Entries Tagged 'Writing & Journal Prompts' ↓

COMPARE AND CONTRAST essays don’t have to be dull and tedious! Your high school students will be sure to enjoy a few of this week’s lighthearted topics.

Help teens stay focused with a four-paragraph outline: introduction, similarities, differences, and conclusion. Motivated writers may need two paragraphs for the comparisons or two paragraphs for the contrasts, and that’s fine, too!

1. All in the Family

Family reunions tend to occur at the time of births, weddings, and funerals. Choose two of these three events to compare and contrast.

2. Fashion Statement

It makes us laugh and makes us cry; it fills our closets and empties our wallets. Fashion, past and present, can be fun to study and even more fun to wear! Compare and contrast the clothing styles of today with the styles from a twentieth-century decade of your choice.

3. Saved by the Bell?

Some people procrastinate every assignment and always arrive five minutes late. Others rise before dawn, meet deadlines early, and arrive at meetings with a quarter hour to spare. You know both types, so it’s time to immortalize them in a compare/contrast essay.

4. Behind Closed Doors

Imagine two modest-sized houses: the first belongs to a young pair of newlyweds, and the other is owned by an elderly couple. Compare and contrast these two homes, including the furniture styles, the gadgets and appliances, and the number of items stored in garages, drawers, and closets.

5. Bucket Lists and Dirty Floors

How does it feel to experience something the very first time? How do your feelings change when the activity becomes an old routine? Think about an experience such as driving a car, going camping, baking a cake, or practicing an instrument. Compare and contrast the first time you tried it with your most recent experience.

6. Cheaper by the Dozen

Piles of laundry, noise levels, schedules, routines—we see so many differences between large and small families. Contrast a few of the differences you’ve noticed, and compare several things that both kinds of families have in common.

If you enjoyed these compare and contrast essay topics, be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays! Once a month, we feature topics especially suited for high schoolers. 

Photo by surlygirl, courtesy of Creative Commons.

MAY is National Bike Month. Get creative wheels turning with these bicycle-themed writing prompts. Let’s roll!

1. Century of Progress

The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, owned a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio before they invented the first airplane. Write about three differences between traveling by bicycle and traveling by airplane.

2. Jolly Holiday

Imagine your favorite place to ride a bicycle. Is it a dirt bike course in a mountain desert, a breezy boardwalk at the beach, or your own neighborhood streets and parks? Describe this place using strong nouns and vivid adjectives.

3. Your Opinion, Please

Do you believe that wearing a helmet while riding a bike should be required by law? Why or why not?

4. Life is a Highway

Did you know that cyclists must follow the same traffic laws as vehicle drivers? When riding a bicycle, you must ride in the direction of traffic, signal before changing lanes, and yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Write about three things that would make busy streets and highways safer for cyclists.

5. Ride for a Cause

Many people participate in bike rides that support a charity or cause. If you were to plan a charity bicycling event, what organization would you want to support with the funds you raise? Why is this organization important to you? Where would you hold the event?

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo by Emilio Labrador, courtesy of Creative Commons.

WRITING WARM-UPS are always a good idea, even more so at this cherished time of year. These Mother’s Day writing prompts will draw your family together and set pens and pencils in motion!

Descriptive Mother’s Day Writing Prompts

1. Do you notice any similarities between your mother and your grandmother? Describe the personality traits, character qualities, or physical attributes they share.

2. Describe a piece of jewelry that your mother always wears. What makes this piece of jewelry so special to her?

3. Describe a talent, interest, or hobby that makes your mother different from every other mom you know.

4. Think of your mother’s voice when she sings a special song or shares a favorite verse with you. Write three similes for her voice at these times. Is it as soft as a summer wind or as musical as choir of bells?

5. Describe your mother’s decorating style. Use your best adjectives, and include the senses of sight, smell, and touch.

6. Write a color poem to describe your mother. Choose a color, and write three or four similes comparing your mother to things of that color, such as: 

“My Mother Is Yellow”

My mother’s face is as bright as the mid-day sun.

She holds her head high, like a bold sunflower.

Her heart is as cheerful as a field of yellow daisies.

My mother is a treasure, like shiny nuggets of gold.

Other Mother’s Day Writing Prompts

1. Does your mother have a nickname for you? Where did she get that name?

2. Is there a story behind your mother’s name? Ask her why she received her first and middle names. Does she have a nickname?

