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50 Creative 3rd Grade Writing Prompts (Free Printable!)

Taking the leap from the primary level to the intermediate grades.

Third grade is a huge transitional year in elementary school. Third grade writers have learned foundational concepts and skills and have had time to practice. Now they are developing more complex skills as they dig deeper, learn to make connections, and analyze the topics they write about. Here are 50 third grade writing prompts to help your students master and refine their writing skills.

If you’d like even more upper elementary writing prompts, we publish new ones twice a week on our kid-friendly site: the Daily Classroom Hub . Make sure to bookmark the link!

(Want this entire set in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here, so you’ll always have the prompts available!)

1. Tell about a special event in your life.

2. What are you best at?

3. What do you want to learn more about?

4. I could never live without______.

5. If you could go anyplace in the world, where would you go and why?

6. Interview one of your parents or grandparents and ask them to tell you a story from their childhood. Share their story here.

7. Describe one of your favorite book characters. Tell three things about their personality.

8. Do you think third graders should have to do chores at home? Why or why not?

9. What is something you would change about school if you could?

10. Tell about a time you helped somebody.

11. Tell about a time somebody helped you.

12. Tell about a memorable “first” in your life. For example, the first time you ate a particular kind of food, the first time you met your teacher, etc.

13. Describe step by step how to make a pizza.

14. What does it mean to be a hero?

15. I am afraid of _______ because_______.

16. What is the difference between being polite and rude? Give three examples.

17. What is the most important rule in the classroom?

18. What are the three most important qualities you look for in a friend?

19. Do you think kids should be assigned homework? Why or why not?

20. Nature gives us many beautiful things—plants, animals, water, weather, stars and planets, etc. What is one of your favorite things in nature and why?

21. If I were a spider, I’d _______.

22. Three things that make me happy are ______.

23. What is your favorite holiday and why?

24. Tell about one of your family’s unique traditions.

25. If you could have a pet, what would you choose? How would you take care of it?

26. Write about a dream you recently had.

27. Tell about a person that inspires you and why.

28. Name five things you are thankful for and why you are thankful for them.

29. What are ways you can be a good citizen?

30. When you and a friend disagree, how do you work it out?

31. What do you think the world will be like in one hundred years?

32. What is your favorite type of weather? Why?

33. What superpower do you wish you had? Why?

34. What famous person would you like to meet? Why?

35. In your opinion, which animal makes the best pet? Give three reasons for your answer.

36. If someone gave you $100, how would you spend it?

37. Should third graders have cell phones? Why or why not?

38. If you could be an Olympic athlete, what sport would you participate in?

39. Write about your “getting ready for school” routine.

40. Write about your “getting ready for bed” routine.

41. If you could travel through time like Jack and Annie in the Magic Tree House, where would you go?

42. In your opinion, what does a perfect weekend look like?

43. Write about the last time you felt really angry. What happened and how did it all work out?

44. Pretend there was a special zoo where animals could talk. Which animal would you talk to and what are three questions you would ask?

45. What is your favorite thing with wheels? Why?

46. Tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears from the point of view of Baby Bear.

47. What do you think would grow if you planted a magic bean?

48. Which would you rather be able to do—fly or read people’s minds? Why?

49. Tell about an adult in your life that you admire.

50. If you were traveling for a week and could only bring a backpack, what would you pack?

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108 Engaging Creative Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade

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Creative writing is the perfect way to get kids interested in writing. Students’ imaginations are bursting with ideas and they’re usually still willing to share them at this age. The more we can get them writing poems, songs, stories, and paragraphs now, the more they’ll start to see themselves as writers with valuable original thoughts worth expressing. For those times when imaginations are running dry and kids need a little inspiration, or when you want them to practice a specific writing skill, these 108 creative writing prompts for 3rd grade are here to spark creativity. Enjoy!

Story Starters and Other Narrative Writing Prompts

Writing stories—fictional or real—gives children a chance to develop several creative writing skills. They practice writing dialogue, developing characters, and fashioning situations that ignite their creativity and send them gallivanting down rabbit trails. 

Although 3rd-grade students are still relatively new writers and most won’t produce complete narratives yet, practicing story writing is the best way to introduce concepts like plot, character, conflict, and setting. 

Choose one of these concepts to focus on for several lessons and select third-grade writing prompts that lend themselves well to highlighting these aspects of writing. For example, you might ask students to spend a day or two focusing on their descriptions of the characters in their stories and another few days trying out different types of conflict. 

Later, they might choose to take the parts they like best from these various assignments and put them together to form a larger narrative. 

These story starters are fun writing prompts designed to push kids out of their comfort zones and put their imaginations to work. 

Instructions for students

• These storytelling prompts are written in a few different styles. Some of them offer you the first line of a story. For these prompts, copy the first line onto your page and continue writing from there. 
• Other prompts give you a specific situation and then ask you to think about what you might do or say in that situation. They could also ask you to take the idea as a starting point and expand it to make it more your own. Don’t feel like you need to answer the questions directly. They are there to give you more ideas to think about as you develop your story idea. You can write your story as answers to the questions if you like, but you can also just use them as inspiration. 
• When you see an ellipsis (three dots) at the end of a writing prompt, that means the sentence is incomplete and your version of the sentence should replace the three dots with your own words. 

