Many writers use their
writing to reflect,
through journal-type entries, on things that are a part of their daily life .
This may be one type of writing you'd like to experiment with in your writer's
notebook. This page of the website is a good source for quick ideas for
writing topics in case you're having a tough time getting started with this
type of entry. The section of the website entitled "Guidelines for Writing in
Selected Genre" contains suggestions for doing more ongoing/longer term
experimentation with things such as writing stories, poetry, personal
narratives, etc..
Quick prompts/idea
starters:
Describe something that
you'd like to be better at and explain why/how being better at it would change
you or your life.
Describe one value from
which you won't budge, give examples of times during which not budging from it
has been a challenge, and describe how you worked through those times.
Describe something or
someone for which or whom you are thankful.
An important lesson/piece of
wisdom I've learned in life is...
Something I hope that my
words and actions show is...
My favorite type of reading
is...
Something I'm really good at
is...
If I were to move away from
Rutland and the CTMS community tomorrow, I hope people would remember me for
being...
The funniest thing I can
ever remember happening to me is...
One person who is very
important to me is...
My favorite subject is...
If I could choose to keep
only one my five senses (taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell), the one I'd
choose would be...
Here is a list of words in
the English language that I like most for one reason or another:
The kindest thing anyone has
ever done for me is...
The most fascinating place
I've ever been is...
A place to which I'd like to
travel someday is...
"Funny", in my eyes, is...
Something I'd really like to
tell my classmates that would be very hard to say is...
Something that I wish adults
would understand better about me or kids in general is...
If someone were to listen to
my Ipod or MP3 player, one thing he/she might infer about me from my
collection of songs would be...
The most memorable
experience I've had in my school years so far was when...
Write about one of the most
powerful books you've ever read - one that really made you think. Describe its
theme and your thoughts about the theme.
As I write in my WN today, I
am feeling...
One of my favorite authors
is... . What I seem to like about this author's writing is that...
An important event taking
place in the world right now is... . What I know about it is... What I wonder
about it is... What I feel about it is...
Describe the role that music
plays in your life.
Describe the role that art
plays in your life.
Describe the role that a
sport or sports in general play in your life.
One of the hardest things
about being a middle schooler is...
Aarrggggh! It really makes
me mad when...
Something I'd secretly like
to be good at but am afraid to try is...
We celebrate Columbus Day
here in the United States because...
We celebrate Halloween here
in the United States because...
A holiday my family
celebrates during the fall is... The reason we celebrate this holiday is...
My school year is off to a
______________ start. Some reasons I say this are...
A goal I'd like to
accomplish by the end of December 2008 is to...
What I'd love to do when I
become an adult is...
The hardest thing for me in
school so far this year is...
My thoughts about the
upcoming election are...
My thoughts about the
current state of the economy here in the U.S. are...
If I think beyond just "to
get a good grade in it," a reason why I think it might be important for me to
learn the things we study in math class is...
If I think beyond just "to
get a good grade in it," a reason why I think it might be important for me to
learn things we study in history or social studies class is...
We all have different
approaches or methods that are particularly effective for helping us to learn.
Some of the things I can do to help myself learn most effectively are...
The greatest things about
being a middle schooler are...
The hardest things about
being a middle schooler are...
I hope these help to get
some thoughts flowing... If you have any ideas for prompts that you'd like to
contribute, feel free to share them with me! Happy writing!
Mrs. P :)