Middle School High School July PDF

July 1
You want to ride a particular ride at the amusement park, but your friends want to ride another
one. Write three reasons that will convince them that yours is the better choice.
July 1
A friend has asked you to landscape his or her lawn. Draw a plan of where you’ll put items,
plants, and trees.
Zip line, anyone?
July 2
Write about when you warned someone about something. How did it turn out?
July 2
Independence Day is near for those living in the United States. If you could have been at our
first Independence Day, which person would you like to have been? Explain your answer.
Here are some names to get you started: Betsy Ross, George Washington, Paul Revere, Thomas
Jefferson, Mrs. Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, King George III, and so on.
©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Find Sharon’s weekly Middle School Writing Prompts and weekly High School Writing Prompts
at http://writingwithsharonwatson.com/
July 3
The first stanza of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem “The Swing” goes like this:
How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do.
You can read the rest of the poem here.
The rhyme pattern of this poem is ABAB:
Swing (A)
Blue (B)
Thing (A)
Do (B)
Create your own poem based on this rhyme pattern. Stevenson’s poem contains three stanzas;
yours can have as many as you like, and it can be on any topic you like.
July 3
You are teaching a younger person about fireworks

safety. Write the first three rules.
July 3
Write a list of five synonyms (words with similar meanings) for the word “freedom.” Then use
one of them in a sentence.

July 4
Write a list of synonyms for the word “freedom.” Use one of those words in a sentence.
July 5
You want to ride a particular ride at the amusement park, but your friends want to ride another
one. Write three reasons that will convince them that yours is the better choice.
July 5
It’s 1893. You’ve traveled across the country for work,

and now you’re through. You want to visit one of the
mountains nearby, so you and your friends ascend a very
winding and dangerous Pikes Peak, elevation 14,114 feet,
in a prairie wagon. (The picture on the left is taken part
of the way up the mountain.)
When you reach the top of the peak, you are so

overcome with the beautiful scenery below you that you write a poem about what you see.
This is the story of Katharine Lee Bates, author of “America, the Beautiful.”
Write a poem or song about your state, province, or town. Katharine Bates characterized
America as “beautiful.” How will you characterize your location? What trait will you
accentuate?
This can be humorous, negative, serious, positive, ironic, or anything you like.
Photo credit: Sharon Watson

July 6
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3 KJV).
Write about a time when you were afraid. What were you afraid of? What happened? What
helped you get through that scary time?
July 6
Write about a time when you warned someone about something. Did they listen to you? How
did it turn out?
July 6
Six months of the year are gone. What do you want to do in the second half of the year that you
did not do in the first half?
July 7
Your town or city is going to put a major road through a local park. Make a list of reasons why
you think they shouldn’t. Then write one reason why someone might think the road is a good
idea.
July 7
Archaeologists sometimes study a culture’s garbage to glean facts about that culture. What
would your family’s garbage tell an archaeologist who found it 100 years from now? What
would the archaeologist learn about your family?

July 7
Your town or city is going to put a major road through a local park. Make a list of three reasons
why you think they shouldn’t. Then write one reason why someone might think the road is a
good idea.
July 7
Write a story that begins like this:
“The sound had stopped, but the air still vibrated with the shock of its disturbance.”
July 8
You are teaching a 5-year-old how to tie his or her shoes. Write out the directions and be sure
to use transitions from one step to the next (“then,” “when you finish,” “after you have,” “while
holding,” and so on).
July 8
Think about a really terrible day you or a friend had lately. Now write about it as though it were
a story, except that now, the main character is not you or your friend. It is an animal.
July 8
You decide to accept a job offer to work as a doorman or doorwoman for the summer. Describe
the type of establishment you are working for and the uniform you will wear. List your main
responsibilities as well as other duties that you might perform from time to time.

July 9
Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series, wrote that she became her sister Mary’s
eyes when Mary lost her sight. Pretend you are looking at a person, a location, or an item for
someone else. Describe it for them.
July 9
Create the first page of a travel brochure advertising your state or province. What picture will
you put on the front? What will you write to draw people to your area?
July 10
How do you pass the time when you travel on a long trip?
July 10
Who was your first hero? Make a list of characteristics, traits, powers,
talents, or other things your hero had or did that made you like him or
her.

July 10
You are teaching a 5-year-old how to tie his or her shoes. Write out the directions and be sure
to use transitions from one step to the next (“then,” “when you finish,” “after you have,” “while
holding,” and so on).
July 11
If you were the curator in a museum, what would you fill it with?
July 11
Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House series, wrote that she became her sister Mary’s
eyes when Mary lost her sight. Pretend you are looking at a person, a location, or an item for
someone else. Describe it for them. Use color, size, shape, texture, and other clues to help
them visualize it.
July 11
You meet a person your age wearing a name tag just outside your grocery store. The name tag
describes in English that this person is with a tourist group taking a two-week bus tour of your
country.
The problem is that there is no group or bus in sight. Also, this person speaks no English.
Describe in detail your attempts to communicate with this person and to offer help. Or write
out the dialog.
For tips on dialog punctuation, go to https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/punctuation-in-

dialog/ .