24 Story Starters and Creative Writing Prompts for Third Graders

• Imagine you have the ability to become characters in video games. Write a short story that shows how you would use this power.
• Do you have a best friend? If so, write the story of how you met and became friends. (You can write what really happened or make up your own version of events to show how two people might become best friends).
• Write a story about a group of friends who build or discover a time machine. What time period do they travel to? Describe what they see, hear, smell, and eat.
• You and your friends are kayaking on a lake when you discover a hidden island. Describe what it looks like, how you explore it, and what you find there. 
• It’s the hottest day of the year. You turn on your air conditioner and, instead of giving you an icy blast, it transports you to a snow-covered tundra. You see a small cottage with lights on and knock on the door. Who greets you and how do they help you get back home?
• Your doorbell rings. You answer the door, but there’s nobody there. Then you look down and see two lizards talking on cell phones. “We need to talk,” the smaller one says to you. What do they tell you? How do you respond?
• You just learned that your good friend has special powers she’s kept secret forever. All she needs is a cup of sand, three fish scales, and a splash of mud and she can make the most incredible thing happen. Write about what happens when she shows you her secret talent. 
• There’s a big windstorm one night. The lights flicker and the power goes out. A few minutes later, it comes back on and your favorite character from the last book you read is sitting at your table. Who is it, what are they doing, and how do you make them feel welcome?
• Think about a fairy tale you know well, such as The Three Little Pigs or Little Red Riding Hood. Write your own version of the story with a few key details changed. For example, instead of The Three Little Pigs, you could write about The Three Shy Turtles or The Three Little Pigs and Their Big Sister. 
• You go to watch a play at a theater, but when the curtains open, something unexpected happens. What is it and how do you respond?
• Write about a day in which time moves backward from night to morning. 
• Write a story about two characters who don’t seem like they should be friends but somehow are. For example, you could write about a cat and a mouse, or an old woman and a little boy. What brought them together and in what ways does their friendship help them?
• You’re playing hide-and-seek with a friend and you hide in the attic. It takes her a while to find you and, while you are waiting, you start looking through some old boxes up there. You find letters written to a family member a long time ago. Who are they from? What do they say? Imagine you learn about a family secret while reading them. What could it be? 
• Write a story that happens completely in one small space like a closet or a car. Include at least two characters. 
• A young cat finds itself alone in the forest. How did it get there? What does it do? Who does it meet? Does it find its way home or stay there? Tell its story using lots of descriptive words. 
• “It’s not all your fault,” my mom said. “There’s something you don’t know.” 
• One day, everybody brings their favorite stuffie to class. A mix up happens and all the stuffies go home with the wrong kids to the wrong houses. What happens that night? Try to write from more than one perspective. For example, you could write a paragraph or two from the perspective of one of the students and then a paragraph or two from the point of view of a stuffie. You could also have a paragraph that quickly highlights the action at several houses. (“Kimmy’s little sister cried all night. Panda freaked out when he missed his dinner and tried to eat the toilet paper. Leah wanted to call the police but her mom wouldn’t give her the phone.”
• Your aunt shows up at your house with a box of glazed donuts and a canoe strapped to the roof of her car. “Time for a little trip,” she says. 
• Write a story that’s told entirely in letters between two friends. They might write about the last time they saw each other, the upcoming summer break, or some of their favorite book characters. Tell us as much as you can about the characters and their friendship without writing  about  them. Let everything come out through the letters they send. 
• What if you could invent a new planet? What sounds, sights, and smells would it have? Would people live there or some other kind of creatures? After you write down the details of your planet, write a short story that takes place there. You might write about how it was discovered or you could write a scene that shows what life is like there. 
• You’re walking through the park with your family. You come around a curve in the path and spot a fox sitting under a tree writing in a notebook. What do you do? Do you talk to it? Does it speak? What is it writing?
• You’re sitting on the sofa watching a TV show when your sister, who is an artist, comes into the room. She has taken all your favorite toys and used them in her art project. Describe what you see, the conversation you have with her, and the lengths you’ll go to to recover your treasured toys. 
• “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” said Alex. “If the owl hadn’t climbed the treehouse and eaten the fish…”
• The school year ended. You were supposed to be on holidays. Then your parents signed you up for summer school without telling you. It might have been okay if it weren’t for… 

For another take on third-grade writing prompts, check out  70 Picture Prompts for Creative Writing . 

Poetry Writing Prompts for Third-Grade Students

Another great way to introduce 3rd graders to creative writing is to get them writing free verse poetry. …

Students should be encouraged to brainstorm their own topics, as the ones they come up with will likely be the most inspiring for them. However, if they’re stuck for ideas or you want to give them a list of things to write about, have them pick one of the topics below. They may also find it helpful to use a brainstorming sheet to flesh out their ideas. 

• Make a list of three things that happened to you this week. Choose one of them and draft a poem that tells what happened and how you felt about it.
• Write a poem about a special tradition from your favorite holiday. 
• Write an ode that celebrates your favorite subject in school. For example, “The Joys of Math” or “Ode to Art Class.”
• Write a poem describing the best pet you can imagine.
• Write a poem from the perspective of an animal.
• Write a poem that tells about an imaginary being. Try to convey details about its size, appearance, feelings, problems, abilities, and lifestyle. 
• Write a haiku about your favorite summer activity.
• Write a poem detailing the first time you tried your favorite food. If you don’t remember that experience, feel free to make it up. How do you imagine it would be tasting that amazing dish for the first time?
• Write about a poem that describes a time when you lost something important. 
• Write a poem about your favorite place without naming the place. Use lots of details that help the reader see this place in their minds. 
• Write a poem about a recent dream you had. Try not to mention that it was a dream. 
• Choose one of the four seasons and write a poem describing what makes it special. 
• Write a poem about something that’s really special to you but that seems ordinary to everyone else such as an old t-shirt or a craft you made out of recycled materials. Try to help your reader understand why it’s so important to you. 
• Write a poem describing a day when everything goes wrong. 
• Write a poem about your favorite person. Include details about why they’re so important to you. Consider giving your poem to them as a gift. 
• Write a poem about a secret place (real or imagined) that only you know about. 
• Write a poem about all the things you love to do outside. 
• Write a poem that introduces your city or town to a visitor who has never been there. 
• Write a poem about a game you love playing such as Hide and Seek, Pictionary, or Charades. 
• Write a poem that includes dialogue. You could write the whole poem as a conversation or sprinkle dialogue throughout. 
• Write a funny poem listing everything you think about when you can’t fall asleep at night. 
• Write a poem that imagines something about your future. It could be a single event such as “When I Finally Go to Disneyland” or it could be a more general description of what you’d like your future life to be like such as “What I’ll Eat When I Grow Up.”
• Write a poem that explains how to do a simple task such as one of your favorite (or least favorite) household chores.
• Write a poem that uses as many sound words as possible such as bang, splash, chirp, and buzz. 

For more poetic inspiration, check out  100 Inspiring Poetry Writing Prompts for Kids . 

Journal Writing Prompts

Kids can also stretch their creative muscles through journal writing. Journaling is a precursor to memoir writing and storytelling is the heart of memoir. While journal entries can sometimes gravitate toward a mundane recitation of chronological events, they’re also an opportunity to challenge kids to become better writers. 

A nice thing about journalling is that you don’t have to invent completely original material from scratch. You are taking events from your life and making an interesting story out of them, playing with language and sentence structure, and experimenting with what to include and exclude until you end up with something enjoyable to read. 

Challenge kids to keep a running list of things that have happened to them in their writing journals so they always have a creative writing topic ready. Remind them that writing topics don’t have to be sensational (the birth of a new sibling, say). Simple events that might otherwise be overlooked—the sighting of the first blue jay to return in the spring, for example—can form the basis of strong pieces of writing when we take the time to reflect on the event and make connections. 

Continuing with the blue jay example, such an experience might lead curious children to think about the changes that come with the season and, perhaps, the seasons of their own young lives thus far. Or they might ponder the bird and wonder what she’s been up to since she last visited the backyard. Maybe they’ll see two birds competing for a choice tree and reflect on an argument they had with a sibling. The more we can get them thinking about, reflecting on, and making connections between their experiences, the more we’ll see these themes emerge in their writing. 

Here are some ideas to get them thinking about what to write in their journals:

• A trip you’ve taken
• Your feelings about a situation (losing an important toy, having to share a bedroom, or passing a swimming test, for example)
• How you spent a recent birthday or holiday
• A new skill you’ve just mastered
• A skill you wish you had but haven’t learned yet
• A food you tried but didn’t like
• A walk you’ve taken in nature
• A change in one of your friendships
• Something that scared you until you worked up the courage to try and then enjoyed doing
• A time when you really wanted something and finally got it
• A time when you really wanted something and didn’t get it
• A time when someone made you feel good
• Something you saw that turned out not to be what you expected it to be
• A time when you did something that scared you
• The way your favorite song makes you feel
• Something you’ve learned about recently that you wish you’d known sooner
• Describe your perfect day
• The toy or special thing you treasure the most and why it’s so special to you
• Your earliest memory
• A gift you received that meant a lot to you
• A time when you laughed until your belly hurt
• A teacher you’ve enjoyed learning from
• A book you’ve read over and over again
• Three things you love about your family

Need journal prompts for older kids? Check out these  60 Creative Journal Prompts for Teens

Songwriting Prompts

Writing songs is another fun way for kids to practice their creative thinking skills while also processing their emotions and experiences. Coming up with the lyrics to a song can provide stress relief for kids and give them an opportunity to express their emotions safely. 

