An Under-Appreciated Planet

Students write from the point of view of the most under-appreciated planet.

Halloween Worksheets

Crosswords, image analysis, and writing prompts for Halloween!

Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths

Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.

Halloween Problems and Solutions

When we try to solve a problem, sometimes we end up creating new problems. Which lead to new solutions. Which lead to new problems.

St. Patrick and Other Legends

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

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

Let’s take a starting phrase about St. Patrick’s Day and get specific. No, even more specific!

Comparing Characters’ Bedrooms

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

Change A Story’s Genre

What if we rewrote a story’s climax into a totally different genre?

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

Let’s write a holiday song about order and chaos!

Holiday Emoji Story ⛷️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Holiday Emoji Story 🍪

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Holiday Emoji Story ☃️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Holiday Emoji Story 🎅

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Holiday Emoji Story 🚚

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Halloween Emoji Story 🎃

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Halloween Emoji Story 🌕

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Halloween Emoji Story 🕷️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🦁

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🐌

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🚚

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🏟️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🕰️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 👁️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🚗

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🤖

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🐻

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🏰

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🛥️

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Greekymon Studies – Round 3

What might a creature named “Aquacornus Rex” be like?

Greekymon Studies – Round 2

What might a creature named “Hypermnemonicus” be like?

Greekymon Studies – Round 1

What might a creature named “Ursolunascope” be like?

Compare and Create New Year’s Traditions

Hey! Our New Year traditions have a lot in common.

Bobbing for Apples

What is bobbing for apples like… for an apple?

A Halloween Costume Gone Wrong

Let’s go roller skating in a Halloween costume! What could possibly go wrong?

Squiggles Collection 3

Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?

Squiggles Introduction

What do you see in this squiggle?

Squiggles Collection 1

Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?

Squiggles Collection 2

Everyone starts with the same squiggle. No two drawings end up the same. What do you see?

What If… Unreliable Water?

What would the consequences be if a town’s tap water became… unreliable?

What If… Long Life?

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

What If… No Sleep?

What would the consequences be if no one had to sleep anymore?

Random Emoji Prompt Generator

Click up an interesting, visual writing prompt suitable for any grade or purpose.

Looking Closely at Holiday Photos

Let’s write from multiple perspectives using an old timey holiday photo!

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

Starting with an old-timey photo, students will write from a particular item’s point of view.

Stories with the Same Problems and Solutions

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?

Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise

Look closely at Impression, Sunrise. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Drawing Knots, Level 3

How to draw the final version of the twisty Henri Matisse knot!

Drawing Knots, Level 1

How to draw a simple version of this twisty Henri Matisse knot!

Writing About Art: Twilight in the Wilderness

Look closely at Twilight in the Wilderness. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Think Like A Historian

Here’s how effects be causes and causes can be effects!

A Lunar Survival Mission

A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?

Self Portraits Part One: Line Drawings

Anyone, yes anyone, can create a (somewhat) realistic self-portrait using these steps. Anyone!

Doubling Up Writing: Anadiplosis

Repeating words can be what you want, if what you want is an interesting effect. (Psst, that’s an example of anadiplosis!)

Writing Sample: A Christmas Carol (Cold)

A passage from White Fang to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Technique: Opposite Adjectives

A specific technique to help students add some spice to their writing. We’ll be using antonyms to describe the same topic!

Story Starter: A Day At School

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place at school.

Story Starter: Out To Eat

Students pick from 12 random phrases to create a story about an incident in a restaurant.

Story Starter: Amusement Park

Students use 12 random phrases to write a story that takes place in at an amusement park.

Story Starter: A Magical School

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in at a magical school.

Story Starter: Somewhere In Space

Students use 12 random phrases to create a story that takes place in space!

Writing Sample: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Falling)

A passage from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: The Velveteen Rabbit (The Toys)

A passage from The Velveteen Rabbit to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing A Thanksgiving Letter

What if an inanimate object could express thanks for a special person in your life? What would it write?

Remixing A Holiday Poem

Let’s take a classic Christmas poem and remix it to work with another holiday!

Holiday vs Holiday (from a Mascot’s Perspective)

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.

Characters Dressed as Other Characters for Halloween

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?

Writing Sample: Peter Pan

A passage from “Peter Pan” to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Writing Sample: Anne of Green Gables

An intriguing passage from Anne of Green Gables to use as a mentor text, discussion starter, or writing prompt.

Do Narrators Have Too Much Power?

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!?

The Personalities of Rocks

What would an igneous rock be like? Would it get along with a sedimentary rock? Could they handle the hot personality of a metamorphic rock?

Notice, Wonder: A Ship

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

What Would Poetry Think About Prose?

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

Building Creative Analogies

We’ll take two seemingly unrelated pieces of content (say volcanoes and the human body) and then build analogies to connect the two ideas. In the end, students can create a skit, comic, or story relating the two concepts.

Showing A Character’s Trait

We tell students to ‘show, not tell’ — but that advice is useless until they experience the difference. This lesson makes it click.

Elements of The Fantasy Genre

Every fantasy story has patterns hiding underneath the magic. Once your students see the elements, they’ll spot them everywhere — and use them in their own writing.

Historic Social Media

How would people from history have interacted online? Students will develop a conversation online between people involved in the same event from history.

“Its Big Day” – A Children’s Story About Its and It’s

Let’s spice up a typically dull lesson about the difference between “its” and “it’s” by asking students to write a children’s story about the adventures of a critter named It.

Literary Technique: Juxtaposition

Put a grumpy character next to a joyful one and they make each other stand out even more. Opposites are powerful!

Create A Creature

Create a new creature based on the adaptations of existing creatures from the same biome.

Writing Summaries in Haiku

Let’s write a summary. A very short summary. With VERY strict rules.

Better Stories Part 5: Plot Structure

Ever read a student’s story that was just event after event after event and then a very sudden ending? They lack an understanding of a plot’s structure. With the help of Finding Nemo, I break down how to set up a well-structured plot.

Better Stories Part 2: Types of Conflict

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.

Better Stories Part 3: Literary Themes

A typical student narrative includes plot and characters but lacks a larger idea to hold it all together. This is where a lesson on themes comes in…