On-Demand Writing Prompts

PROMPTS:

1. All humans make choices or decisions daily.  Some are important; some are not so important.  We choose what clothes to wear.  We decide whether or not to do our homework.  We choose certain people for friends.  Sometimes the decisions we make change our lives.
    Discus an important decision you have made in your life.  Explain the decision and how it affected you.  Tell whether you would make the same decision again.

2. In our lifetime many people, places, and things change from what we remember from our youth.  Sometimes the changes are subtle, like the repainting of a house down the street, while other times they are more obvious, like the demolition of a remembered landmark.
    In an essay describe a person, place, or thing that has changed in some way.  Describe what it was like before the change and what it was life after the change.  Tell your reader how you feel about the change.

3. We all dream about meeting a famous person, perhaps a movie star, a singer, or an athlete.  We wonder, "What would it be like?"  "Where would we go?"  "What would we talk about?"  If you could spend a day with a famous person, whom would you choose and what would you do?
    Identify a famous person with whom you would like to spend an entire day.  Give details to explain how you would spend the day, where you would go, and what you would say.  Make sure the reader knows why you chose this person.

4. Many television shows have characters who are teenagers.  Although the people who write and direct these shows are adults, they try to portray the teenagers realistically.  Sometimes these portrayals do not seem real to teenagers.
    Write about a television show in which you think teenagers are portrayed realistically.  Tell your reader what traits or actions make these characters seem real.

5. "Sometimes we, ourselves, are our own worst enemies."
    From a novel, story, or play, select a character who seems to have been his or her own worst enemy.  Show how the character was able or unable to overcome these problems.  Tell why you think the character was able or unable to do so.

6. A large number of students who begin high school do not graduate.  Educators are concerned about this trend.
    Explain the cause of the high dropout rate from your point of view.  Consider obvious and not-so-obvious causes.  Support your explanation with examples from your own experience and/or from what you have read.

7. We are all influenced by creative work found in our world.
    Choose a creative work (e.g. film, music, book, art, or poem) that has had a significant influence on you.  Describe the work and tell the reader why the work is important to you.  Make sure the reader understand how the work has influenced you.

8. In many novels, plays, and short stories, a character is challenged in some important way.  As a result of the challenge, he or she changes for the good or for the bad.  The kind of change reveals an idea the author wants you to understand.  For example, when a character becomes happier at the end of a novel than he was at the beginning, the author may be showing you what goes into making someone happy.
    Select one major character from a novel, play, or short story you have read.  Write an essay in which you describe how the character changes and tell what the author wants you to understand about the character as a result of the change.  The reader of your essay is familiar with the novel, play, or short story you select.

9. During the time you have been in school, you have had many teachers.  Each of these teachers was uniue.  Some of your teachers, such as art or shop teachers, had to have special talents besides teaching.  Others, such as coaches and drama teachers, worked with students beyond the classroom.  These qualities and teaching techniques made each of them different.
   Describe the qualities that make up an excellent teacher.  Consider the good teachers that you have had and what made them good teachers.  Use a specific anecdote(s) to support your description of an ideal teacher.

10. Your school newspaper is planning to publish a feature secion on the best movies of the year, and you have been invited to write about your favorite movie.
    Choose a favorite movie that you have seen.  Write an evaluation of this movie.  Support your evaluation with convincing details from the film.  Don't just tell what happened.  Consider such elements as why the main character and/or the setting was appealing, how you reacted to the central problem, and what feeling the film gave you.  Convince other students who read your school newspaper that your favorite movie is really as good as you think it is.

Folklore Compare/Contrast

Babe the Blue Ox
The Rooster and the Pearl

The Hook
How the Rainbow Was Made

Walk Two Moons

Walk Two Moons- Online Copy of Book

How to Write a Thesis Statement

How to Write a Thesis Statement- Great Video

RESEARCH: Trusted Sites for Animal Report

-Google (careful to avoid adult-looking sites)
-National Geographic for kids
-Worldbookonline for kids
-pioneer
-Ask for kids
-A-Z Animals
-Animal Planet