For some kids, coming up with lyrics and a melody to a song may be too challenging. Encourage them to choose a song, jingle, or nursery rhyme they already know and write new lyrics to the same tune. Examples of simple songs they might start with include: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa-Baa Black Sheep, London Bridge is Falling Down, Rock-A-Bye Baby, and Waltzing Matilda. You can find more kid-friendly songs in this  playlist for kids . 

As an extra challenge, kids may want to initially write their lyrics to fit an existing tune and then come up with a new tune once they have their lyrics down. This would be a good extension activity for kids who finish their lyric writing early. 

• Write a song about your favorite animal.
• Think about three or four possessions (things you own) that are important to you. Write a song that celebrates the special role these items play in your life. 
• Think about the last time you got angry. What made you angry? How did you feel? What did you want to do about it? What did you actually do? Write a song that helps someone else understand how you felt and why. 
• What is your favorite show or movie? Choose a main character from that story and write a song inspired by them. It could be about them or it might be from their point of view. Think about what’s important to them and what they might want people to know. 
• Write a song that describes your dream day. What would you do if you could do anything you wanted? Who would be with you? Make the details as specific as possible. 
• Think about someone in your family who has an annoying habit. For example, your little brother who tells your parents everything you do wrong. Write a song that reimagines that annoying habit as a good thing. (“He must love me to pay so much attention to me…”)
• Write a song that is meant to be sung by a whole class of students. 
• Write a song about someone you look up to. 
• Write a song about something that most people seem to like but that you hate. Try to convince them they’re wrong about the thing and that it’s truly awful. 
• Write a song about someone you don’t see anymore such as an old neighbor or a friend who moved away. What do you miss about the times you had with that person?
• Think about something you loved doing when you were younger but haven’t done in a while. Write a song that shares your memories of that activity. 
• Write a song about something you hope for or would like to see happen. 

Descriptive Writing Prompts

Descriptive writing adds color and texture to many forms of writing including travel writing, poetry, fiction, and memoirs. One of our challenges as teachers is ensuring kids know how to write effective descriptions while also helping them learn how to balance descriptive prose with other written elements such as dialogue and action. A written work too heavy in descriptive writing might help the reader create vivid pictures in their minds without ever telling them anything. 

In third grade, these young writers are generally too young to discern this delicate balance between showing and telling, but it’s still a great time to develop their use of descriptive words. 

Before giving them these writing prompts, introduce them to the importance of using specific nouns and vivid verbs and adjectives in their writing. This is a wonderful time to instill thesaurus skills and show them how to choose the most appropriate words for each situation. 

When assigning prompts from this section, tell students their goal is to paint a picture with their words. If they read their work to a classmate who closes their eyes, can the classmate picture the scene clearly? If not, where do they need to add or change details?

• Write about the most memorable dream you’ve ever had. Describe it in as much detail as possible. Where did it take place? What did you see, hear, and smell? Who was there? What did they look like? What did they do?
• Choose a room in your house and describe its most important features.
• Go outside and find a tree, flower, or other plant that intrigues you. Describe it in detail: what does it look like? How big is it? What does it feel like? If one of your friends took your description and went to the same outdoor area, could they find your plant based on your description?
• If you could decorate your bedroom any way you wanted with no limits, what would it look like?
• Imagine the coziest outfit you can. Describe how it looks and feels. How do you feel when you put it on?
• Describe your mom or another woman you know well. What does she look like? What does her voice sound like? Does she have wear a certain perfume? How do you feel when she gives you a hug or puts her arm around you?
• Describe a regular tradition you have with your family, such as having a large pancake breakfast on Saturdays. Help your reader feel like they’re living the memory with you by painting a detailed picture of the scene. 
• Write about the inside of your family’s car. What does it smell like? How many seats are there? What would you find if you looked between or underneath the seats? Describe the music you listen to in the car and the kinds of conversations you have there. 
• Describe a store you go to frequently. If possible, try to visit the store before you write about it and make notes about the things you notice there using your five senses. Tell about what you see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. 
• Describe your writing process, that is, what you do when you write. Do you sharpen pencils and put an eraser nearby? Do you start writing right away or do you make an outline or brainstorm ideas first? Do you write single-spaced or double-spaced? Is your writing neat or messy? How do you feel when you write?
• What is the best thing about being you? Maybe it’s your sense of humor, your Lego-building skills, or the way you ride your bike fearlessly down hills. Maybe you live in a really cool city with lots of fun things to do. Whatever makes your life special, write about that and describe why you love it.
• What’s your favorite thing to do on a Sunday morning? Describe what you do, who does it with you, and how you do it.  

Other Creative Writing Prompts for 3rd-Grade Students

• Write a scene where a famous person from another time period shows up in your classroom. 
• Write a diary entry from the perspective of a Disney character or a character from a book you’ve read. 
• Think about a scene you didn’t love in your favorite movie. Rewrite the scene to make it more enjoyable. 
• Write a letter to your favorite author and tell them what you love about their book(s).
• Invent a new country with its own language, customs, and history. Write about how your country came to be and what makes it special. If you want, you can draw a map to go with your writing.
• Write a scene from the point of view of an object in your house such as a toaster, the dining table, or a video game console. 
• Write a story or poem in which each sentence starts with the next letter in the alphabet. In other words, the first sentence or line starts with A, the second with B, the third with C, and so on. 
• Write about a lost object that was found after many years. 
• Pick a city you’ve visited and make a travel brochure about it. Include a section in which you describe the city and another in which you talk about your experience there.
• Write a comic book* based on your favorite book or story. Try to include both dialogue (in speech bubbles) and descriptions of what’s happening. 
• On a big piece of paper, draw a picture of the inside of a really cool house with loads of interesting rooms. Then write a short story about the people who live there and what life is like inside their amazing house.
• Write an imaginary interview with a character from a book or movie. Pretend you’re asking them questions to publish in a magazine or newspaper and invent their answers.  

Comic book templates are available in our post,  10 Fun Writing Activities for Kids . 

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30 Fun And Creative Writing Prompts For 3rd Grade

Writing prompts can be incredibly beneficial for third-grade students as they not only stimulate their imaginations but also enhance their critical thinking and writing skills. By presenting them with different scenarios, characters, and situations, writing prompts encourage children to delve deep into their creativity and explore various narrative possibilities.

As a teacher, the key to activating third-grade students’ imaginations is to give them fun writing prompts to get them excited about writing. Below you’ll find 30 fun and creative writing prompts for 3rd-grade students that are guaranteed to spark your students’ imaginations and get their creative juices flowing.

Writing Prompts For Third Grade

Tips for using these writing prompts in class.

As a third-grade teacher, you are likely aware that merely providing students with a writing prompt may not yield the most effective outcomes. To help students fully tap into their creative writing abilities, consider these actionable strategies.

Offer Clear Instructions

Create a safe environment.

Encourage creativity and originality. Let your students know that it’s okay to make mistakes and they should not be afraid of expressing their unique ideas.

Provide Examples

Sometimes, students may find it challenging to start. Providing an example or two can help them understand the prompt better and stimulate their own ideas.

Use Prompts as Conversation Starters

Discuss the writing prompts in class before students start writing. This will help stimulate ideas, and hearing their peers’ thoughts can inspire students who may be having difficulty.

