Alabama ELA Standard: 5.LF.21

How would real people feel about the legends that have been created about them?

What item’s in a character’s bedroom would reflect their deepest desires? And what if they toured a similar character’s room?

What playlist of songs best goes with a character’s change over time?

One painting of a bridge. Three robots. Who wrote it best?

What if your students rewrote Dickens in the style of Hemingway and vice versa?

Have you ever noticed that some stories have awfully similar problems? What if we looked for the most unusual way of solving a repeating problem?

What is the Brick Pig’s philosophy? How would he apply it to the characters in Harry Potter?

Three paragraphs about tomatoes. They all cover the same topic — so what makes each one different? Now combine them into one super-paragraph.

What if we completely rebuild something slowly? What if we completely rebuild it all at once? Is it still the same thing?

Want something to do during the holiday season that is both fun and involves thinking? Get students writing about what a snowman would think about Halloween or what a ghost would think about Thanksgiving.

What if one character dressed up as another for Halloween? Would the Cat in the Hat pick Captain Jack Sparrow, because they’re both chaotic yet good-natured people? Would Elsa dress up as The Ice King since they are both lonely?

Imagine being a character in a story. Are you worried that your story’s narrator may inaccurately describe you? What if they reveal something you wanted to be kept secret? Do narrators have too much power!?

How have you changed over time? Students introduce themselves through the lens of change — and learn a Depth and Complexity tool in the process.

Poetry and Prose meet at a party. What would they say to each other? How would they feel about each other’s style?

What if… Edgar Allen Poe wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland?

What if Kylo Ren wrote a love letter to Abe Lincoln or the Sahara Desert wrote one to the Moon?

How can one idea pull in opposite directions, being both true and false or right and wrong at the same time? It’s time to explore Paradoxes!

Every topic looks different depending on who’s looking. This prompt teaches students to see through someone else’s eyes.

Your students will use Depth and Complexity to note how a character’s main trait changes across a story.

Can someone do the right thing, but for the wrong reason?

Take direction instruction beyond a monotonous practice of the same skill over and over.

If your students’ stories are packed with endless ninja fights or arguments between frenemies, it’s time to expose them to a wider range of conflicts.