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Writing Guidelines

Prewriting ■ Selecting a Topic

An editorial is your chance to tell people what you really think. Make it count! Start by picking a topic you feel strongly about. It should be timely and of interest to your audience. Begin your topic search by finding out what’s happening in your school and community.

If you can’t think of a writing idea, try using sentence starters like Aidan did for his Spanish class editorial.

Sentence Starters

Gathering Details

Do plenty of research before you begin writing your editorial. You will need convincing support for your opinion in order to develop an effective editorial.

Aidan researched the latest census data for his city and read about the best age for language learning. He also thought about how Spanish class had helped him. He created a quick list of reasons to keep middle school Spanish class.