Picnics. Parades. Fireworks.
Looking for ways to help your middle school and high school students focus on America’s Independence Day? Look no further! Enjoy this variety of prompts {and your Independence Day celebrations}.
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You might think this writing prompt is super boring, but hold on. It’s about to get really gross.
You can’t get to sleep, so you drink some warm milk. Or maybe you count sheep. No? What about read a boring book or listen to music until you fall into unconsciousness?
According to mental_floss magazine (August 2014), some people at the end of the 1800s believed so strongly in
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Enjoy this variety of writing prompts drawn from quotations by famous characters and people!
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“Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.”
That quote is from the Star Wars character Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Have you ever looked at something and been confused or tricked by what you saw? When have your eyes deceived you? Write your story.
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Who says you can’t play with your food?
Here is a bundle of five prompts on food-related topics that will get your middle school and high school students writing. Whether they’re telling personal stories, trying to persuade readers, or expressing an opinion, your students will enjoy sinking their teeth into these prompts.
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Our word choices can have a huge impact on our readers. Or the words can muddle them. Let me give you an example.
If I write that a toddler is a good eater, I suddenly have a communication problem. The word “good” is not specific enough. Does “good” mean that the toddler is neat while eating? Does it mean that the child eats a large quantity of food or perhaps a variety of food without complaining? My readers will not have a clear idea of my meaning.
Your middle school students will learn this in the first writing prompt. I’ve written a very boring paragraph about something that seemed exciting to the student, but the words I selected were flat, overused, and not specific enough.
Teens will have fun with the second writing prompt as they practice using specific words and phrases to get a point across or create a focused mood.
Ready? Let’s go . . .
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Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit a particular site in Scotland each year, hoping to see a monster. What are they looking for?
It turns out that tourists are not the only ones looking for something. Operation Groundtruth has begun a search for the Loch Ness Monster (“Nessie”), a monster some claim they have seen. They are using a marine robot equipped with sonar to search the depths of the loch.
Nessie, if she exists, is thought to be a marine reptile, perhaps a plesiosaur, left over from the age of dinosaurs.
What has Operation Groundtruth found so far? The steep sides of the loch, the deep trench of the loch, and even a World War II airplane lying on the bottom of the loch. No Nessie. Yet.
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Burros, tall tales, and fears: You can find them all in the Grand Canyon.
In 1893, the Grand Canyon was made a Forest Reserve and then later a National Monument. It became a national park in 1919, just three years after the National Park Service was formed.
Which prompt about this amazing formation will your students enjoy?
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Eggs have long been symbols of spring and of Easter. They represent new life and new beginnings.
So does Jesus’ resurrection. Death has been conquered! There is new life in Jesus.
Inside each plastic egg is a jelly bean and a little object that represents part of the Last Supper, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. In other words, each object stands for a different part of the Easter account, like these: events, people, food, places where the events took place, truths, and so on.
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We celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, the day the patron saint of Ireland died.
Many like to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, but where did the tradition of wearing green come from?
Some say that leprechauns cannot see the color green; therefore, you are invisible to them and cannot be pinched.
Others say it is because green is worn in Ireland by Catholics and orange by Protestants. Or could it be that Ireland is called the Emerald Isle? Or that green is one of the three colors in the Irish flag?
Whatever the reason, we’re going to have some fun with the color green.
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What are the benefits of owning a pet?
I’m sure you could list a few benefits off the top of your head. Good. Keep those in mind as we learn about an essay’s introduction.
When you write an introduction, you’ll want to include a few key items:
1. An intriguing first sentence to capture your reader’s attention. It’s called a hook.
2. A clear idea of what the article or essay is about (its topic).
3. A sentence that is the main idea (thesis statement) that will guide the rest of the article.
Here’s an example of an introductory paragraph about the TV remote. Although it seems serious, this student is actually poking fun at the idea that the TV remote has affected society:
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