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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

An effective writing prompt about a significant threshold.

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

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

How is a scene different from a summary? In this Spark, students will explore the answer to that question and put both techniques into practice.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

This activity prompts students to use words related to community and identity to reframe ancestral stories of resistance, growth, and survival.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Encourage students to confront abstract, messy topics in their writing with philosophical journal prompts.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

This Spark uses a popular improv game to show students the value of their ideas and the importance of keeping an open mind while writing.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Whether students write to process, to remember, to imagine, or to heal, this collection of prompts asks students to recognize how their world has changed in response to COVID-19.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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 revisit powerful memories to generate personal stories filled with heart.

Students create an identity chart and write about parts of their identity most salient to them.

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

Writers have the power to make choices about the words and structures they use in their writing. In this Spark, students will learn how to wield that power with purpose.

In this activity, students explore Instagram as a form of public rhetoric and practice using hashtags as a way to engage with larger communities.

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

In this Spark, students will learn more about conducting interviews and practice by interviewing a classmate.

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