Teach children to express themselves through writing.
During middle school, children develop stronger opinions, ideas and tastes. They have so much to say, but don't always know express themselves. Eighth-grade teachers have the opportunity to attract these students to the idea of writing down the many thoughts they don't feel comfortable saying out loud. Building writing skills in eighth-graders will give them the skills and confidence they need to transition to high school and succeed in the future. Teachers need creative writing prompts to get students interested and active in class.
Expository Writing
Expository writing informs the reader. To encourage this form of writing for eighth-graders, give them a multitude of questions to answer in writing. Students may write about what animal they would like to spend a day as and what they would do on that day, or describe their favorite food. You can also prompt them to write a casual letter to a friend or family member about their plans for the weekend. Children will write with more ease when the subject means something to them.
Persuasive Writing
Teach students how people in a community use persuasive writing to achieve social goals and make change. To practice persuasive writing in their own academic community, have students write to the principal about a school issue they feel needs attention. The students can work in groups to brainstorm ideas and try to get feedback from the head of the school. As another exercise in persuasive writing, bring in advertisements for students to study and discuss. After reviewing common word choices and ad writing styles, prompt the students to design a product and sell it with words.
Poetry Writing
Many students feel intimidated by poetry, assuming it has to sound romantic while rhyming. Review with the class the many forms of poetry and prompt them to write haikus, tankas or cinquains using humorous language and familiar topics. The students will write poetry more comfortably when they have a specific format to follow and a chance to use their own voice. You can also work as a class on a collective poem. The students pass around a paper with lines for poetry that either read "poetry line" or "final word." The first student will write a simple line of poetry and pass it to the next student who will write just one final word to complete the line.
Fiction Writing
Assign the students some scary novels to read and discuss the elements of a good mystery. The class can choose a favorite story and break the components of the story into a mystery puzzle. The children can make pieces to represent setting, detective, crime, victim, clues and solution, then glue them on a poster board with the solution on the back. They can then fill in the details for each aspect of the mystery, leading them to finding the solution. Teachers can also introduce fiction writing to eighth-graders by asking them to develop and write a scene for a play.
Tags: will write, express themselves, final word, give them, persuasive writing