Technology Tidbit - Keep them writing!

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(Part of our Stay-At-Home series focused on practical ways you can use a resource to foster creativity, connections, and collaboration.)

Continuing to write can be very important for students (and adults) right now, not just for learning but also for our social/emotional health.  Writing can help all of us work through emotions, and deal with the uncertainty of the situation many of us find ourselves in currently.  Yet, as many teachers can attest, it can be HARD getting students to start writing.

Here are some ideas/resources that can help encourage your child to write:

Multi-day writing

Journaling example- 

COVID-19 Pandemic: "chronicle the changes you observe as your community, the country, and the world respond to Covid19" This document includes a variety of modification for elementary, students with special needs, and even one with added social-emotional reflection questions.  It can be helpful for students to process through their experiences and what they are hearing and seeing.

Some modifications/other ideas:

  • create daily entries as if you were your favorite animal (may involve some research!)
  • journal about a problem you are working through and the creative ways you are trying to solve it (ie. getting out of chores, watching more tv, sleeping in until noon)
  • use a daily reading journal, jotting down quotes, summaries, invoked emotions, or other impact ideas from what you read today
  • start a personal journal

Write a story example-

"Rewrite a fairy tale. Some ideas: change the gender/social position of the hero; set it in the present; tell it from the villain's POV, etc." (posted by @Michal Lemberger

Some modifications for this type:

  • rewrite a poem by changing 5 words
  • change the ending of the current book you are reading
  • write a story based on your favorite video game

Single-day Prompts


  • open a dictionary and pick 1 random word - write something about your day and include the word in your writing appropriately (if you do not have a dictionary, go to dictionary.com and use the word of the day)
  • find a writing prompt on Twitter (you don't need an account!) - simply copy and paste #WritingPrompt 
  • create your own writing prompt.  Some examples: write about your perfect day, write about a day in the life of your pet, write about someone you look up to

Pictorial Prompts 

There are 2 types of these: those that provide a question with the picture, and those that let the picture itself be the prompt.  Here are some examples:

Parents of early readers/writers

Some options to invoke the creative part of the writing process when your child is still learning to write
  • if you do have them write, let them write and tell their story - don't correct spelling, etc.  The details of what they are thinking are more important!
  • let them create a video recording of their "writing"
  • let them tell you their "writing" and you write it for them


Stay at Home - Play at Home - Learn at Home


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