On this page are two free middle school writing prompts that writing
teachers (including homeschool teachers) may use or adapt in their
classes.
I've prepared the download so the writing prompts can be photocopied
for students to use. This page includes information and links for
teachers that are not in the pdf.
Note: The difference between a middle school writing prompt and
one for high school use often is in how the paper must be developed
rather than in the "essay question" itself. There's more
on that topic on the page of thesis
statements responding to these prompts.
Middle school prompt #1
The first prompt of our middle school writing prompts begins by
putting the assignment in context. Middle school students will be
pleased to see they are familiar with the concept it discusses even
if they didn't know the word before.
Notice that this prompt uses the keyword of the topic frequently.
(I underlined it so you will see it.) That repetition is a help
to the struggling readers and writers in your classes. Repetition
is particularly useful for younger students and those who struggle
with reading and writing.
The next paragraph of the prompt give the basic assignment. It
specifies the type of
essay — and extended definition — and the audience. Ideally,
you would want to use peer readers to provide the authentic audience
the prompt calls for.
Next, the prompt gives more details about how students should develop
the essay. It tells what kinds of sources are options, but
it leaves open the possibility for students to find others.
In addition to helping the students get their sources together,
the prompt also tells them what they need to include in their essay
presentation.
The last section of the prompt tells students about any format
requirements that are specific to the assignment.
If you have a set of requirements
for all your formal written assignments for the entire year
(I hope you do!), you can add a line that says, "For full credit,
you must meet the general writing standards for the class as well."
Including a copy of those standards or mentioning where students
can find those standards is a good idea. Middle schoolers have an
uncanny knack for losing their papers.
Middle school prompt #2
The second of these middle school writing prompts is for a longer
paper. It begins by providing context.
The context poses the question that the student will have to answer
in the writing assignment. If you were introducing this assignment
in class, you could let students discuss the question before you
present the actual prompt.
This is what I call a non-brainer prompt. It gives students only
one option for a thesis and tells them how their essay must be developed.
You may notice that the term effective online search, which
is the topic of the prompt, was not used in the context paragraph.
That's a common occurrence in authentic writing situations.
The next section of the prompt suggests ways students could develop
the three points.
Notice that students have four different ways they can find information
for their papers. The next section tells them that for maximum credit,
they have to use three of those.
Requiring students to use evidence from more than one type of source
eases them away from the elementary school practice of writing just
what they already know.
Demanding that they use more than just published sources keeps
them from getting the impression that writing means stringing other
people's ideas together. And that helps them avoid palgiarism.
This middle school writing prompt gives an upper word count
limit. Students who make an effort to include the material the prompt
calls for will write at least half that.
Unless your goal is for students to write long strings of words,
it is better to specify what content they must have than to specify
how much they must write. Nothing turns strugging beginning writers
off faster than being pressured to put words on paper when they
have nothing to say.
For middle schoolers, I recommend you add a list of anything that
you expect students to include in their papers even if you have
gone over the material 87 times in class. (For high school and college
classes, you can skip this if you've discussed it 67 times in class.)
