When you start the school year, you quickly want to get an idea of where your students’ writing abilities are. But asking for a long piece of writing in the first weeks of school can be quite intimidating for a number of students. That’s why it’s essential to begin with back to school writing ideas that ease students into the process.
It’s important to start the year with fun back-to-school writing ideas that are highly engaging. These prompts are designed to make writing more approachable while still helping teachers assess their students’ abilities.
Here are my six favorite back to school writing ideas for upper elementary students:
1. Emoji Stories
For this back to school writing idea, give your students six fun emojis (preferably ones that don’t obviously fit together). The students will then write a short story using the six emojis, gluing them down in place of six words. This activity often results in funny and creative stories that students love sharing.
2. Caption This ‘Meme’ Writing
Memes are a great way to connect with students, as they’re often already familiar with them. Start by showing popular memes as examples to get everyone in the right mindset. Then, have students create captions for 6 funny images, such as amusing animal photos. This activity is sure to bring plenty of fun and laughter into the classroom, making it a favorite among back to school writing ideas. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to see your students’ humor shine. You can download my meme worksheet and mini lesson pack here!
3. ‘You Won’t Believe It’ News Writing Prompts
These news inspired prompts include hilarious pictures and pre-written headlines to inspire creative and humorous writing. You can make your own by using examples like ‘New 4th-Grade Teacher Begins at a Local School’ with a photo of an alien in a classroom. This is another one of the back to school writing ideas that can help hesitant writers come out of their shells. You can check out my 15-pack of ‘You Won’t Believe It’ news headline worksheets here.
4. Dear Future Me Letter
Among the classic back to school writing ideas, this one is always a favorite. Students write a letter to their future selves, imagining the end of the school year or even 10 or 20 years into the future. They can include their hopes for the future, questions for themselves, and share details about their current favorite things that may be very different by the time they read their own letter back to themselves!
Download this worksheet below for FREE, right here!
5. Classroom of the Future
Have students write a story imagining what the classroom will be like in 50 years. Prompt them to think about human teachers, technologies, transportation, and fashion. This back to school writing idea encourages creativity and forward-thinking. Download the worksheet below for FREE here!
6. The One-Word Project
The One-Word Project: Inspired by the book One Word for Kids by Jon Gordon, Dan Britton, and Jimmy Page, students choose one word to focus on for the school year. Reading this book to the whole class can set the stage for this activity, helping students to choose a meaningful word that will guide them throughout the year. This activity is one of the more reflective back-to-school writing ideas, helping students set achievable goals and giving them something to reference all year long. Read more about this activity in my One Word activity blog post here!
To make the start of the school year even easier, you can grab my full Back-to-School Writing Prompt Bundle here.
