Students learn to incorporate setting as a key element of a story, starting with inspiration from collages.

Students will learn to be empathetic towards those who are different by brainstorming scary characteristics of specific monsters and then developing more positive aspects to their nature.

This spark activity is designed to get your students on their feet while reinforcing the need for strong dialogue in narratives.

Students will imagine (and write about) their own fantastical worlds, using the cover illustrations of magazines as inspiration.

Students enter a Writing Laboratory, no lab coats required, and use methods of observation to embark on their writing process.

This Spark introduces students to the fantastical world of Flood City and prompts them to write a journal entry from the perspective of a Flood City resident.

Students consider perspectives of activists speaking up against racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd and use imagery to capture protest scenes in writing.

Students identify the power of imagery in poetry, then practice putting this power to use in a poem about their neighborhood.

In this Spark, students will play a game of bingo to improve their narrative writing.

The Character-O-Matic is a writing tool that helps students to create new characters. In this lesson, students will use it to create a character profile that reflects their own identies.

Students plot significant memories on a timeline in this reflective writing activity.

With this pair of prompts, students look to the past and future for writing inspiration.

Students will write a personal narrative where they describe themselves as a place. Not a specific place, but all the things a "place" consists of.

Make space for creativity in nonfiction! Students will play with traditional nonfiction formats with these two writing prompts from Kelly Jensen, writer and editor.

What lives inside a word? Find out how to trace connections between two dissimilar words with this playful Spark from award-winning poet Aracelis Girmay.

Daniel Ehrenhaft asks students to consider perspective in a piece of their writing with this reflective spark.

In this Spark, students will learn more about voice: what it is exactly, and how to name the elements of it.

Students will interview each other in order to create an interesting written portrait. This is a great exercise in journalistic writing and the ability to work together with classmates.

Students teach a "pirate" how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and learn how to give effective instructions in the process.

In this activity, students create original monsters in archetypal protagonist and antagonistic roles by focusing on internal and external characteristics.

Students draw inspiration from a real or fictional location and use this sense of place to develop an in-setting document.

An effective writing prompt about a significant threshold.

Students discuss the 2021 inaugural poem by Amanda Gorman and write their own poems in response to "The Hill We Climb."

Students revisit powerful memories to generate personal stories filled with heart.

These 10 prompts ask students to browse the 826 Digital Student Writing Gallery for writing inspiration.

In this Spark, students will explore two taboo emotions, desire and fear, by mapping where these feelings dwell in their bodies and using tactile language to describe their impact.

In this writing prompt, students are asked to reflect on the choices they make when deciding whether or not to help someone.

This activity prompts students to write words unspoken, in letters undelivered.

A fun, free-writing task which challenges students to take cheesy pop lyrics and make them into their own original poems.

In this activity, students write about a cause they are passionate about and imagine how they can create change in the world.

By combining two classic games, students will learn how storytelling and art can build community or help them break through writer’s block.

Students recall “last times” in their lives and revisit the depth of their experience through writing.

In this activity, students work as budding archeologists and creatively reimagine ways for archaeologists and historians to use artifacts to tell stories.

Students will collectively create a running list of golden details—details and descriptions that are singular, completely original, and make one's subject unforgettable.

Students draw inspiration from powerful change-makers to write celebratory, haiku poetry.

In this activity, students will explore superhero traits or superpowers that they know or admire. What kind of jobs do they do? How do their powers help them achieve this?

Author and activist P. Carl asks students to write dialogue that captures two distinct and opposing voices, crafting a scene of action and discord.

This poetry prompt from Rachel Eliza Griffiths asks students to consider the ordinary in their lives—then write a poem that celebrates those ordinary objects and figures.

This Spark provides students with the opportunity to get to know their classmates by sharing personal stories about a specific topic.

Students will use their knowledge of popular music to learn basic computer programming concepts.

In this Spark, students will play a game of bingo to improve their poems!