Use Visual Aids

Allow choices, encourage peer reviews.

After students have written their pieces, encourage them to exchange their stories with their classmates for peer review. This can help students learn from each other and also improve their editing and critiquing skills.

Provide Constructive Feedback

Include prompts related to current lessons, schedule regular writing time.

Make writing a regular activity. Consistency can help students get into the habit of writing and improve their skills over time.

More Writing Prompts

Thanks for reading! I hope your students have lots of fun creating awesome stories using these writing prompts. Before you go, check out these related articles for writing prompt ideas: 1st Grade Writing Prompts 4th Grade Writing Prompts Adventure Writing Prompts Fantasy Writing Prompts

Fun Creative Writing Topics and Prompts for Third Grade

Sometimes, creative writing assignments aren’t just confusing for the student. 

What should a 3rd grader write about?

What should your expectations be? How can you help your student succeed?

Today’s post is all about helping you source creative writing topics that are perfectly suited for third grade (or upper elementary).

What Makes Creative Writing Different?

Creative writing can be tricky to explain to a student, especially if you’re working with a child who is used to thinking conventionally. 

In a nutshell, it differs from academic or essay-style writing in that it highlights the writer’s imagination and creative invention. 

The artistic nature of creative writing can make some students nervous. That’s why clear-cut creative writing examples are incredibly helpful. 

get this picture prompt printable for free!

It’s also helpful to let them read or listen to creative short stories to provide ideas of how to begin. Seeing examples illustrates how to write creatively better than trying to explain it in words.

Another important aspect of creative writing is that it doesn’t have to be true – or even based on fact. It can be difficult for a third grader to believe it’s okay to stray from reality. Eggs and ham aren’t green, so why pretend they are?

Discuss potential story writing topics with your child so you can help him or her break down those restrictions. 

Sharing examples will help them see the liberty (and fun!) that creative writing offers. 

Creative Writing Tips and Techniques for Grade 3

For elementary students, good topics for creative writing are broad enough for the student to use his imagination but not so broad that he has no idea where to begin. 

Instead of just handing him a topic such as “outer space,” try a narrower topic, such as “tell me a story about boy in the future who travels to the moon with his class for a science field trip.”

Here are a few more tips to help while you’re working on creative writing with your own third grader:

• Story writing ideas or topics can range from telling a made-up story about what happened at dinner last night to creating an amazing adventure or imaginary world.
• When you teach writing to 3rd graders , it’s helpful to give them several creative writing ideas to unleash their imaginations.
• Try recording your students as they tell a story. More than likely, just talking about the story they want to write will help them gather their thoughts.
• If you’re not sure how to start an introduction paragraph for a third grader , have her look at examples of her favorite books to see how the authors pique her interest immediately.
• Discuss the elements of the story beforehand to help it feel more real to your student. Ask him questions about the setting—when it’s happening and where—as well as the plot. Talk to him about the main characters, guiding him with questions that help him see through the characters’ eyes and better envision what they might do.
• If your student really can’t get started, set a timer and just have him write whatever comes to mind. There’s nothing uncorks writer’s block faster than just sitting down and writing—even if it starts out as nonsense.
• Encourage your student to use literary devices such as similes and metaphors, even if she doesn’t know those terms. Explain how a teddy bear’s fur can be “like a cloud” or that a hard worker can be a “busy bee.”

Above all, to encourage successful creative writing, encourage your students to write about topics they enjoy. Their pleasure will reflect in their stories.

12 Creative Writing Topics for Third Grade That Inspire Imaginative Stories

Speaking of enjoyable topics, here are some examples of creative writing topics paired with question prompts to get your student started:

1. Imagine you step outside, and all the grass has turned blue. What do you do? 

The key to a good creative writing topic is, well, creativity! Whimsical topics inspire students to unleash their imagination and enjoy writing. 

If your third grader has been reluctant to write lately, it might be time to pull out a fantastical scene like this one and “let them loose” so to speak. 

Encourage your student to brainstorm a bit before writing. 

These prompts can help:

• What made the grass turn blue?
• Is it a good thing? Does it cause problems?
• Can you fix it? Will the grass ever be green again?

2. What if you woke up and realized you had switched bodies with someone else in your family? 

A topic like this is a great exercise for the mind. It may even help him gain a little empathy as he writes and realizes how different a parent’s day is from a child’s.

Some prompts to help him get going:

• Which family member do you think would be most interesting to trade bodies with for a day? 
• Would it be exciting or scary to wake up as that person? 
• Would your characters keep it a secret?

3. What if your pet could talk but only to you? 

Some of the more appealing creative writing topics for kids are those where students can easily form ideas (which builds confidence). 

Most children already talk to their pets, so it’s not a huge leap to imagine them talking back. Use that headstart to build a story.

4. What would you do if you found a treasure map?

Finding a treasure map can inspire many tales. The plots are endless! 

A few questions to get your child started:

• Where was it found? 
• Was it put there by pirates, a king, or your great grandmother? 
• Is it in code? 
• How do you figure out where the treasure is?

5. What if there was a sweet, lovable, non-scary monster who lived under your bed?

This creative writing topic takes the monster-under-the-bed and transforms him into a friend. 

• What if every night, after Mom and Dad tuck you in, you get to spend some time with an interesting creature known only to you?

6. What if your closet door is really a door to another world?

This Narnia -style prompt inspires students to describe a secret fantasy world. Help them get into the groove by discussing the many characters they encounter. 

• Are they magical creatures or copies of everyday people he knows now? 
• What kind of world lies on the other side of his closet? 
• What’s happening there? 
• Is it similar to our world or vastly different?

7. Create an imaginary friend and take him on some adventures with you.

This type of freewriting prompt for 3rd grade students allows for more exploration. It’s a broader topic for the child who already thinks creatively and won’t be overwhelmed by its broadness. 

If your student likes this topic but still needs some inspiration, here are some questions to ask:

• How old is your friend? 
• Is it a boy or a girl? 
• What type of creature is he – human, animal, bug, robot, or something else? 
• What’s something you’d love to do with a friend if you could do anything you want to do?

8. Rewrite a fairy tale so that it takes place today in your own town.

This writing topic alleviates some uncertainty a third grader may have in getting started. Once your student chooses a fairy tale, then it’s just a matter of re-forming the characters and setting. 

It’s a wonderful topic for students who need more structure than the average creative writing assignment provides.

9. Explore and describe the dusty old attic of a dilapidated mansion.

This topic is one of the more descriptive writing topics for grade 3 . It’s compelling to think about, but it doesn’t have to be too bizarre.

(Check out this post for examples of descriptive writing .) 

Your student can be as creative and imaginative as he or she desires. 

Your third grader can create descriptions of realistic objects found in an old attic, or he can dive deep and paint images of ancient or other-worldly artifacts.

10. Imagine your parents won a million dollars. How would your life change?

Let his imagination soar, describing the planes he plans to pilot around the world or the mansion in which he’ll entertain world leaders.

Perhaps he’ll purchase a private island and find hidden treasure or build an orphanage in a third-world country. 

11. What if your dolls have their own secret lives when you’re not around?

This creative writing topic has, of course, been explored by many published authors, which just proves it’s a captivating one. 

Questions to get started:

• What do your dolls do when they “wake up”?
• Do they go anywhere?
• Do they have jobs?