3. What do you think a perfect day for your mother would be like? Write about one thing you could do to help make that wonderful, imaginary day become a reality.

4. What do you think it means to have a beautiful heart?

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo © Karah Fredricks. Used by permission.

I’m guest blogging over at Home Educating Family, offering some Mother’s Day writing activities. Join me?

Whether it’s delivering breakfast in bed or creating a handmade card, your children’s hearts are filled up with you, their mama—and on your special day, they can’t wait to present you with their sweet offerings.

Many children, especially younger ones, are eager to bless you on Mother’s Day with something they’ve created themselves, but let’s be honest. Without guidance and direction, it probably won’t happen.

Take advantage of the days leading up to this celebratory Sunday. Why not set out a box of paper, writing tools, and craft supplies and encourage your children to write or create something special for you? They can fashion a crafty gift, write a sentimental letter or poem, or design a pretty card. No matter what they come up with, you’ll be one grateful and happy mom . . .

Read the complete article here and share these Mother’s Day writing activities with your family. Hope they take the bait and shower you with loving words and handmade cards on your special day!

For additional ideas, see last year’s Mother’s Day Writing Activities.

We can’t wait to “see” what you come up with using this printable writing prompt!

Click the image above to download the prompt. If you would like to share this prompt with others, link to this post. Do not link directly to the PDF file. Feel free to print this PDF file for your own personal use. Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else.

Here’s a link to April’s printable writing prompt, and be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Do your kids go crazy for cats? These aren’t your typical about-my-cat journal prompts, so tempt them to pick up their pens and pencils and have some fun!

1. A Perfect Storm

What would happen if it really rained cats and dogs?

2. Wait for It…

Use your imagination to write about what a cat is thinking as she quietly sits and watches a bird.

3. Close Encounter

You wake up in your tent on day eleven of an African safari. Stepping outside, you suddenly come face to face with a noble lion. What thoughts rush through your mind, and how do you react?

4. Splat! Went the Cat

Draw a comic strip about a feisty feline using only pictures and onomatopoeia — “sound words” such as buzz, whack, knock, thump, meow, splash, and boom.

5. Friends Welcome?

Do you think someone should keep pet cats if family members or friends are allergic? Explain your opinion.

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker, courtesy of Creative Commons.

My childhood memories are rich and varied.

I loved visiting my grandma’s apartment, with its fringed window shades and faint smell of eucalyptus. Her desk drawers, lined in green felt, spilled over with card decks, cocktail napkins, and golf tees. Every door in the house was fitted with wobbly crystal doorknobs. The bathroom smelled of Listerine.

My brother and I would sleep in the small bedroom off the kitchen—the very room our mom shared with her own brother growing up in downtown Chicago.

I can picture myself reaching way down into Grandma’s frost-filled chest freezer for the ever-present box of Eskimo Pies. Her well-stocked pantry and doily-covered tabletops contained loads of delectable treats I was often denied at home: pastries, chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies, and delicate bowls of jellied orange sticks and other candy.

This was the 1960s, long before big-box stores came on the scene. Together Grandma and I would walk to the corner of Roscoe and Broadway, where we’d explore the wonders of Simon’s Drugstore, Heinemann’s Bakery, and Martha’s Candies.

Those childhood memories of my grandma are largely synonymous with food.

In my mind’s eye, I can still picture driving from Illinois to Wisconsin beneath a canopy of crimson leaves against an blindingly blue sky. I remember Passover dinners with a million Jewish relatives in the basement of some wizened old uncle’s apartment building. Other childhood memories recall the mysteries of new baby brothers coming on the scene, building a hideout among the branches of a fallen tree, and giving my best friend’s parakeet a ride down the stairs in her aqua Barbie convertible.

It’s good to write down our recollections. As vivid as the moment seems at the time, memories fade. These prompts will help jog them. Invite your older children to participate. They’re in closer proximity to their memories, and can usually remember the details more vividly.

There are no rules: Jot your thoughts in snippets or write them out diary-style. Either way, do your best to recall the sensory details that made the moment important, for it’s those little things that keep the memory alive.

