Prompts are useful for many different kinds of writing exercises. You might choose to use a writing prompt as a daily warm-up activity. Writing prompts are also useful to have on hand for when students finish a classroom assignment early, or to be used anytime they have some spare time to fill. Writing prompts are good practice for when students need to write on topics for assessment tests. Having a supply of writing prompts on hand will also make it easier for a substitute teacher to fill in for the day, if the need arises. However, because many teachers like to have a new writing prompt every day, after a while it can become difficult to think of enjoyable and stimulating topics. Here are some idea starters for the next time you need a fresh batch of writing prompts for your students.

"Write About Yourself" Topics

Children often love to write about themselves. After all, what other topic do they know as much about? Writing prompts that encourage a child to do some self-evaluation can often produce some excellent essays and journal entries. Here are some examples of good writing topics that will get your students thinking about their own strengths and talents:

• Describe something that you are really good at doing.
• If you had to earn some money tomorrow, how would you go about doing it?
• What are three things you can do today that you couldn't do when you were in kindergarten?
• What would you be doing today if you weren't at school?

Make-Believe and Imaginary Topics

Writing about something completely imaginary can be a lot of fun for students. This style of writing is also good exercise for a child's sense of imagination. These topics can be especially enjoyable because there aren't any real facts involved, so there's no way what they write can be incorrect. However, it can sometimes be difficult for children to come up with make-believe topics on their own. Here are some idea-starters that will really get your student's imagination working in full gear:

• Imagine that tomorrow morning you wake up and discover you have a super power. What would it be?
• The four seasons are fall, spring, summer and winter. If you could create a new season, what would it be? What is its name, when does it occur, what is it like?
• If you could build a house on Mars, what would it look like?

Creative Writing Topics

The ability to write an interesting story is a valuable skill. Sometimes it can be fun to just make up a title, and let your students write their own creative story. Once again, there aren't any facts to get right or wrong, which makes these kinds of topics especially enjoyable. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Write a story titled, "The Day Spaghetti Grew on Trees"
• Write a story titled, "The Fish Who Couldn't Swim"
• Write a story titled, "The Car That Would Only Drive in Reverse"

If you give your students fun and entertaining writing prompts, you might just find that they'll start getting their class assignments done faster, so that they have more time to write.