SHARON’S BLOG
Snow-softened landscape. Frozen lakes. Sledding. Hot chocolate.

Blizzards. Ice-slick streets. Cancellations.

Winter—it’s all in there. Here are a few prompts about winter that your students will enjoy, giving them a chance to write their opinions, a short story, a TV script, and more.

Just right for your 5th – 12th graders.

Winter Prompts

1. Your Supplies

You are going skiing, ice skating, sledding, or snowman making for the day. What should you take with you? Make a list.

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2. Your Instructions

Cold and flu season is upon us. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, washing our hands is one of the best ways to keep us from getting sick and to keep us from spreading our germs to others.

Write the script for a TV commercial for five-year olds on how to wash their hands.

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3. Your Frigid Short Story

Jack London was born in 1876 in San Francisco, California, and is the author of White Fang and The Call of the Wild.

In his short story “To Build a Fire,” London writes of a man traveling in the winter in the Yukon (in Canada, just east of Alaska). How cold was that winter? “One hundred and seven degrees below the freezing-point” or minus 75 degrees!

This man battles extreme cold, frostbite, loneliness, icy build-up on his clothing, wet and then frozen clothing and skin when he breaks through the ice into a stream, his fire being doused by snow plopping from tree branches, and so on. This is not a story you want to read when you are cold!

Write a story of someone trying to do something in the cold. Where are they? What are they trying to do? Why are they trying to do it? Will they be successful?

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4. Your Fun

Think of four activities that are better in winter than any other time of the year. Then give them a number according to how much you like them, 1 being “Ugh. Not very much” and 10 being “Yes! Let’s do it again!”

Write about the activity that earned a 10 on your list. If you are stuck for what to write about, use these questions to get you started: