Description | Exposition | Narration | Persuasion | All
Want to inspire your teens to write? Could you use some engaging writing prompts that won’t put your teens to sleep? You’ve come to the right place!
You’ll find prompts for opinions, descriptions, story writing, current events, prompts that are really tutorials in disguise, and much more. Complete instructions are included with each prompt.
Looking for tutorials on essay writing, proofreading, and so on? Interested in writing prompt bundles that span many grades? Click here.
Find prompts for your middle school students here.
Thanks for visiting the High School Prompts page. If you have a writing prompt you would like to submit, please contact Sharon Watson.
“You can’t wait for inspiration.
You have to go after it with a club.”
— JACK LONDON
A Speech Without an “I”?
When newly elected president Theodore Roosevelt gave his inaugural address in 1905, he didn’t use the word “I.”
I read his short address and was surprised that so many of the things he said over one hundred years ago are still true today.
To date, he is the only U. S. president to give an inaugural speech without the word “I” in it.
Now it’s your turn: Click or tap to read Roosevelt’s speech. Then write a speech without the personal pronoun “I.”
To really challenge yourself, avoid ALL personal pronouns (I, me, my, mine, and so on).
Your speech can be on any topic you feel strongly about, whether serious or silly.
Focus on Easter with These 7 Spiritual Prompts
SHARON’S BLOG
Are you looking for a way to focus your students’ minds and hearts on the meaning of Easter?
Our special Easter prompts will help your students think deeply on the events and meaning of our dear Savior’s death and resurrection.
These 7 prompts are arranged chronologically from Jesus’ Triumphal Entry through Thomas’s epiphany a week after the resurrection.
Included are prompts with poetry, story writing, definitions, opinions, and more.
Suitable for students in grades 7 – 12. Students in grades 5 and 6 are welcome as well.
Writing Prompts to Celebrate Dr. Seuss
You are familiar with Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel or “Ted”) through his popular stories such as Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Cat in the Hat. But did you know that he used to write very different kinds of literature? Read on to find out!
Below you’ll find 5 writing prompts to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s accomplishments.
(more…)Composition: Let’s Make it Easier
You’ve just read the title of this post and are laughing uncontrollably. I get it. Writing is hard. My students confirm this, and so do yours.
Many moms report that their students have ideas in their heads but can’t get them on paper. Let’s start fixing that today.
What creates this strange head-to-hand disconnect? One major reason is that students don’t organize their thoughts or plan their papers. Big mistake. They think it’s a time waster; but you know otherwise.
The following is a short activity on opinion writing, devised for success. Practice these four steps to writing with your students. They won’t actually be writing this essay, which is one of the reasons this activity works so well.
(more…)Your 5 Senses: Writing Prompts
Using your five senses can enhance your writing more than you might think possible. Here’s a successful author to tell us about it:
“Fiction operates through the senses. . . .The first and most obvious characteristic of fiction is that it deals with reality through what can be seen, heard, smelt, tasted, and touched.”
–Flannery O’Connor
Stories are experienced through our senses. So are personal narratives, description essays, and other modes of writing.
Think of Lucy slipping her hand into Aslan’s fur in a special moment in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, feeling the warmth of his presence.
Here are some examples of using senses, taken from The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien:
“There came a long rolling of great drums like thunder in the mountains, and then a braying of horns that shook the very stones and stunned men’s ears.” [sound, feeling]
“The stench of the sweating orcs about him was stifling, and he began to gasp with thirst.” [smell, feeling]
Sharpen your own senses and make your writing come alive as you dip into the over 20 writing prompts below.
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Opinion: What is the secret of life?
What is the secret of life? Is it in biology? Music? Happiness? Eating the right food? Find a good mate?
For thousands of years, people have pondered the question of the secret of life.
You might think this is an exercise to keep you off the streets at night, but the answer you come up with can actually help define your life’s purpose, your philosophies, or your life’s goals. Or what you do tomorrow.
This is what others have said about the secret of life:
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