Wouldn’t it be out of this world to start the school year with a refreshed stash of prompts? I think so. So let’s make it happen! Shared-writing prompts, journal prompts, story prompts, math prompts—any kind of prompts—are welcome!
Just think, if each person shares one prompt (or more!), we’ll have a stash in no time! Everyone wins a new supply of prompts. And to sweeten the deal, one contributor will also win a book from The Mailbox for the new school year! Now that’s my kind of giveaway!
Please share your prompt(s) before midnight EDT, Sunday, July 22.
Ready to write!
Diane
Congratulations to Kym S. the winner of this giveaway and a brand new book from The Mailbox!
Writing prompts:
1) Imagine you were featured in the newspaper over the summer for something amazing that you did or experienced. Write the article from a third person perspective.
2) Think of three fun activities you did this summer break. Now, imagine you had done those activities in freezing cold temperatures, as if you were in the Arctic. Describe your chilly chillin’ experiences.
I think a fun one for everyone would be… What would you do with a Million dollars!? It’d be neat to see what the kids come up with!
The writing prompt I used last year that got the funniest responses and more importantly held the kids interest was
What are you curious about???
I used it after reading a Curious George book and we had a discussion about being curious.
It went so well that I used their papers for a bulletin board and eventually a class book. It turned out to be the most popular prompt in their journals.
I have 4 year olds sometimes prompts are hard for them but I give a shot anyway – they draw a picture and we write the story. One of my favorites is…
It was like any Halloween night until……. then I say things to make them think – anything could happen – you are out trick or treating and a ghost came out of a house, a wind blew the house you were going to trick or treat at right up into the air or a werewolf jumped out behind a tree. It is fun to see what they come up with!
After our zoo trip, I have my students write about this prompt: If I could take home any animal from the zoo, it would be ____________ because________________. They also tell how they would care for it and where it would sleep.
Another good one for this year might be: If I were elected president of the USA, I’d _____________________.
(This could be interesting!)
I plan on starting out the school year with an Olympics theme. A writing prompt that I came up with was:
If you could participate in the Olympics, what sport would you pick? Why?
I teach Early Childhood Special Education, I like Angie’s. What can you make with an apple would be a good one for young children.
I use the book “IF…” by Ruth Brown for writing prompts (as in If a cat had wings…).
I also use the “Important Book”.
In my classes I like to create storyline prompts, all of my kids love movies (Disney). So I like to start one of that says: I am a Princess __________ and I rule the kindom of _____________. I am a ________ princess. In __________ we like to ___________. And for the boy I change the word to prince or knight.
I like to cordinate my writing prompts with whatever theme we are doing this week. SO if it is dinosaurs the prompt would be: I am a _________ dinosaur. I’m very _________. I like to __________________.
I teach kindergarten and one of the most funniest prompt that I use is…” While I am at school, grown-ups are…”. The responses are hilarious. This year I got a student who said that his mom does pushups cause she thinks shes fat. He actually demonstrated her exercise routine for the class. It was cute and funny.
Great idea!
Prompt: Write a five paragraph paper describing how to blow a bubble with bubble gum.
How about these?
If you had wings, where were you fly?
What was your favorite part of the day/week? (We actually do this as a family at dinner time with our preschoolers, but will turn this into journal ideas in kindergarten this fall.)
If you climbed up a tree, share all of the things you could see.
How many cookies would you need for each person in your family to eat 3 cookies?
How many different ways can you fold a square? (Give them a square and have them draw lines to show where they folded, then count the ways).
What makes you giggle?
My personal favorite: What is love?
My favorite answer: Being nice to someone, even when you really don’t want to. 😀
Hope that helps,
Amy
I like to start the year with a new class pet, so this makes a good writing prompt:
I’d like to name the gerbil ___ because ___.
Some kinders can fill in the blanks themselves; I take dictation for those who can’t. They all draw a picture of the gerbil.
If you owned a shoe store, what kind of shoes would you sell? This prompt really got my first graders thinking. They sold to giants, dinosaurs, princesses…..
If you went up in a hot air balloon, what would you see?
I had students write about how the people looked like ants and how rivers looked like blue ribbons. Some of the most creative and descriptive writing I would get from my 2nd graders.
I’ve been wanting to do more with first grade math journals, so I read recently you should give your students the answer and let them “write” their own problem. For instance, The answer is 12 ice cream cones. I can’t wait to see what they come up with!
Have the kids write a Dear Santa letter for kids who lost everyhing in a tragic event (tornados, hurricanes, etc)
We talked about needs and wants. I used this with my first grade class after Hurricane Katrina hit our Mississippi Gulf Coast. We talked about how their list would not contain toys but it would contain beds, towels, clothes, etc.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do there?
