Writing Prompts Archives - Page 3 of 27 - Writing with Sharon Watson-Easy-to-use Homeschool Writing and Literature Curriculum

3 Prompts to Celebrate the Olympics

Celebrate the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics with us. Here are three prompts and one BONUS prompt for your 5th-12th graders to enjoy as the festivities get underway! Some are light and fun. Others involve controversies and get your students thinking. Be sure to download the colorful worksheet in #1.

On your mark . . . get set . . .

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1. Let’s Pack

You’re packing to go to Paris, France, for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but you can pack only 26 things. It’s a good thing there are 26 letters in the alphabet because you are going to pack one item for every letter in it. What will you pack that begins with “A”? With “B”? With “Z”???

Download this colorful worksheet to help you pack. >>

Conversation Starters

SHARON’S BLOG
Do your students ever have a hard time knowing what to say to people? Is small talk difficult? Is it easier for them to turn to an electronic device than to a real person?

Join us this week as we explore conversation starters, small talk, and communication.

Great for students in grades 5-12.

To print these prompts, click the Print icon at the bottom of this page.

7 Prompts on Wisdom

SHARON’S BLOG
Let’s use a quote from Confucius and a passage from Proverbs to get your students thinking about wisdom.

In this bundle of writing prompts centered around wisdom, your students will encounter these types of writing: opinion, personification, parallel construction, definition, and more.

These prompts are just right for students in grades 5 – 12.

So, what did Confucius have to say about wisdom? And do your students agree with him?

By the Beach

SHARON’S BLOG
Is it too early to dream about the beach? I think not!

This week’s fun prompts are beach themed and are great for your 5th – 12th graders.

The first set of prompts is from a recent news article that caught my imagination, and the second is from a goofy song by Phil Harris recorded in 1950. Well, maybe it wasn’t so goofy. It became so popular that it hit #1 on the Billboard charts soon after he released it.

Ready? Dive in!

Saint Patrick’s Day Prompts

SHARON’S BLOG
Saint Patrick’s Day is a great time to encourage the thinking process in your students, and these two prompts are here to help.

Younger students will enjoy the categorizing and attention to words in this prompt. A free printable is included.

Older students will read of two examples and then use something concrete to explain a spiritual truth, just as Saint Patrick did. Find this thought-provoking prompt for 7th – 12th graders here. >>

Yours for more vibrant writing and literature experiences,

For the Love of Narnia and Middle Earth

SHARON’S BLOG
Narnia and Middle Earth—what delightfully intriguing places to visit!

Enjoy this compilation of activities involving C. S. Lewis’s Narnia and J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

Suitable for anyone who is old enough to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, other Narnia tales, The Hobbit, or The Lord of the Rings.

Your students haven’t read those books? No problem. Many of the prompts and tutorials below are freestanding and don’t need the original books.

Ready? Put on your magic rings!

Olympic Fun

SHARON’S BLOG
Involve your students in the excitement and issues surrounding the Winter Olympics with these six fun prompts and two bonus ones.

What would the Olympics look like in the Middle Ages? In Ancient Roman times? What new sporting event will your students cook up? Should countries and their athletes be banned? And what kind of music could athletes compete to or be inspired by?

Don’t miss the extra links to more sporting fun at the bottom of this post!

Designed for grades 5-12.

Ready?

7 Quotations to Ponder

SHARON’S BLOG

Quotations are rich wells in which to dip our pens. Give your 7th – 12th graders something to ponder with these intriguing, thought-provoking quotations. Most of these quotations come from famous people and are accompanied by more than one writing prompt, so your students have many options open to them.

Opinions are the easiest paragraphs and essays to write, and your students have loads of opinions. Let them organize their thoughts and write some opinions based on any of the following quotations.

Dig in!

What Is Your Theory of Happiness?

SHARON’S BLOG

Would any of your sentences ever sell for $1.56 million? That’s what happened recently with Albert Einstein’s one-sentence “Theory of Happiness.”

The story, according to USA TODAY, is that Einstein was visiting Japan to receive his Nobel Prize in physics in 1922 when he did not have enough money to tip a messenger. What did he do?

He wrote down one sentence and signed it, saying that it would be worth a lot of money someday. Looks like he was right!

Photo-Inspired Prompts

SHARON’S BLOG

“A writer is simply a photographer of thoughts.” -Brandon A. Trean

Oftentimes our writing spills forth from an experience we’ve had or memory we’ve made. We keep a picture or image in our mind’s eye about that event, and it becomes the inspiration that prompts our writing. Have you experienced that?

Using someone else’s image or photo as a writing prompt can develop empathy and enable you to imagine the world from their perspective. That’s a valuable skill for a writer.

Grab these five fun photos here!

1. Let’s Pack

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