12. Imagine your older cousin is getting married and asks you to be a bridesmaid (or groomsman). Tell me all about the wedding and your part in it.

Creative writing prompts for grade 3 can also be about a realistic but fictional situation, like participating in a wedding. 

Third grade girls, especially, may enjoy planning a fantasy wedding. She may even wish to pen her own wedding!

Have her describe the dresses, the flowers, the decorations, the ceremony, and anything else she’s interested in. 

If your child chooses this topic, be sure to tuck her written work away for later—what a fun story to share at her own “real life” wedding!

bring excitement into your student’s writing – no prep required!

About the author.

Jordan Mitchell

50 Exclusive 3rd Grade Writing Prompts that are Printable for Free

• February 22, 2024

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What are writing prompts, benefits of using writing prompts, what level is 3rd grade, 1. what would happen if you found a garden where the plants could talk what would they say to each other, 2. what would you discover if you were an astronaut exploring a new planet, 3. if you built a time machine with your friends but it only traveled to the past, where and when would you end up, 4. what would life be like if you lived underwater who would be your neighbors, 5. what would you do if you woke up one morning and you were 10 feet tall, 6. how would you react if you got sucked into your favorite book what adventures would you have inside, 7. what kind of mischief would you get into if you found a cloak that made you invisible, 8. what would you do if your pet dog started talking one day what secrets would it share with you, 9. can you imagine a land where everything is made of chocolate describe what a day there looks like., 10. if you could have any superpower for a day, which one would you choose and why, 11. can you describe your imaginary friend and the adventures you go on together, 12. what kind of house would the fourth little pig build, and how would the story change, 13. what rules would you make if you were in charge of the world for one day, 14. how would your day change if gravity stopped working suddenly, 15. where would you end up if you found a secret door in your house, 16. how would you find the treasure if you discovered an old treasure map, 17. what happens next if you meet a monster in your backyard, but it’s friendly, 18. what’s the first thing you would paint if whatever you painted with a magic brush became real, 19. what would you do if you could take a trip to the moon, 20. what’s the best gift you’ve ever received, and why was it so special, 21. what would your daily life look like if you lived in a medieval castle, recommendation.

Writing is one of the best learning tools in a formal school setting. The catch is when it is learned early. So, the need for 3rd-grade students to start learning how to write is of the essence. I will take time to list and explain some 3rd grade writing prompts.

Students undergo a significant transition in third grade as they build upon foundational writing concepts and skills.

With ample practice, they are now delving into more complex writing skills, learning to draw connections and analyze their topics.

The 50 writing prompts provided serve as valuable tools to aid students in mastering and refining their writing abilities.

These prompts encourage students to explore various subjects, fostering creativity and critical thinking.

Through these engaging activities, students can further develop their writing proficiency, preparing them for future academic challenges and enabling them to express their ideas with clarity and confidence.

Wed will list 50 3rd grade writing prompts that will spark creativity in and fun while learning how to write.

Writing prompts are essentially starting points for creative writing. They can take various forms, like a sentence, image, question, or scenario, designed to spark your imagination and get you writing.

They can be used for different purposes:

Overcoming writer’s block: When you’re staring at a blank page and struggling to come up with an idea, prompts can provide a jumping-off point to get your creative juices flowing.

Exploring different genres and styles: You can find prompts specifically designed for genres like fiction, poetry, non-fiction, or specific styles like humor, mystery, or historical fiction. This can help you expand your writing skills and experiment with different approaches.

Practicing specific writing skills: Some prompts focus on particular aspects of writing, like character development, dialogue, plot, or description. This can help you hone your skills and become a more well-rounded writer.

Having fun and being creative: Writing prompts can be a fun and engaging way to express yourself and explore your imagination. They’re not limited to serious writing; they can be silly, humorous, or even nonsensical, just as long as they get you writing and having fun!

Read more: What is a Prompt in Writing? Choosing the Right Writing Prompt for Your Genre and Style

• Overcome writer’s block:  As mentioned before, they can get you started even when you’re feeling stuck.
• Improve your writing skills:  By trying different styles and prompts, you can develop your creativity, vocabulary, and storytelling ability.
• Boost your confidence:  Completing prompts can give you a sense of accomplishment and encourage you to write more regularly.
• Connect with other writers:  Sharing your writing based on prompts can be a great way to connect with other writers and get feedback.

The level of 3rd grade depends on many aspects. For example;

• Age:  Typically, children in 3rd grade are  8-9 years old .
• School year:  In most countries, 3rd grade is the  third year of formal or compulsory education . This means it’s the third year after Kindergarten and the first year after 1st and 2nd grade.
• Curriculum:  The curriculum in 3rd grade builds upon the foundation of reading, writing, and math skills learned in previous years. It also introduces new subjects like science, social studies, and sometimes arts and music. The specific topics and depth of knowledge vary depending on the country and educational system.

Reading Level:

• Reading level:  In the US, the expected reading level for the end of 3rd grade is around  grades 2.5-3.5  on the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level. This means the average 3rd grader should be able to read and comprehend texts written at that level. However, reading levels can vary significantly among individuals.

Developmental Stage:

• Cognitive development:  Children in 3rd grade are in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development according to Piaget’s theory . This means they can think logically but still have difficulty with abstract concepts.
• Social and emotional development:  3rd graders are developing their sense of self and their relationships with others. They are becoming more independent and responsible, but they also still need guidance and support from adults.

Overall, 3rd grade is a transitional year in education and development. Children are solidifying foundational skills and expanding their knowledge base while also becoming more independent learners.

The specific level varies depending on the context, but it’s a crucial stage in setting the groundwork for future academic success.

Below are the 50 writing prompts for 3rd grade kids.

22. How would you and your friends find the lost city of gold, and what would you do?

23. Where is the first place you would go if you had a flying carpet?

24. What would animals tell you if you could talk to them?

25. What kind of teacher would you be and what subjects would you love to teach?

26. What would happen if your wish at a magical well came true? What did you wish for?

27. Describe the snowy adventures you would have if you woke up to your town covered in snow.

28. What would a day in your life look like if you had a pet dinosaur?

29. How would you spend a day if it lasted for years?

30. What would you find if you decided to explore the haunted house on the hill?

31. What changes would you make if you were president for a day?

32. How would you bake the world’s largest cookie, and what would you do with it?

33. What would you see and do if you could shrink down and go inside a computer?

34. How would you adapt if you found a land where everyone was a giant except for you?

35. Where would you go and what would you see if you could fly anywhere you wanted?

36. What magic would you discover if you found an enchanted forest?

37. What would you do if you could spend a day as your pet?

38. Can you describe a school where the students learn magic instead of math and science?

39. What adventures or challenges would you face if you were invisible for a day?

40. What would happen if you baked a cake that granted wishes when eaten?

41. What features would your robot friend have, and what adventures would you have together?

42. Where is your dream vacation, and what would you do there?

43. What would you grab if you won a 5-minute shopping spree in a toy store?

44. What would your ultimate treehouse look like, and what features would it have?

45. Where would you wear a pair of shoes that could make you dance like a pro?

46. How would you feel in a world without books? What would you miss the most?

47. Can you invent a robot that could help you with your homework? Describe it.

48. What story would a star in the sky tell about its life?

49. Why is your favorite season your favorite, and what do you love about it?

50. How would you win a race around the world? Describe your journey.

Creative writing is a form of writing where imagination, originality, and expressiveness are emphasized. It goes beyond the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature.

