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Writing prompts by grade

Pick a grade and a kind of writing and get a prompt: narrative, opinion, informative, a picture described in words, or a mix-and-match story starter. Two hundred prompts, all original, free to print.

Grade
2nd and 3rd grade
Kind of writing
Tell a story, real or made up, with a beginning, a middle and an end.

2–3 · Narrative

A package with your name on it arrives, but you did not order anything. What is inside?

All 10 prompts for 2–3: narrative

  1. Write about a time you tried something new and it did not go the way you expected.
  2. You find a door in your school that was never there before. Write what happens when you open it.
  3. Write a story about a character who loses something important and has to find it before dinner.
  4. Write about a day when everything went wrong and then one thing went right.
  5. Pretend you can talk to animals for one day. Tell what happens.
  6. Remember a time you had to be patient. How did you feel at the start, and how did you feel at the end?
  7. A package with your name on it arrives, but you did not order anything. What is inside?
  8. Write a story that begins with the sentence, “The lights went out, and then I heard a tiny voice.”
  9. Tell about a time you helped a friend solve a problem.
  10. Imagine a snowy day when school is closed and a surprise visitor knocks on the door. Write the story.

Every prompt, by grade

Kindergarten and 1st grade (40 prompts)

Narrative

  • Tell about the day you found something small and special.
  • Write about a time you made a new friend.
  • Pretend you have a pet dragon. What does it do all day?
  • Write about a rainy day when you could not go outside.
  • Tell about the best birthday you ever had.
  • Tell about a time when you were brave.
  • What happens when a bear walks into your classroom?
  • Write about a trip to the park. Who came with you?
  • Pretend you shrink to the size of an ant. What do you see?
  • Think of a day you helped someone. Write about it.

Opinion

  • What is the best food for lunch? Tell why.
  • Would you rather have a cat or a dog? Tell why.
  • What is the best season: summer, fall, winter or spring? Tell why.
  • Which is more fun, playing inside or playing outside? Tell why.
  • What is the best color? Tell why you think so.
  • Which animal at the zoo is the best? Tell why.
  • Should we have a longer recess? Tell why.
  • What is the best book you have read this year? Tell why you like it.
  • Which is better, a bath or a shower? Tell why.
  • What is the best game to play with friends? Tell why.

Informative

  • Write about an animal you know. Tell three facts about it.
  • Tell how to make a sandwich.
  • Write about your family. Tell who is in it and what you do together.
  • Tell how to brush your teeth.
  • Write about your favorite place. What does it look like?
  • Tell about something that grows. What does it need?
  • Write three things you know about the moon.
  • Tell how to get ready for school in the morning.
  • Write about a job someone in your town does.
  • Tell what you know about the weather today.

Picture prompts

  • Imagine a picture of a small red boat on a big blue lake. A fish jumps out of the water. What happens next?
  • Imagine a picture of a tall tree with a little house in its branches. A light is on inside. Who lives there?
  • Imagine a picture of a girl holding a big umbrella. It is not raining, but she is smiling. Why?
  • Imagine a picture of a dog sitting by the door with a leash in its mouth. What does the dog want to do?
  • Imagine a picture of a snowman with a green scarf on a sunny day. What happens to the snowman?
  • Imagine a picture of a boy and a robot sharing a picnic. What do they say to each other?
  • Imagine a picture of a cat looking out a window at a bird. What is the cat thinking?
  • Imagine a picture of a little duck at the bottom of a hill, looking at a big wagon. What does the duck do?
  • Imagine a picture of a kite stuck high in a tree. How could we get it down?
  • Imagine a picture of a muddy puppy and a clean white rug. What happens next?
2nd and 3rd grade (40 prompts)

Narrative

  • Write about a time you tried something new and it did not go the way you expected.
  • You find a door in your school that was never there before. Write what happens when you open it.
  • Write a story about a character who loses something important and has to find it before dinner.
  • Write about a day when everything went wrong and then one thing went right.
  • Pretend you can talk to animals for one day. Tell what happens.
  • Remember a time you had to be patient. How did you feel at the start, and how did you feel at the end?
  • A package with your name on it arrives, but you did not order anything. What is inside?
  • Write a story that begins with the sentence, “The lights went out, and then I heard a tiny voice.”
  • Tell about a time you helped a friend solve a problem.
  • Imagine a snowy day when school is closed and a surprise visitor knocks on the door. Write the story.