In this Spark, students will mine their home and their habits for story and personal essay ideas.

In this activity, students begin with the most essential details from various memories, helping them hone in on specifics without getting caught up in writer's block.

At a time of rising book bans, The New York Public Library invites all teens to reflect on the essential freedom to read.

This activity encourages young writers to identify the rules in their own poems and to then experience the joy of either smashing the rules outright or finding a graceful way to reimagine them.

A hauntingly good pair of prompts! Students will reconsider the purpose of ghosts by either describing a haunted setting or writing from the perspective of a misunderstood ghost.

Candy hearts are a Valentine’s Day staple, with their funny—even punny—sayings about love. In this Spark, students will lean into the world of youth slang to write some “sweet” sayings of their own.

In this activity, students illustrate a favorite word and explore what makes words meaningful through illustration, research, and discussion.

In this lesson students will work together to revise a scene from a first draft by adding descriptive details.

A pair of prompts that invites students to consider how time, location, and dialogue can be used to construct a scene and build meaning.

Students consider the influence that labels hold and write poetry to become empowered to describe themselves however they want.

In this fun, interactive game, students will build an understanding of the concept of synonyms. A strong grasp on how to use synonyms will improve students’ overall writing skills.

In this activity, students will examine narrative structure, explore the purpose and practice of myths, and put the two together to create their own original piece.

In this Spark, students put on their detective hats and sleuth out places to add more details into their writing.

Students will be asked to take an existing 4-panel comic and create their own dialogue. This is a fun quick activity or warm-up exercise that will challenge students to write efficiently.

This activity explores the way emotions change how we perceive settings. Students work in groups to create descriptions of apartments based on an emotion they draw from a hat.

In this session, students will write haikus that includes two perspectives, one of a hero and one of an engineer, to design a secret lair for a superhero.

This activity reinforces the role of dialogue in a story, with students creating realistic conversation in A-Z fashion.

To jumpstart their own poems, students take inspiration from the poetry of the others.

Students will use creative thinking to innovate an imaginary elixir that targets a problem they see in the world.

In this activity, students draw upon inspiration from existing text and the world around them to launch stories of their own.

Usually, an ode is written in celebration, but this Spark asks students to write an anti-ode—a poem about something they can’t stand!

Students pose questions to the magic 8 ball in this activity centered on character motivation.

In this Spark, students will explore the many ways you can connect to a poem.

Author bios offer students another opportunity to express themselves through writing and to feel like a real author. This Spark walks students through the process of writing one.

In this activity, students practice analyzing a character’s internal motivations and fears and develop their own original characters.

Students play a spin-off version of Balderdash in this activity, working as budding archeologists who must use the power of observation to solve a few artifact mysteries.

Writing can be a powerful tool when working through feelings of grief, sadness, or anger. This Spark creates an intentional opportunity for youth to write and speak about what is on their minds.

What are students made of? This activity prompts students to reimagine recipes and write about their life experiences.

This writing prompt from author Lisa Ko invites students to explore the impact of social movements by envisioning and writing from an ideal future.

Engage young writers of any age at home with this collection of 826 Digital writing prompts and activities.

Leslie Margolis invites students to consider their own personhood and what determines or defines it with two short prompts.

Through a series of short drawing activities, students will explore the ways observable details can have a major impact on their writing.

Students experiment with alternative ways of writing poetry by reordering and rearranging pre-existing text.

This poetry prompt from Ada Limón invites students to consider a personal connection to an animal.

This Spark uses students’ favorite things to support their persuasive writing practice.

In this lesson, students tackle the art of writing authentic dialogue that reveals information about the characters, plot, and conflict.

Using a place with personal meaning, students will learn a strategy for getting over the hurdle of beginning the writing process.

With a little folding and loads of creativity, students make their own zines that feature abstract recipes.

Students will anthropomorphize an inanimate object to produce interview questions and answers.