And I make up funny ones sometimes like:
~ Write a story about a skinny policeman who is afraid of purple jumping spiders.
~ Write a story about a pointy princess who fell asleep in her enchanted garden with a slimy snail.
Using a calculator, how would you multiply 23 x 31 if the number 3 on the calculator was broken?
Plan a picnic/party for your family and friends.
Where would it be and what would you do?
Create a grocery list for your picnic/party.
I have used…
If you were a super hero, what would your super power be?
After reading: Dogs don’t wear sneakers, I would ask the children to think of an animal doing something silly. For example: pigs climbing a ladder or frogs going to school. The kids have a blast.
Write a rhyming poem about what you think 1st grade will be like this year.
If everything in the world was one color, what color should it be and why?
I like to ask kids to create a story involving three random household objects. For example, ask kids to create a story featuring a hairbrush, duct tape, and an apple.
I teach pre-k and at the beginning of school I would tell the kids to draw a picture of something they did over the summer. My co-teacher and I would have the kids to tell us what their picture is about and we would dictate their response.
On one of the first days of school, I give students a sheet of paper and have them fold it in half. On one half of the paper they write and draw about something that makes them happy. On the other side they write and draw about something that make them not so happy.
Also, I love the following for math. They write about their life in numbers. They must use a fact including a number in each sentence of their story.
🙂
We do a lot of dictating of our preschooler’s responses to morning prompts and have them illustrate them or post them on a bulletin board. Some of my favorites are “To make an apple pie…” (or pumpkin or whatever suits the theme or holiday or season), and “When I’m grown up, I would like to be………….because….” or “What I like best about coming to preschool….” and (for 100 Day) “If I had $100, I would….” and (for St. Patrick’s Day) “If I met a leprechaun…” and (with a dinosaur theme or any animal being studied) “If a dinosaur came to our school…” and (later on in the year, when they feel secure,) “When I first came to preschool, I felt….”
For my 4th graders I like to use the theme of traveling west in a covered wagon. “what will you take with you? What will you miss? How do you feel about leaving?”
Most classes have a mix of boys and girls in one classroom. Some schools are trying out the idea for putting all the boys in one classroom and all the girls in another. What do you think? Would you like to be in a mixed classroom with boys and girls OR would you rather have all boys or all girls in the same room? Explain your decision with plenty of supporting details.
One that I will be using this year will be to give the students a set of may (20) maltipulatives and have them to create numbers sentences.
Give students various types of seeds….have them to describe what kind of seed it is….then let them plan it and track it progress
CSI….give students a mystery picture and have them become CSI agents to discover what it is.
A day when the teacher’s out:
What happened to Mr. / Mrs. ________________?
The kids get super creative!
If you could change one thing about snow what would it be> Students draw and write about their answer.
A vault has been sealed for over fifty years, no one hasbeen able to get in. Write about what is inside or ways to get inside. This is based off of a newspaper article I first read to them, but would be neat independently.
What do you think it would be like to live in a zoo?
We always have a writing prompt every week. On Monday we activate background knowledge by reading a book related to our prompt or watch video about it, then Tuesday we make brainstorm a lists of what we should write. On Wednesday, we fill in our writing plan or graphic organizer. Thursday we model how to write and Friday students write their idea independently based on the topic.
Everyone likes to play at the park. Think about the times you played at the park and write how you spend your day at the park.
Thanksgiving is a special day to celebrate with our family. Think about what you know about Thanksgiving. Write and tell a story on how you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family.
What would you do if you find a $100 bill while at the park? Think about the things you will do if you find a hundred dollar bill at the park. Write and tell the readers.
This year for our 100th day the class illustrated and wrote about “When I am 100 I will…” Some very interesting answers.
If you were principal for a day you would ________?
Have students write about something they did this summer but from the view of an object that they had with them this summer. For instance, if they went to the beach, the could write about “A Day in the Life of a Sand Castle” or “A Beachball’s Day at the Beach”.
They might decide to write about “The Places I’ve Been…” BY A. SuitCase.
I love Gingerbread Man prompts! 🙂
Here are some I like to ask my students:
How would you try to catch the gingerbread man? If you caught him, would you eat him?
If you had written the story, what animals would you have had chasing the gingerbread man?
What other choices do you think the gingerbread man had besides riding the fox or jumping into the river?
– Ruth
I try to pick creative prompts that relate to events we’ve had in our city. Last year we had a bad rain storm one day and it ended up flooding the teacher’s parking lot. I had the students write about the day the water came to life….
They had a great time with this because they could visualize that “water monster”!