Opinion

  • Should students be allowed to bring a stuffed animal to school? Give reasons for your opinion.
  • What is the best thing to do on a weekend? Give two reasons.
  • Is it better to read a book or to watch a movie of the same story? Explain why.
  • What should be the next class pet? Convince your teacher with reasons.
  • Should kids get to choose their own bedtime? Give reasons for your opinion.
  • Which is the best school subject? Use reasons to persuade a friend.
  • Should every school have a garden? Tell why or why not.
  • Is it better to have a few close friends or many friends? Explain your thinking.
  • What is the best invention ever made? Give two reasons for your choice.
  • Should we have a class game afternoon every Friday? Persuade your teacher.

Informative

  • Choose an animal and write about where it lives, what it eats and how it stays safe.
  • Explain how to plant a seed and take care of it.
  • Write about a person who helps your community. Tell what they do and why it matters.
  • Explain how to play your favorite game so that a new player could follow along.
  • Write about the life cycle of a butterfly or a frog. Put the stages in order.
  • Tell how a rainy day is different from a sunny day, using facts you know.
  • Explain how to make a snack in clear steps, using the words first, next, then and last.
  • Choose a place you have visited or read about. Describe three things a visitor would see there.
  • Write about what a plant needs to grow, and why it needs each thing.
  • Explain why people need sleep, food and exercise to stay healthy.

Picture prompts

  • Imagine a picture of a lighthouse on a rocky shore with its lamp lit in the daytime. Write about why the lamp is on.
  • Imagine a picture of two children carrying a very large box up a hill. Write about what is inside.
  • Imagine a picture of a fox sitting on a bench in a town square, reading a newspaper. Write what happens next.
  • Imagine a picture of a school bus stopped in the middle of a field of sunflowers. Write what happened.
  • Imagine a picture of a girl holding a glowing jar in a dark forest. Write about what is in the jar.
  • Imagine a picture of a tiny house on the back of a giant turtle. Tell who lives there.
  • Imagine a picture of an empty playground with one swing still moving. Write about who was just there.
  • Imagine a picture of a boy at a kitchen table with flour on his face and a very messy cake. Tell the story.
  • Imagine a picture of a train crossing a bridge over a river, with a polar bear looking out of one window. Write the story.
  • Imagine a picture of a market stall that sells jars of weather: sunshine, snow and wind. Write what a customer buys.
4th and 5th grade (40 prompts)

Narrative

  • Write a story about a character who discovers a special ability on their eleventh birthday and must decide whether to share it.
  • Write about a time you made a decision that was harder than it seemed. Use details to show your thoughts and feelings.
  • A character moves to a new town the week before school starts. Write the first day, using dialogue.
  • Write a story that takes place in a lighthouse during a storm and includes a surprising visitor.
  • Write a story from the point of view of a library book that has been checked out many times.
  • Write about a character who has to keep a secret that is hard to keep. Show what happens.
  • You find a map folded inside a used book. Write the adventure that follows.
  • Write a story that begins with a character waking up and realizing it is the same day all over again.
  • Think of a time you disagreed with a friend. Write how you found a way to work it out.
  • Write a story set in a town where it has not rained for a year, on the day the first drop falls.