Creative writing is important for 3rd graders because it enhances their imagination, encourages critical thinking, improves language and vocabulary skills, and offers a form of emotional expression.

Encourage your 3rd graders to write more by providing them with engaging and fun writing prompts, creating a comfortable writing space, setting aside regular writing times, and encouraging them to read a variety of books.

If your child doesn’t like writing, try to identify the reasons behind their reluctance. It could be due to a lack of confidence, difficulty in coming up with ideas or finding the physical act of writing challenging. Offer them support by exploring different types of writing (like poems, short stories, or journals), using technology to make writing more engaging, or breaking writing tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.

These questions are designed to encourage 3rd graders to think creatively and explore their ideas through writing.

These writing prompts for 3rd grade kids can be personalized and can serve as ideas as well.

• https://www.weareteachers.com/third-grade-writing-prompts/
• What is a Prompt in Writing? Choosing the Right Writing Prompt for Your Genre and Style
• 50 Exclusive 6th Grade Writing Prompts that are Printable for Free
• 50 Exclusive 2nd Grade Writing Prompts That are Printable for Free
• 50 Creative Narrative Writing Prompts to Ignite Your Imagination

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100+ Awesome Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade

Today I’m sharing some awesome writing prompts for 3rd grade! These are great to have on hand to help your kids grow a little in their writing skills each day.

I plan on using this list for our laid-back, summer, homeschool schedule. Along with daily summer reading , simple math exercises, a fun writing prompt, and a whole of lot outdoor fun and play, I think we will be set to go.

To organize these 3rd grade writing prompts, I’ve broken them up into the following categories: books, food, nature, travel, feelings, imagination, friends and family, school, holidays, and favorites. (Also, make sure you get the printable checklist version at the end!)

Let’s get started! Here are 100+ awesome writing prompts for 3rd grade:

Book-Related Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade:

• What is your favorite book, and why?
• Describe the difference between fiction and non-fiction books.
• Who is your favorite fictional character, and why?
• Where do you like to read, and why do you enjoy that spot?
• What was your favorite book that someone has read to you, and why?
• Write about why you are glad you know how to read.
• If you were asked to read a book to a class of 3rd graders, what would you choose, and why?
• What non-fiction topics interest you, and why?
• If you could write a book, what would it be about?
• Who is your favorite author, and why?

Food-related writing prompts:

• Do you prefer savory or sweet foods, and why?
• Describe the taste and texture of chocolate cake.
• Whose cooking do you enjoy, and why?
• Write about your favorite place to eat.
• Describe your favorite meal.
• What is your opinion about coffee?
• If you made a treat for your neighbor, what do you think their reaction would be?
• What are some things you should be careful with in the kitchen?
• How do you make scrambled eggs?
• Describe the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten.

Nature writing prompts for 3rd graders:

• Would you prefer a sunny or snowy day, and why?
• How do you climb a tree?
• What are your favorite things to do outside?
• What kinds of sounds do you hear when you step outside?
• Describe the smell and feel of grass.
• What is your opinion about snakes?
• What is your favorite type of weather, and why?
• What would you use to build an outdoor fort?
• What is your favorite animal, and why?
• Explain how being outside and exploring nature makes you feel.

Imagination writing prompts for 3rd graders:

• If you had a time machine, where in history would you go?
• How would you spend a million dollars?
• How do you think your pets would describe you?
• If you made a robot, what would it be able to do?
• Write a funny story in four sentences.
• What superpower would you like to have, and why?
• If trees could talk, what do you think they would say?
• If you were stranded on an island, what would you do to survive?
• If you were given three wishes, what would they be?
• Describe your dream treehouse.

Writing prompts about family and friends for 3rd graders:

• Describe your family.
• What makes a good friend?
• Write about a time when someone was kind and friendly to you.
• In what ways do you help your family?
• Write about one of your family traditions.
• How do you make a new friend?
• What are some things you love about your family?
• Write about a favorite memory with a friend.
• What makes house feel like a home?
• Who do you look up to in your family, and why?

Birthday and Holiday Writing Prompts for 3rd graders:

• Which do you prefer Christmas or Thanksgiving, and why?
• What are some things you like about your birthday month?
• Describe your favorite holiday tradition.
• What is the best gift you’ve ever received, and why?
• Write about your happiest birthday memory.
• How do you plan a surprise birthday party for someone?
• What is your favorite holiday, and why?
• Describe the types of foods you would serve at a holiday party.
• Write about a gift you made for someone.
• What is your opinion about birthday cake?

Writing Prompts about Feelings for 3rd graders:

• What does boredom feel like?
• Who makes you feel happy, and why?
• Describe a time when you felt shy.
• How do you cheer yourself up when you are feeling sad?
• Write about something that scares you.
• What are some things that make you happy?
• Write about something you are hoping will happen.
• Write about a time you noticed someone feeling sad.
• Describe a time when you felt brave.
• Talk about a time you felt confident.

Writing Prompts about School for 3rd graders:

• What is your favorite subject, and why?
• Talk about something that was difficult for you to learn.
• Describe how it feels to know something really well.
• What are some things you would use a ruler for?
• What would you like to learn more about, and why?
• In what ways is learning fun?
• How have books helped you to learn?
• Write about a time you taught someone how to do something.
• Who in history inspires you, and why?
• What is your opinion about recess?

Travel Writing Prompts for 3rd graders:

• If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?
• Do you prefer visiting the country or the city, and why?
• Describe the beach.
• What are some challenges that come with traveling?
• What is your favorite place in the world?
• What is your opinion about long car rides?
• How do you entertain yourself while you are traveling?
• What country would you like to visit, and why?
• Write about a trip you took with your family.
• Do you prefer driving or flying, and why?

Writing Prompts for 3rd graders: Favorites

• What is your favorite food, and why?
• Write about your favorite thing to play with.
• What is your favorite place, and why?
• Describe your favorite dessert.
• Write about your favorite color.
• Who is your favorite historical figure, and why?
• Write about a favorite memory with your family.
• What is your favorite animal and why?
• What is your favorite movie, and why?
• Describe your favorite snack.

How to Use the Writing Prompt List for Third Graders

Aim to keep writing simple and fun for your third graders! We want them to experience the joy and satisfaction they can achieve when they combine their skills of writing with communication and imagination.

With that in mind, give your students a writing prompt from the list and ask him or her to write 2-4 sentences. When they are done, look it over together and celebrate their writing accomplishments.

Should you correct your third grader’s writing?

I think it’s a great idea to read over your kids writing each day. First, because it gives you an opportunity to praise them for their hard work and point out things they did really well. Secondly, if gives you a chance to gently correct their mistakes.

With that being said, I usually pick one thing we can correct and work on for next time. Then stick with that one thing until the child is able to incorporate it into his or her writing without being reminded.

Things to look for in you third-grader’s writing:

• Capital letters at the beginning of a sentence
• Always capitalize the letter I if it stands alone
• Punctuation at the end of a sentence
• Capitalize proper nouns

Free Printable Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade

Are you interested in the Free printable Writing Prompts for 3rd grade? This third grade resource includes the 100+ writing prompts from this article in printable, checklist format!   For Access to this freebie, Join the Inspire the Mom Community and sign in with Grow for this exclusive content!

Get it Now!