July 12
How do you pass the time when you travel on a long trip? Explain in a paragraph. Or make a list
of four things other people can do to make the boring miles less tedious.
July 12
Write about a time in your life when you tried repeatedly before you succeeded.
July 13
You are traveling cross country. What mode of transportation will you choose? Money and time
are not an issue. Dream big!
July 13
If you were the curator in a museum, what would you fill it with?
July 13
You are walking onto a stage. What are you going to do? Sing? Dance? Debate? Give a speech?
Act in a play?
Write about what you are doing there and what you are going to do. You can make this into a
story, if you wish.

July 14
Write a radio ad for your favorite restaurant food. Use plenty of adjectives and adverbs.
July 14
What’s your favorite breakfast food? Write an ad for it so

others will want to eat it.
Before you write your ad, though, decide where you want
your ad to be located: on a billboard, on the radio, on a
TV commercial, in a Facebook feed, in your favorite
magazine, and so forth. Then make that food seem
tantalizing!
Advertisements are loaded with lots of descriptive and exciting adjectives. (Adjectives are those
words that describe or modify those pesky nouns, like the word “pesky.”) Use plenty of clever
adjectives in your amazing ad.
July 14
What is your favorite holiday or special day each year? How do you prepare for it? How might it
be different the next time it happens?
July 15
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Have you ever heard that saying? It means that money is
harder to get than simply plucking it from trees as you would a peach or an orange. What else
doesn’t grow on trees that you wish did? If you could choose anything other than money to
grow in your own fantastical orchard, what would it be?

July 15
It can be frustrating to wait in lines or wait for someone to finish with something before you
can use it. Make a list of the seven most unavoidable delays in your life.
July 15
You are walking on a desert trail but fall and twist your ankle. What items in your backpack will
help you get to safety?
July 16
If a character feels sad, a good writer will avoid telling readers this: “Ricardo felt sad.” In other
words, they won’t tell the reader how the character feels; they’ll show the reader what the
character does, like this: “When Ricardo made the last out of the game, his shoulders slumped
and he dropped his bat.”
Think about what people do when they feel very happy. Then write a sentence showing what a
character could do when he or she feels happy.
July 16
You’ve been given the keys to a vehicle for your birthday. What vehicle is it?
July 17
If someone gave you one hundred lightning bugs in a jar, what would you do with them?

July 17
Soap bubbles. Balloons. What else can you do by using your breath? Make a list.
July 17
“Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Have you ever heard that saying? It means that money is
harder to get than simply plucking it from trees as you would a peach or an orange.
What else doesn’t grow on trees that you wish did? If you could choose anything other than
money to grow in your own fantastical orchard, what would it be?
July 18
Free writing: Write all the things that come into your mind when you think of the word
“cactus.”
July 18
If a character feels sad, a good writer will avoid telling readers this: “Ricardo felt sad.” In other
words, they won’t tell the reader how the character feels; they’ll show the reader what the
character does, like this: “When Ricardo struck out and made the last out of the game, his
shoulders slumped and he dropped his bat.”
Think about what people do when they feel very happy. Then write a sentence showing what a
character could do when he or she feels happy.

July 18
Your family went away for a weekend but left you home. You decided to surprise everyone by
painting the walls in each room.
Describe which color or colors you would use in each room and describe the effect that you
think your painting will have on your family members.
July 19
If someone gave you one hundred lightning bugs in a jar, what would you do with them?
July 19
You are an ant. You just witnessed your friend being fried with spontaneous combustion under
a magnifying glass.
How will you warn your remaining friends?
July 20
How are the items in your refrigerator sorted or arranged?
July 20
Free writing: Write all the things that come into your mind when you think of the word
“cactus.”
You do not need to use complete sentences. Simply write what comes to mind. If you go off
topic after a while, that is okay. Just keep following your train of thought.
July 20
“It came out of the woods, dragging its foot.”
July 21
Write a list of reasons why you think it would be nice to have a pet. If you already have a pet,
make a list of reasons why a friend of yours should get a pet.
July 21
In Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals tells about a Christmas tradition her family had. Each
one would take an item and give it to someone in need. Sometimes this was painful because
Melba’s mother or grandmother would encourage her to give away a favorite item.
You are going to take one item from your bedroom and give it to someone else. What is it and
to whom will you give it?
July 21
You see a hot air balloon floating overhead, and you call out to say hello. Silence. No one
answers.
What do you do next? Write your next actions or write the story of what you think happened to
the pilot and the passengers.