22 Writing Prompts That Jog Childhood Memories

1. Describe one of your earliest childhood memories. How old were you? What bits and pieces can you recall?
2. Who was your best childhood friend? Write about some of the fun things you used to do together.
3. Can you remember your mom’s or grandmother’s kitchen? Use sight and smell words to describe it.
4. Describe the most unusual or memorable place you have lived.
5. Did you have your own bedroom growing up, or did you share with a sibling? Describe your room.
6. Were you shy as a child? Bossy? Obnoxious? Describe several of your childhood character traits. How did those qualities show themselves? Are you still that way today?
7. What childhood memories of your mother and father do you have? Describe a couple of snapshot moments.
8. Write about a holiday memory. Where did you go? What did you do? What foods do you remember?
9. Describe your favorite hideaway.
10. Did you attend a traditional school, or were you educated at home? Describe a school-related memory.
11. Think of a time when you did something you shouldn’t have done. Describe both the incident and the feelings they created.
12. Have you ever needed stitches, broken a bone, or been hospitalized? Describe a childhood injury or illness.
13. Do you have quirky or interesting relatives on your family tree? Describe one or two of them.
14. Describe your most memorable family vacation. Where did you go? Did something exciting or unusual happen? Did you eat new or unique foods?
15. Did you grow up with family traditions? Describe one.
16. Books can be childhood friends. What were some of your favorites? Why were they special?
17. Describe a game or activity you used to play with a sibling.
18. What were some of your favorite television shows as a child?
19. What was your most beloved toy? Describe its shape, appearance, and texture. What feelings come to mind when you think of that toy?
20. Think of a childhood event that made you feel anxious or scared. Describe both the event itself and the feelings it stirred up.
21. Write about some sayings, expressions, or advice you heard at home when you were growing up. Who said them? What did they mean? Do you use any of those expressions today?
22. What are your happiest childhood memories? Describe one event and the feelings associated with it.

What’s one of your most vivid childhood memories? Share a snippet in the comments!

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo by Lisa M, courtesy of Creative Commons.

ENCOURAGE your middle schoolers to try these descriptive essays, then watch their creative writing go from black and white to technicolor!

1. Welcome to the 22nd Century

Describe the car, house, or workplace of the future. Which familiar items are missing? What new technology has developed, and how does it contribute to our well-being, comfort, or convenience?

2. One Day Each Year

Birthdays are celebrated in many different ways. Describe birthday festivities in your house, including the food, the gifts, and favorite family traditions.

3. Mainstreet, USA

Your pen-pal and his parents are thinking of moving to your hometown. Describe your town or city, especially the sights and scenery it offers to curious visitors.

4. Dare to be Different

Think of the most unusual person you have known: their personality, their external qualities, and their unique point of view (background and special knowledge). Try to capture this amazing person on paper.

5. Surfing and Snowflakes

Would you rather spend an evening stoking bonfires by the beach, or throwing snowballs at your best friend? Describe your favorite season, including the activities that make it so appealing to you.

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo by kreetube, courtesy of Creative Commons.

HAVE  a “blast” with this month’s printable writing prompt!

Click the image above to download the prompt. If you would like to share this prompt with others, link to this post. Do not link directly to the PDF file. Feel free to print this PDF file for your own personal use. Please do not sell or host these files anywhere else.

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

THIS WEEK, we hope you and your students will take time to reflect on the true meaning and joy of the season. Have a blessed Easter!

1. The First Easter

Imagine you have traveled back in time to the day Jesus rose from the grave. Describe what you might observe, experience, and feel. You may use your Bible to help you remember parts of the Easter story.

2. A New Commandment

In His life and death, Jesus taught us to love our enemies. Write about three ways you could show love to someone who hurts you or treats you wrongly.

3. Winter is Past

Signs of new life are everywhere in springtime! Describe something in nature that reminds you of Christ’s resurrection. A butterfly emerging from a cocoon, new leaves unfolding on a tree, and animals coming out of hibernation are possible ideas.

4. It’s a Miracle

Miracles and stories of hope are all around us. Do you remember Easter Sunday in 2009, when a ship captain was rescued from pirates who had held him hostage? Write about a miracle you hope to see this Easter, or a miracle your family has experienced in the past.

Be sure to check back each week for more Writing Prompt Wednesdays!

Photo by Jim & Rachel McArthur, courtesy of Creative Commons.