Free Printable:

Download the Free Printable Writing Prompt list for third graders!

Writing Prompts Q & A

1. what is a third grade writing prompt.

What is a third grade writing prompt? It is a prompt (or idea) composed of a question or issue that gives the student a starting point for writing.

2. What are some cool writing prompts?

• Share your opinion about coffee.

3. Where can I find good writing prompts for kids?

You can find writing prompts for kids here in this post, online, or come up with some your own!

More Writing Resources for Kids

• An Introduction to Letter Writing for Kids
• 100 Awesome Writing Prompts for First Grade
• Understanding the Benefits of Copywork
• A-Z Words for Kids

What is your favorite writing prompts for third graders?

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Third Grade Creative Writing Worksheets

• The Parts of a Letter
• Write Your Own Mad Libs ®
• Writing a Descriptive Paragraph (Gr. 3)
• Fill-in Story: The Halloween Party
• Fill-in Halloween Story: A Scary Night
• Fill-in Story: Halloween Carnival
• Writing a Personal Narrative (Gr. 3)
• My Friend Writing Printable
• Student Proofreading Checklist
• Creative Writing with Photo Inspiration
• Same Name Word Puzzle
• Life in the Sea
• Bio Poem Handout
• Writing a Research Report (Gr. 3)
• Favorite Foods
• Script Writing Handout
• Make Your Own Holiday
• A Note About Witches: Fill-in-the-Blanks
• Antonyms and Synonyms
• Immigration Picture Prompts
• Post Card Template
• My New Year's Resolutions (3-6)
• Discovering Pronouns 10
• Discovering Punctuation 2
• Discovering Capitalization 4
• Discovering Punctuation 9
• If I Were the Teacher
• Writing Activity: Describe the Rain Scene
• Change the Dialog in a Comic Strip
• Discovering Conjunctions
• More Creative Writing Printables, 3rd Grade

Featured 3th Grade Resources

Related Resources

About the author

TeacherVision Editorial Staff

The TeacherVision editorial team is comprised of teachers, experts, and content professionals dedicated to bringing you the most accurate and relevant information in the teaching space.

55 Narrative Writing Prompts For 3rd Grade

As students improve their writing skills, it is important that they explore various types of writing—including narrative writing. Narrative writing is an important step not only in learning to write but also in learning to reflect and think deeper.

Whether students are journaling or making story charts and discussing their answers in class, the following writing prompts are a great place to start with your 3rd graders.

Using These Prompts

You can use these prompts as journaling prompts for your students during your writing practice, but they also make great discussion questions.

Students might feel awkward about expressing some of their emotions, and this is a great way to help them come out of their shell and realize that we’re all more alike than we realize.

Here are a few ways you can use this guide in your classroom:

• Assign one prompt per table group. Give students time to write down their thoughts, and then have them share with the rest of their table.
• Challenge your students to use prompts that they find uncomfortable, as those are often the most important ones for them to work on.
• Ask your students to write using one prompt each day for the entire school week.
• Don’t grade these assignments; the emotional reflection and self-realization are more important than the grade.

The Prompts

• Write about the strangest thing that has ever happened to you.
• What do you think a typical day would look like if you were seven feet tall?
• Write about a time when you felt very sad. How did you make yourself feel better?
• Have you ever lost an important game? Write about what happened and how you felt.
• When you play with friends, what do you like to play?
• Do you think it’s important for kids to play pretend?
• Write about your favorite holiday memory.
• Write about a time when you felt very scared.
• Have you ever witnessed someone being bullied? What did you do?
• Why is it important to stick up for yourself?
• What are some ways that you like to relax on the weekend?
• Do you speak another language? Do you think all students should learn a foreign language in school?
• Which Disney character do you relate to most? Why?
• Which Marvel character do you relate to most? Why?
• If you could be any color, which color would you be? Why?
• Describe your perfect family vacation.
• Why is it important to help those in need?
• Have you ever had stage fright? What happened?
• What is a fun fall activity that you like doing with your family?
• Which season is your favorite? Why?
• If you could instantly learn one skill, what would it be? Why?
• Do you prefer board games or card games? Why?
• What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and could speak to animals?
• Write about a time when someone close to you hurt your feelings.
• Write about a challenge you’ve faced. What did you do to overcome it?
• What do you do for fun when you don’t have screens or technology to entertain you?
• What is your favorite food? What makes it so special?
• What is your least favorite food? Why don’t you like it?
• What do you do when your feelings are hurt? Do you think this is a good way to handle your emotions?
• Have you ever received an award? What was it for? How did it make you feel?
• Write about your favorite book. What makes it so special?
• What is one thing you would change in your classroom?
• What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
• Write about something that seemed bad at first, but turned out to be good.
• Write five ways you can help someone in need.
• What are some important skills you need to master to move on to 4th grade?
• What is the most important thing you’ve learned this year?
• Would you rather it rain glitter or snow birdseed? Why?
• Write about the last vacation you took with your family.
• Do you have a blanket or stuffed animal that is special to you? Write about where it came from and why you love it.
• Do you prefer Star Wars or Harry Potter? Why?
• Write five things you can do to calm yourself down when you feel angry.
• Write about something that makes you laugh.
• Write about a conflict between you and your best friend. How did you resolve it?
• Who do you enjoy spending your time with? What makes your time so special?
• Write about a time when you tried something new. How did you feel?
• Do you play a sport? What do you enjoy about it?
• Write five things you can do to feel better when you are sad.
• Have you ever been in an argument where you knew you were right, but the other person wouldn’t agree? What happened?
• If you were the teacher for a day, what would you do?
• What is your favorite animal? What do you think this says about your personality?
• If you were responsible for cooking breakfast for your entire family, what would you cook? Why?
• Why is it so important for siblings to get along? Do you get along with your siblings?
• Write about the best gift you’ve ever received.
• What are five things you can do to feel better when you are scared?

Looking For More?

Our site is home to writing prompts, teacher and substitute teacher resources, parent guides, and so much more. If you’re looking for something specific, let us know and we’ll do what we can to make it happen!

• Writing Activities

9 Fun 3rd Grade Writing Activities

Only 22% of students aged 8 to 11 years old write something daily outside of school (Source: Literacy Trust, 2018 ). To encourage more students to write for pleasure, we have created this list of 9 fun 3rd-grade writing activities for your students. 

In the third grade, students are just beginning to express themselves through writing. The typical third grader will know how to string a couple of sentences together and even write with some humour and style. But one common problem with students this age is that they get bored. And when they get bored, they start seeing writing as a chore or another piece of homework that needs to be done on time. 

As teachers, we should encourage our students to write for pleasure through a range of fun writing activities. This means writing because they love writing and not because your students are being told to write for a school project. We hope these creative writing activities for third students can help them see the importance and fun they can gain from writing. 

Creative Captions

Finish the story game, storyboarding, keeping an ideas journal, role-playing with paper puppets, creating your own monster, write some song lyrics, creating comic strips, how-to guides.

This is a really quick and simple writing activity to encourage your students to write daily . Simply ask them to collect some photos from magazines or the internet. Alternatively, you could provide your students with a set of random image prompts . And every day they can stick an image or two into their notebook with a short caption to describe the image. 

This introduces your students into daily writing without too much pressure on what to write and how to write it. They can write a 10 word caption or 100 words depending on their mood and available time. The key here is to give them the freedom to write anything they like about whatever that interests them. This way they can experience the relaxing and fun side of writing.

