During middle school, students must hone their writing and communication skills. By this time, most teenagers should be able to think critically and express themselves through creative writing pieces and well-researched essays. However, writing may not come naturally to everyone. The good news is that there are ways to make writing assignments more engaging for everyone in the classroom.
Use writing prompts as a way to make writing assignments fun and help students tap into their creativity. Do you need a list of ideas suited for students in junior high? This list of writing prompts is perfect for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.
In this post:
Narrative Writing Prompts
Narrative writing can help junior high students express themselves in a myriad of ways – from fiction writing to creating reflective essays focusing on real-life situations, students can use narrative writing to shape any story they please.
Personal Narrative Prompts
A personal narrative is a fun form of autobiographical writing that middle school students can use to write about their life experiences.
✏️ Describe a place where you feel safe. Use descriptive language to discuss how the place looks.
✏️ Think about your favorite memory to date. Who did you experience this memory with?
✏️ Think about your favorite food. What does it remind you of? Do you have any fond memories that involve this dish?
✏️ Recount a memorable holiday or family tradition. Use all five senses to describe the event or tradition in vivid detail.
✏️ What challenges have you overcome in life? What did your hardship teach you about yourself?
Reflective
Similar to personal narratives, reflective writing pieces are works of nonfiction. However, the core difference is that it is usually reserved for one’s records or journals and it is not confined to formal writing techniques.
✏️ Write a letter to your future self. What do you want to keep in mind as you grow and develop over the years?
✏️ Keep a gratitude journal. Use it to track all of the kind, helpful and inspiring interactions you have with your friends, family members, and strangers throughout the week.
✏️ Reflect on your relationship with your parents or siblings. What words describe the emotions you feel when you are around them? What would you change about your relationship? What do you enjoy and cherish?
✏️ List your goals for your community. Use descriptive language to explain what you would like to accomplish for your neighborhood, city, friend group, or cultural community.
✏️ Reflect on your weekend. Explain the events that took place and your opinions of them.
Creative
Creative prompts for sixth graders, seventh graders, and eighth graders can encompass a variety of topics. Nonfiction pieces such as personal narratives and reflective journal entries are forms of creative writing, however, they are not the only forms. Creative writing can take the form of fiction works as well.
✏️ If you could be a mythical creature, what would you be and why? Use descriptive language to explain your skills and appearance.
✏️ If you could hang out with a fictional character (from any book, movie, or tv show) who would it be? What activities would you do together?
✏️ If you could invent a robot to do anything, what would it do? What would you name your robot? Use pre-existing knowledge to describe the materials and basic functionality of your robot assistant.
✏️ If you had to eat the same dinner every night for the rest of your life, what would you eat? Do know how to cook this dish?
✏️ Interview a friend, classmate, or sibling. Ask them about their favorite hobbies. Use the research gathered from the interview to create a story that describes their passions.
Informational Writing Prompts
Crafting informational texts is one way middle school students can work on their research skills. Informational writing often requires an explanation of who, what, where, when, and/or why an event occurred. Working on this style of writing can come in handy throughout a student’s academic career – as it provides a sense of the workload that can be expected at a college level.
Expository Prompts
Expository prose is used to describe a topic or subject in great detail. This style of writing is commonly used in high school and college essays. Expository writing can also be found in editorial pieces that are published in newspapers and magazines.
✏️ Explain what you envision for your life in the next 5 years. What goals do you have?
✏️ Explain the lyrics to your favorite song. What emotions does the song evoke?
✏️ Discuss a historical event that happened in this country, provide details on where it took place and why it is still significant.
✏️ Write an essay explaining the feeling one might experience when they are bullied by their classmates.
✏️ Write an essay discussing how you would prepare for a natural disaster.
Research-Based Prompts
Research texts can be interesting for students to explore. As students age and develop opinions, it becomes increasingly important to make sure they know how to use the internet and traditional research methods (i.e. the library). In many cases, research writing requires students to go beyond the information that they’ve heard from their parents or on social media – which can help learners develop a healthy level of scrutiny when it comes to determining if a piece of information is valuable.
✏️ What are the effects of social media and cell phone addiction on teenagers?
✏️ Research the health benefits of sleeping more than 6 hours a night.
✏️ Interview a local community member or a business owner. Then discuss their life in an essay.
✏️ Research an animal species. In an essay, write about the history of the species and where it originated from on our planet.
✏️ Discuss the contribution art and math have had on our society. Provide an example of how each of these subjects has had an impact on the world.
Argument Writing Prompts
Argumentative essays are written with the goal of persuading the reader to agree with the perspective of the writer. Argumentative writing can take the form of formal arguments or persuasive writing pieces.
Persuasive Essay
A persuasive text uses emotions and evidentiary support to persuade the reader to agree with the writer’s opinion. Persuasive writing can help middle school students hone their debate skills and provide an opportunity to practice crafting evidence-based arguments.
✏️ Should schools and businesses have dress codes? Or should they allow each individual person to express themselves however they see fit?
✏️ Should everyone in the world be given free internet access? Why or why not?
✏️ Is it ethical for teachers to confiscate your cellphone when you use it in your classes?
✏️ Should social media applications ban the use of filters?
✏️ It is more important to be rich or to be kind?
