In the new school year, plan to spend more time using writing prompts to connect with students.
When we created the Holiday of the Day Writing Prompts a few years ago, we knew that they would provide some great opportunities for celebrating in the classroom. And we had a good feeling that students would learn some interesting facts and gain some insights about different cultures.
We even thought that teachers could use them as formative writing assessments or as a way of learning something new about their students.
What we didn’t know, or maybe did but hadn’t fully considered, was how teachers could use the Holiday of the Day Writing Prompts to connect with students and create a safe space to share family stories and traditions and talk about some of their favorite things.
Using Writing Prompts to Connect with Students
Writing prompts aren’t just a writing assignment; they’re the beginning of a conversation.
One of the ways teachers can use the Holiday of the Day Writing Prompts is to talk about traditions students have at home. Whether that is that they always go to movies when it rains on National Umbrella Day or if they always get caramel ice cream when they go to the ice cream shop with their grandma, these are little family moments that students feel like they can share when they are talking to the class about National Umbrella Day or National Ice Cream Day.
These little sneak peeks into students’ lives offer us an opportunity to learn just a little more about how our students live.
Writing Prompts Provide an Opportunity to Ask Questions
When reviewing what your students wrote on their writing prompts, take some time to engage them in a little side chat.
Set up a mailbox system in your classroom where students can easily converse with you. Then, when you have a question while reading your student’s response to the writing prompt, ask them the question. Since you have a mailbox system in place, students can respond to your question in writing and submit it back to you without much hassle.
The writing prompts act as a fantastic jumping-off point to have a short, private conversation with students about something THEY WROTE that piqued your interest.
One of the key benefits of using writing prompts to connect with students is in the questions they may ask you, and the questions you may get to ask them. They are like daily ice breakers!
Learn About Your Students’ Interests
The Holiday of the Day Writing Prompts cover a variety of topics throughout the year, and one of those random topics is bound to excite even the most uninspired student.
Take the time each day to note the students who seem particularly excited about that day’s topic.
You can then take note of the topic and suggest something related to that topic when brainstorming subjects for projects, examples to use in class, or other lesson ideas.
Important: Use the Information You Learn
The writing prompts, student responses, and discussion are all great by themselves, but they are made even greater by you (the teacher) actually using the information you learn about students to make adjustments within your lesson planning.
When you start to consider your students’ backstories when choosing books, integrate your students’ specific interests into the examples you use in class, or change the way you ask questions because you’ve noticed that students respond best to questions where you ask their opinion, that is when doing the daily writing prompts really become valuable.
Using writing prompts to connect with students is not about the prompts themselves, although they are pretty awesome (if I do say so myself). It is in using what you learn about students to engage with them and make adjustments to your teaching style that this simple resource grows wings!
To view the Holiday of the Day Writing Prompts on Teachers Pay Teachers, click here!
