Test Mate Learning Resources

MASTERING WRITING SKILLS Best and Worst Test Mate Learning Resources

These engaging writing activities will introduce and develop essential persuasive writing skills!



This workbook contains 50 guided 2-page exercises where students decide on the best and worst features of a person, place, event, activity, or situation.



Each activity asks students to list three positive and three negative aspects of the given topic. Students then choose the best and the worst aspect and write a short paragraph explaining the choice.



Each topic also includes a full-length writing task where students use the three good points or the three bad points as supporting ideas for a complete opinion piece.

Key Benefits
- Introduces and develops strong persuasive writing skills
- Simple, straightforward, and engaging activities give students ongoing practice
- Students have extensive practice brainstorming and listing reasons and supporting ideas
- Encourages students to produce well-organized full-length opinion pieces
- Includes full-length writing tasks for opinion pieces, essays, letters, articles, and flyers
- Format allows activities to be used for homework, independent practice, group work, and class discussions
- Encourages critical thinking by having students think of pros and cons for a wide range of topics Develops Key Persuasive Writing Skills
- Forming and clearly stating an opinion
- Brainstorming reasons and selecting the strongest reasons
- Supporting a point of view with reasons
- Using details and examples to support ideas
- Staying focused on a topic
- Structuring opinion pieces based on supporting ideas
- Considering both pros and cons Develops the Persuasive Writing Skills Listed in State Standards
This workbook develops all the persuasive writing skills listed in the Common Core State Standards, the Language Arts Florida Standards, New York's Next Generation Learning Standards, and the Indiana Academic Standards.