Creative Writing Prompts Teacher’S Guide

Poetry & Song Lyrics Story starters

Creative writing prompts Teacher’s guide:

This set of “Story Starter” cards is a versatile tool to boost student engagement with creative writing. They provide a low-risk opportunity to imagine and write. Each card uses a snippet of poetry or song lyrics to start students off with an image, a setting, a conflict, or a character.

Using these cards There are sixty quotes total. Print or project these cards for any number of occasions:

➢ As bellringers for weekly creative writing ➢ As a creative writing station ➢ To jumpstart oral storytelling ➢ As a discussion starter for themes and devices across genres

Low-risk writing One of the best things we can do to help our students grow as writers and thinkers is to provide them with multiple opportunities for practice and experimentation. Using prompts like these (with no “right answer”) gives students a chance to dream big. If they know, for example, that they’ll have another chance next Friday, they’ll be willing to take more risks.

Encourage positive sharing and feedback to boost student confidence even more.

differentiation Some students may be ready to jump right in to writing a story; others may need more scaffolding. Support student writing by helping them mind map based on a given quote. They can draw connections and notice what inspires them:

➢ Plot – what could happen next? ➢ Character – who is speaking in this quote? Who else is present? ➢ Conflict – what problem is presented? ➢ Theme – what perspective on life does the speaker have? ➢ Setting – where does the quote place the characters? Purple Jumping jellyfish Nouvelle ELA © Nouvelle ELA Teacher’s guide:

ONE QUOTE VERSION: TWO QUOTES VERSION: LOW-PRINT VERSION: Students could write about the Students choose one quote to Both sets (one or two quotes) quote as a bellringer, at a write from. Afterwards, they are available without the creative writing station. could compare quotes and distraction of an image. Use for stories for theme, literary low-print or low-stimuli. devices, and more. Print 4 or 6 to a page or project on-screen. Your files are PDFs. You can change your print settings to “multiple pages per sheet” and choose four or six. You can also project these files like a PowerPoint by going into your View settings and choosing “Full Screen Mode”.

Here’s a complete list of quotes, credits, and suggested topics for observation and analysis. This isn’t meant to be a definitive list of “right answers”, but rather ideas for discussion.

“Water, water, everywhere, 1 and not a drop to drink.” Irony -“Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge “Stars come out; I'm finally free. Imagery, Setting 2 Now it's only the ocean and me” Paired: Differing perspectives -“Only the Ocean”, Jack Johnson on location/setting “To dance beneath the diamond sky Imagery, alliteration, 3 with one hand waving free, silhouetted by the sea.” consonance, assonance -“Mr. Tambourine Man”, Bob Dylan “Dirt and glitter cover the floor. Setting, imagery, irony 4 We’re pretty and sick; we’re young and we’re bored.” Paired: The different purposes -“Blow”, Ke$ha in using glitter and brightness “Don’t bite the apple, Eve.” 5 Allusion -“Empire State of Mind”, Jay-Z Allusion “So Eden sank down to grief, Paired: Two wildly different 6 So dawn goes to day, nothing gold can stay” sources for biblical allusion – -“Nothing Gold Can Stay”, Robert Frost differing tones “I wandered lonely as a cloud.” 7 Mood, simile -“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, William Wordsworth Someday I'll go where there ain't no rain or snow. Till then, I travel alone and I make my bed Setting, character 8 with the stars above my head Paired: Two views on And dream of a place called home.” wandering -“A Place Called Home”, Kim Richey “Picture yourself in a boat on a river, 9 With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.” Setting -“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, The Beatles “I sleep in a room at the top of a house, Setting 10 With a flea, and a fly, and a soft-scratching mouse.” Paired: Both strong settings, -“Good Company”, Leonard Clark one grounded in whimsy “You got a fast car. I want a ticket to anywhere. Maybe we make a deal, Maybe together we can get 11 Character, conflict somewhere.” -“Fast Car”, Tracy Chapman Character “She was in the backyard, Say it was a little past nine, Paired: Both hint at an 12 When her prince pulled up - A white pick-up truck.” unfulfilled feeling and a bigger -“Suds in the Bucket”, Sara Evans future. Purple Jumping jellyfish Nouvelle ELA © Nouvelle ELA