Top 5 Teacher Recommended Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are great ways to motivate students and encourage creativity. Students are asked to craft a story about a specific topic, hopefully getting those creative juices flowing. Writing prompts come in a variety of sizes from single sentences to longer paragraphs. The difference is in how open-ended or targeted the teacher wants to be for the activity.

Good writing prompts “help students write more freely, and ease any anxiety they may feel about the writing process…Remind your students that there’s no wrong way to respond to the prompt and they should simply have fun and let their creative minds wander.”  (Thoughtco.)

ESGI and ThinkFives surveyed hundreds of teachers and we’re happy to share these popular reading prompts.

Creative

• If I had $100 I would…
• If I were president I would…
• If I was a superhero hero, my power would be…
• How can you make the world a better place?
• When the snowstorm began, the lights went out just before…

Personal

• Write about your favorite…
• When I am 100 years old I will…
• My biggest goal in life…
• Tell me about yourself. 
• What motivates you?

Curious

• Tell me a time when… 
• Write about the most influential person in your life and why they were influential.
• What is the name of someone you admire and why?
• The most interesting place I have been to is…
• If you were having lunch with anyone you could choose who would it be?

Reading

• A writing prompt about an article or true story
• Describe how the author portrays the character’s feelings.
• My favorite part of the book was…
• What would be an alternative ending to the story?

Opinion

• Should students have to do homework? Why or why not?
• Is social media a good thing?
• What would you rather eat? Pizza or cupcakes, and why? 
• In my opinion, the best talent to have is…
• Which season is the best and why?

What are some of your favorite writing prompts?