Opinion

  • Should schools start later in the morning? Write an opinion piece with reasons and examples.
  • Is it better to be a leader or a team member? Support your opinion with reasons.
  • Should students have homework on weekends? Give at least three reasons.
  • Which would be better for your community: a new library, a new park or a new pool? Persuade your readers.
  • Should kids be allowed to have their own phones? Use reasons and examples to support your view.
  • Is it more important to be smart or to be kind? Explain your thinking.
  • Should every student learn to play a musical instrument? Argue for your position.
  • Write a letter to your principal about one change that would make your school better. Support it with reasons.
  • Is it better to live in a city or in the countryside? Choose one and defend it.
  • Should zoos exist? State your opinion and support it with facts and reasons.

Informative

  • Choose a landform, such as a mountain, a river or a desert. Explain how it forms and how it affects the people and animals nearby.
  • Write about a person from history you admire. Explain what they did and why it mattered.
  • Explain the water cycle, using the words evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
  • Write about a sport or hobby. Explain the rules or the steps so that a beginner could start.
  • Choose an animal’s adaptation and explain how it helps the animal survive.
  • Explain how to solve a problem you know well, such as finding the area of a rectangle, in steps another student can follow.
  • Write about a job you might want one day. Explain what a person in that job does and what skills they need.
  • Write about what changes in a place you know when the seasons change, and why.
  • Explain how a machine you use every day, such as a bicycle, a can opener or a water fountain, works.
  • Explain how a local park, library or school helps your community. Use facts and details.

Picture prompts

  • Imagine a photograph of a long road that runs straight into a desert sunset, with a single suitcase beside it. Write what happened before the photo was taken.
  • Imagine a painting of a crowded street market in the rain, with one person standing still holding a red umbrella. Write what the person is waiting for.
  • Imagine a photograph of an old, empty classroom with chalk writing still on the board. Describe what you see and tell the story of the room.
  • Imagine a picture of a rowboat tied to a dock in thick fog, with a lantern glowing at the end of the dock. Write the scene as if you were there, using your five senses.
  • Imagine a picture of a girl in a space helmet standing in a vegetable garden. Write what is happening.
  • Imagine a picture of a mountain village at the top of a snowy path where every window is lit. Write about a traveler arriving.
  • Imagine a photograph of two hands passing a small wrapped gift across a fence. Write the story behind it.
  • Imagine a picture of a rope bridge across a deep canyon, with a lone hiker at the start. Write about what the hiker decides.
  • Imagine a picture of a robot sitting alone on a park bench, feeding pigeons at dusk. Tell the robot’s story.
  • Imagine a photograph of a giant footprint in the sand beside a tiny one. Write about who made them.
6th to 8th grade (40 prompts)

Narrative

  • Write a story about a character who has to choose between doing what is easy and doing what is right.
  • Begin a story with the line, “Nobody noticed the door was open until it was too late.”
  • Write a story told by two characters who remember the same event differently.
  • A town wakes up to find that every clock has stopped at 3:17. Write what happens next.
  • A character’s greatest strength causes a problem. Write the story.
  • Write about a moment when you changed your mind about something or someone. Use specific details and reflection.
  • Write a story set on a space station where the only plant in the garden begins to bloom.
  • Write a narrative in which a character receives a letter from their future self.
  • Write a story in which the setting acts almost like a character. Choose a place such as a storm-battered pier or an abandoned subway station.
  • A character starts a small project that grows into something much bigger than expected. Write the story.

Opinion

  • Should schools require students to wear uniforms? Write an argument with a clear claim, reasons, evidence and a counterargument.
  • Is social media more helpful or more harmful for people your age? Argue one side with reasons and evidence.
  • Should students be graded on effort, on results, or on both? Take a position and defend it.
  • Should cities keep spending money on public libraries when so much is online? Write a persuasive piece.
  • Should every student take a class in practical skills such as cooking, budgeting or basic repair? Argue for or against.
  • Do video games help or hurt learning? Support your claim with reasons and, where you can, evidence from your reading or your own experience.
  • Should the school day include a daily quiet time? Write to your principal with reasons and a plan.
  • Is failure necessary for success? Argue your position using examples from books, history or your own life.
  • Should students be allowed to retake tests? Write an argument, address the other side, and propose a fair rule.
  • Should students help choose the school lunch menu? Argue your position with reasons and examples.

