Let’s face it – kids love summer break. One way to get them engaged with writing when they’ve only got summer on the brain is to use this excitement to your advantage.
Incorporate writing about the upcoming summer into your ELA lessons and watch them come alive with ideas and excitement.
Below you’ll find a list of writing prompts to encourage students to keep writing right up to the end of the school year.
Using these prompts:
Keep students writing at the end of the school year with these fun summer-themed prompts!
Here are a few fun ways to use this list in your classroom:
- Keep these prompts handy for students who finish work early, to give them something to do while the rest of the class finishes up.
- Encourage students to use these prompts in a writing journal over the summer, to keep their writing skills fresh.
- Challenge students to use one prompt in a writing journal every day for the last few weeks of the school year.
The Prompts
- Write a short story that takes place during the summer, using the following words: watermelon, sparkle, breeze, grass
- What is your dream family vacation? Use as much detail as possible.
- What is one skill you want to work on this summer? How can you ensure that you succeed?
- Would you rather spend a summer day at the beach or at a water park? Why?
- Write an acrostic poem using the word “SUNSHINE”.
- How does your family celebrate the 4th of July?
- What are your favorite barbecue foods? Why?
- In your opinion, what is the perfect way to spend a day during the summer?
- How does your daily routine change during the summer in comparison to the school year?
- Do you think that school should be year-round? Explain your answer.
- Write about your favorite place to visit during the summer.
- Describe summer using all five of your senses.
- Write a story about summer that uses the following words: water, run, up, tomorrow
- When you’re old enough, what kind of summer job do you think you’ll have?
- Go on a nature walk. Spend ten minutes freewriting about the experience.
- Would you rather go swimming or hiking? Why?
- Plan your perfect “stay-cation”. Use detail.
- Do you like to sleep in or get up early during the summer? Why?
- Write an acrostic poem using the word “BEACH”.
- Write about the best summer break you’ve ever had.
- Have you ever been to summer camp? What was it like?
- If you’ve never been to summer camp, write about what you think it would be like.
- Would you rather go camping in a cabin or a tent? Why?
- Describe how you feel when summer first starts.
- Describe how you feel when summer ends.
- What are you most looking forward to in the next school year?
- Write a poem describing a summer day.
- Write a story about summer using the following words: camp, trail, shade, deer
- Do you like to read during summer break? Why or why not?
- What are some fun things your community does during the summer? Do you participate in any of them?
- Would you rather swim in a pool or in a lake? Why?
- Write a poem about a warm summer day.
- What is your favorite outdoor activity during the summer?
- What is your favorite indoor activity during the summer?
- Would you rather have a water fight with water balloons or water guns? Why?
- What are three fun things that you hope to do this summer? Explain them in detail.
- Do you visit family during the summer? Write about a visit you’ve had.
- Write an acrostic poem using the word “CAMP”.
- Which summer month is your favorite? Why?
- Does your family do anything to celebrate Labor Day weekend? What do you do?
- Write a story about a 4th grader during their summer vacation 20 years ago.
- What can you do to avoid boredom during the summer?
- Do you spend time with friends during the summer? What do you do together?
Need more writing inspiration?
Summer, fall, winter, or spring, we’ve got themed writing prompts to keep your students engaged and excited about writing all year long.
We’re home to endless educational resources to help your students succeed, tips and tricks to help your classroom run more smoothly, and writing resources for outside of the classroom as well.
