diversity within your writing block. Whether students are writing a letter to a friend or making a thank you card, blank cards and envelopes are a way to engage students in the work.

Cute erasers – whether you use colorful cap erasers or cute-shaped erasers, having erasers on hand helps students to fix any errors and have a choice in the tools they’ll use.

Stamps – If you’re teaching lower elementary grades, adding stamps and an ink pad to your writing corner allows students to write in an exciting way. Letter stamps are an alternative way to write, while picture stamps can help students incorporate new ideas into their writing. 

Coloring tools – some students prefer crayons while others may enjoy colored pencils or markers, having an array of coloring tools allows students to use whichever they prefer. Scented markers are ones that my students always enjoy!

Colorful paper – never underestimate the excitement of using different types of paper. Even swapping white notebook paper for neon notebook paper is a fun way to mix things up for students. 

Writing journals – giving students a special writing journal that they use for writing is an easy way to keep your space organized and to allow them to easily show off all of the writing that they’re proud of. My favorite ones have a space to draw pictures about the writing. 

Magnet letters – allow students to build words using magnet letters. This is still considered writing and allows students to work with something more tactile. Also another great tool for the K-2nd grade students!

Supply organizer – having all writing supplies in a rotating organizer like this one helps students to see what tools are at their disposal to work with. It also keeps your writing corner neat.

Paper organizer – having an array of construction paper for students to use during their writing corner rotation allows for more creativity. Having a paper organizer helps keep the different colors of construction paper separated so that students can easily grab the color they’re looking for.

Shop Writing Corner Supplies on Amazon

I hope that these tips and tools will help you get your writing corner and bulletin boards decorated and set up smoothly. I guarantee that your students will love it, and you’ll never look back!

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