Informative

  • Explain how one natural process, such as erosion or photosynthesis, changes the world around it. Use precise vocabulary and examples.
  • Choose an invention that changed daily life and explain its causes and effects, using evidence from your reading.
  • Write an explanatory essay about how an important event in history affected the people living at the time. Use at least two sources.
  • Explain how a system works, such as how a city gets clean water or how the gears on a bicycle work. Use a clear order and transitions.
  • Compare two animals’ adaptations and explain how each one fits its environment.
  • Explain how people learn a skill such as playing an instrument. Describe the process and give examples.
  • Explain the main idea of an article you read this month and how the author supports it.
  • Choose a career and write an explanatory piece about the education, skills and daily tasks it involves, using details from your research.
  • Explain the cause of the seasons or of a weather pattern in a way a younger student could understand.
  • Write a how-to guide for a task that is harder than it looks, such as organizing a group project. Include common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Picture prompts

  • Imagine a photograph of a lone street lamp glowing in thick fog, with footprints leading toward it. Write the story that explains the footprints.
  • Imagine a painting of a kitchen at midnight with the refrigerator door open and the light spilling across the floor. Write what happened.
  • Imagine an aerial photograph of a small island shaped like a hand. Write a story about the people who live there.
  • Imagine a picture of a girl standing on a rooftop, looking out at a city where every light has just gone out. Write a scene that uses strong sensory details.
  • Imagine a photograph of a tiny sprout growing through a crack in a concrete sidewalk. Write a piece that uses it as a symbol for something.
  • Imagine a picture of an elevator whose buttons go up to floors that do not exist. Write the story of a passenger who presses one.
  • Imagine a photograph of a violin case left on a train seat with a note tucked under the handle. Write the note and what happens next.
  • Imagine a painting of two ships passing in the night, each carrying a single lantern. Write about the people on each ship.
  • Imagine a photograph of an old map with one place circled in red ink. Write the story of who circled it.
  • Imagine a picture of a classroom where every desk holds a plant instead of a student. Write what led to it.
9th to 12th grade (40 prompts)

Narrative

  • Write a narrative about a time a small decision changed the direction of your life or someone else’s, and reflect on what you learned.
  • Write a short story in which a character must return to a place they left behind.
  • Write a scene in which two characters have a conversation in which neither says what they really mean.
  • Write a story that begins in the middle of an argument and works backward to explain it.
  • Write a personal narrative about a skill you worked hard to learn, focusing on one turning point.
  • Write a story set in the future in which a familiar object has become something people no longer understand.
  • Write a narrative in the second person that places the reader in a decision they cannot avoid.
  • Write a story about a character who discovers that something they believed about their family is not quite true.
  • Write about a moment when you felt completely out of place. Use setting and sensory detail to make the reader feel it too.
  • Write a story that ends with the sentence, “I never told anyone, and I never needed to.”

Opinion

  • Should high schools start later in the morning? Develop an argument that uses evidence, addresses counterclaims and ends with a call to action.
  • Is a college degree necessary for a successful career? Argue your position using examples and evidence.
  • Should schools require a course in personal finance? Argue for or against, and anticipate the strongest objection.
  • Does technology bring people closer together or push them apart? Develop a claim and support it with evidence from your reading and experience.
  • Should students have a say in school policies such as the schedule or the dress code? Argue a position and answer objections.
  • Should students be allowed to use AI tools for homework? Argue your position, including when a tool helps learning and when it gets in the way.
  • Should community service be a graduation requirement? Argue one side with evidence and a fair counterargument.
  • Is competition good for students? Take a position and support it with reasons and examples.
  • What is the most important quality in a leader? Argue for your choice using examples from literature, history or experience.
  • Should school districts spend as much on arts and music programs as on sports? Argue your position.