July 22
Someone moves in next door and wants to know where the nearest grocery store is. Write out
the directions for him or her.
July 22
Let’s talk about popsicles. You can answer any of the following questions:
What’s your favorite flavor of popsicle or ice cream? Describe how it tastes.
Have you ever made your own? Write a short list of steps you took to make them.
Have you ever lost your popsicle when it fell off the stick? Have you ever lost your ice cream
when it plopped out of the cone? Write your story about it.
July 22
“The sky was the wrong color, and why was it so hot?”
July 23
Describe the most unusual bird you’ve seen. Where were you? How did the bird move? Use at
least two of these senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

July 23
Write a short story of a dozen sentences. Here’s the catch: All the sentences must begin with
the same letter your name begins with!
July 24
You are taking a long voyage on a ship across an ocean one hundred years ago. Write a journal
entry about what you did one day.
July 24
Your local zoo has enough money to acquire a new

animal. Which one do you want them to get?
Write a short letter to the zoo director to persuade him or

her to purchase the animal you’d like to see in your zoo.
July 24
Describe the most unusual bird or other animal you’ve seen. Where were you? How did the
bird or animal move? Use at least two of these senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
July 25
What bugs you? Write a poem about it.

July 25
You are taking a long voyage on a ship across an ocean one hundred years ago. Write a journal
entry about how it feels and what you did one day.
July 25
Make a list of five things you’ve lost. Your items can be concrete (like a library book) or abstract
(like your faith in a friend because she blabbed a secret of yours).
When you have finished your list, write a sentence to sum up your losses.
July 26
Yesterday you made a list of five things you have lost. Now, make a list of five things you have
found. Your list can contain concrete items (like a mitten) or abstract items (like new
confidence in yourself).
When you have finished your list, write a sentence to sum up the things you have gained.
July 27
Benjamin means “son of the south” or “son of the right hand,” according to
behindthename.com.
What does your name mean? What would you like it to mean?

July 27
You are a news editor for a local radio station. Your staff is working on stories for a four-minute
broadcast.
Which story will you prioritize to lead the news segments? Explain why you chose that one.
July 28
I have a friend who doesn’t like Dr. Seuss stories because she doesn’t like fantasy. Write a letter
to her to convince her to like Dr. Seuss books. If you don’t like Dr. Seuss books either, write to
tell my friend why you agree with her.
July 28
Describe yourself to someone who is sight-impaired. Use more than one sense (smell, hearing,
touch, and so on).
July 28
You go into a bookstore. What section do you head for first? Explain.
July 29
If someone attached 1,000 helium balloons to your house, apartment, or trailer, as in the movie
Up, where would you want your house to come down?

July 29
Describe the perfect hot dog. What would you put on it?
July 29
Describe the sequence of events in a thunderstorm. The day

starts out sunny. Take it from there.
Use as many senses as possible. Rainbows are optional!
Photo credit: morguefile.com
July 30
What would you put on a bumper sticker? Use ten words or less.
July 30
If you worked in a hospital, what job would you like to have?
Here are a few positions to get you thinking: doctor, surgeon (one
who can operate on people), nurse, Intensive Care Unit nurse,
administrator (the one who runs the hospital), florist, cafeteria
worker, X-ray technician, dietician, gift shop worker, ambulance
driver or EMT, pharmacist, nursery nurse, someone who works on
the hospital’s Website, phlebotomist (one who draws patients’
blood), security, and so on.

July 31
You are the sidekick to a superhero. Write the story of your day’s adventure or misadventure.
July 31
You have a friend who has been ill for a long time. What can you bring him to cheer him up?
What can you bring her to give her something interesting to do?


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July 1

Zip line, anyone?

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

How do you like to go up in a swing,

You can read the rest of the poem here.

The rhyme pattern of this poem is ABAB:

You are teaching a younger person about fireworks

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

It’s 1893. You’ve traveled across the country for work,

When you reach the top of the peak, you are so

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3 KJV).

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Write a story that begins like this:

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

For tips on dialog punctuation, go to https://writingwithsharonwatson.com/punctuation-in-

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

What’s your favorite breakfast food? Write an ad for it so

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

How will you warn your remaining friends?

How are the items in your refrigerator sorted or arranged?

Write a story that begins like this:

“It came out of the woods, dragging its foot.”

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Write a story that begins like this:

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Your local zoo has enough money to acquire a new

Write a short letter to the zoo director to persuade him or

What bugs you? Write a poem about it.

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

Describe the sequence of events in a thunderstorm. The day

Use as many senses as possible. Rainbows are optional!

Photo credit: morguefile.com

If you worked in a hospital, what job would you like to have?

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Sharon Watson for SchoolhouseTeachers.com

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