Informative

  • Explain how a scientific idea you studied this year developed over time, from the first observations to what we understand now.
  • Write an explanatory essay on the causes and effects of an event in history you have studied, using evidence from at least two sources.
  • Explain how a technology you use every day works, at a level a curious classmate could follow.
  • Choose a career you are interested in and explain what preparation it requires, using evidence from your research.
  • Explain how a theme develops across a novel or story you have read, using specific details from the text.
  • Write an informative piece about how your community has changed over the past fifty years, using records, articles or interviews.
  • Explain how a personal budget works, including income, fixed costs, flexible costs and savings, using an example you make up.
  • Write about how an ecosystem you know stays in balance, and what can disturb it.
  • Explain the process of researching a question well: choosing sources, checking them and keeping track of what you find.
  • Choose a historical figure and explain how their work affected later generations, using evidence from at least two sources.

Picture prompts

  • Imagine a black-and-white photograph of a crowded train platform where one person looks directly at the camera. Write the story of that person’s day.
  • Imagine a painting of an empty chair beside an open window with the curtain blowing in. Write a piece that explains who is missing and why it matters.
  • Imagine a photograph of a suitcase on a doorstep, at a house with no number. Write what it contains and who left it.
  • Imagine an aerial image of a city grid with one block left dark. Write about that block.
  • Imagine a photograph of an old pair of boots beside a new pair. Write a reflective piece about what they represent.
  • Imagine a picture of a staircase that spirals into the clouds, with one set of footprints in the dust on the steps. Write the scene that follows.
  • Imagine a painting of a lighthouse with its light pointed inland instead of out to sea. Write about why.
  • Imagine a photograph of a crowd looking up at something just outside the frame. Write about what they see and how it changes them.
  • Imagine a still from a film in which two people sit at opposite ends of a long dining table. Write the dialogue that comes next.
  • Imagine a photograph of a storefront whose sign has faded until no one can read it. Write the history of the place.

How to use it

  1. Choose a grade band: K–1, 2–3, 4–5, 6–8 or 9–12.
  2. Choose a kind of writing. The note under the buttons says what it asks students to do.
  3. Press New prompt (or the N key) for another, or open the full list and show the one you want. Put it on the projector with Full screen.
  4. Print one prompt on a page with writing lines, or print the whole set as cards to cut apart.

Ideas for class

  • Keep a prompt on the board for the first five minutes of class every day, and change the kind each week.
  • Hand out opinion prompts as cards so each student gets a different one, then have them trade and argue the other side.
  • Use a picture prompt as a read-aloud: describe the picture slowly and let students imagine it before they write.
  • For students who are stuck, use a story starter and let them reroll the idea until it makes them laugh.
  • Pair an informative prompt with your science or social studies unit, so the writing doubles as a check on what they know.
  • Show a real photo that matches a picture prompt and ask students to notice details the words left out.

Related

Questions

How many prompts are there?

Two hundred written prompts: ten for each of five grade bands and four kinds of writing. The story starters are mixed fresh from lists of characters, places and problems, so there are thousands of those.

What is a picture prompt?

A picture described in words, such as a lighthouse with its lamp lit in the daytime, followed by a question or a task. Read it aloud or show a real photograph that matches. Describing it in words means every student pictures their own version.

Are the prompts original?

Yes. Every prompt was written for this site. They do not name real people, brands or books, and nothing is scarier than a dark forest.

Are the prompts matched to a standard?

The kinds of writing are the ones most state writing standards ask for: narrative, opinion (or argument) and informative (or explanatory). We have not matched individual prompts to individual standards, so check your own.

Can students use the page themselves?

It is built for adults to run on a projector or print. There is nothing for students to sign up for, and nothing they type is collected.

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