The finish the story game is a fun way to collaboratively write a story with your friends or classmates. The basic idea of this game is that one player starts the story off with a short sentence and then the other players continue the story using their own words. By the time you reach the end of the game, you should have a complete story from beginning to end written collaboratively between all the players involved. 

The story can be as weird and as wonderful as you like as the players are in charge. For more tips and ideas on how to play this game, read our post dedicated to the finish the story game . 

For most kids, especially visual learners drawing is much more fun compared to writing. To cater to the needs of these students, storyboarding is a brilliant activity. Storyboarding utilizes a range of skills, including creativity, organisational skills and writing. Not to mention it is a great way to plan your stories out, from beginning to end!

There are three ways you can use storyboarding to encourage students to write. The first way is that you provide a completed storyboard with all the images already drawn in. Here the student has to write their own description or caption to the image. This method is great for students who lack inspiration or just don’t like drawing.

The second method is dedicated to those students that just lack inspiration. Here you can give them a partially completed storyboard. Where the first one or two frames will be completed for them. Here the students’ job is to basically finish the storyboard off with their own drawings and words.

>And the final way involves using completely blank storyboard templates where the student can draw and write their own words entirely. This gives students the freedom to write about anything they like. This could be a story about a footballer or a storyboard for a video game idea. This final method is great if your students already have an idea in mind for a story!

Journaling has never meant to be perfect. Even as adults, we scribble quick thoughts into our journal without second-thinking our grammar or spelling. And for this reason, your students should also be encouraged to keep a journal at a young age. In particular, one type of journal which works best for third graders is an ideas journal . Here they can keep note of everything that inspires them daily. This could be a newspaper article, a certain photograph or even a quick doodle. 

Eventually, the ideas journal should become your student’s number one source of inspiration when it comes to writing stories. They should be able to look back and see their ideas from months ago and keep track of how they have developed over time. The freedom that journalling gives students will show them the fun and easy side of writing, which often gets missed in classrooms. 

When all else fails, encourage the love of writing through arts and crafts. Get your students to create their own paper finger puppets based on their favourite movie, TV show or even their imagination. Once the paper puppets are created you can hold your very own paper theatre shows in the classroom or at home! Students can write their own scripts and then using their puppets act out a scene. This is not only a fun arts and crafts activity, but it is also a fun way to encourage your kids to see the creative side of writing. 

You students could even create a whole set of paper puppets, with paper scenery and props – Which can all be kept safely in a shoebox. So whenever they are bored they can get their puppets out and hold their paper theatre shows monthly or weekly!

Forget about writing for a moment and just get your students to imagine something new. Ask them to draw a monster. Any monster they like and anything that comes to mind. Once finished drawing they can write a description to describe their monster. Here is where you can go into great detail. Ask your students to think about what the monster eats, what it dislikes, likes, it’s interests, where it’s from and so on. Once done, your students could have written over 100 words without even knowing it!

Another idea to make this writing activity collaborative is to ask your students to share their monsters with the person next to them. Then that person can write their own description of a monster drawn by someone else. This not only encourages teamwork but also improves the creative thinking skills of your students. 

We’re sure that every one of your students loves listening to music. And now it is their chance to write some funky lyrics of their own. Simply ask your students to think of their favourite singer or band. Then give them the task of writing their own song lyrics for those people. If your students are a fan of Ed Sheeran, then just imagine that Ed himself has asked the students to write him some new song lyrics for his next album. 

Writing song lyrics is a form of poetry . Whether it’s a rap or an emotional ballad, your students can learn so much from writing their own songs. And if your students are feeling brave enough, they even perform their song in front of the class!

Comics are the all-time favourite for creative students. And more importantly writing comics involves a good level of dialogue skills, as well as creativity and imagination. And with superheroes being a popular thing in today’s culture, creating comic strips should be a fun task for all of your students. Of course not all comic strips or books are about superheroes, but it is a good place to start. 

If you’re planning on adding comic strips to your lesson plans, you should take a look at our blog post on creating your comic strips and comic books . 

How-to guides do sound like a normal, typical writing activity in the classroom. But our way of writing how-to guides is much more fun for your students. Instead of assigning the topic of the guide, ask your students to come up with their own topic. Your students should think about all the things they are good at and decide on which one they should write a guide about. 

For example, if a student is really good at playing Minecraft, then they could write a guide on how to build a treehouse in Minecraft. Alternatively if one of your students owns a pet, they could write a guide on how they take care of that pet at home. The key here is to focus on the interests of your students and not to force your own topics onto them. This will help them see the real importance of writing in their daily lives and even encourage them to continue writing outside of school time. 

Want more fun writing ideas? Check out this post on over 100 creative writing exercises to inspire you!

Third grade is the perfect time to show your students the importance of writing in their daily lives. This means showing them the creative and fun side of writing, as well as the more formal, essay-style format of writing. A mix of fun with strict guidelines can reinforce the love of writing in kids and get them to see the true beauty that creative writing can offer.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Creative writing prompts.

Use these worksheets to get your kid's pen moving! Looking down at a blank piece of paper can freeze up young authors, but these fun writing prompts give them a head start!

Click on a worksheet in the set below to see more info or download the PDF.

Creative Writing Prompt: Music Band

Creative writing: living underwater, creative writing: electricity, descriptive writing prompt, science fiction writing prompt, creative writing: hidden door, descriptive writing: video game, creative writing: travel the world, sci fi writing prompt: end of the world, creative writing prompt: restaurant, halloween writing prompt, creative writing prompt: pet dinosaur, santa writing prompt, christmas writing prompt, christmas descriptive writing, christmas dragons, elf snowball fight, skiing on the moon, want to download this whole set as a single pdf, unlock worksheet sets.

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Grade 3 Writing

Discover grade 3 writing standards.

By third grade, your child should be accustomed to the learning pace at elementary school level, and will now be expected to spend longer periods of time writing independently. Young writers should rely on language arts skills they built in Grade 1 and Grade 2 as the foundation they need in order to tackle more challenging writing activities .

Third grade writing requires children to demonstrate:

• Effective communication of ideas through written texts
• Structured writing pieces, including a short introduction , main body and conclusion
• Paragraph-writing skills
• Using correct spelling and grammar in their writing (such as tenses and capitalization )
• Longer and more complex sentence forms
• Research and identify facts using reading comprehension skills
• Factual knowledge in informative reports
• Successfully writing about past experiences
• Writing improvement through revision
• Writing based on a given prompt
• Using technology to compose different writing pieces
• Applying literary devices for the purpose of developing details
• Writing for different audiences and purposes

Your child can keep these aims in mind when thinking about the writing process for the following text styles:

Informative Writing

Opinion writing, narrative writing.

Informative writing in Grade 3 calls for a focus on a specific topic and putting together factual details with the aim to inform the reader.

Here are our top tips for creating a high-quality informative writing piece at third grade level:

• Introduce the topic
• Group all related information clearly, to form the text
• Include facts, definitions, details and, if necessary, analogies to support the text
• UIse illustrations or diagrams (when or if necessary) to further the reader’s understanding
• Use linking words to connect points of information
• Include a concluding sentence, stating findings clearly

Some informative writing text styles in Grade 3 are:

• Explanations

Practice Tip

Your third grader can work on their informative writing skills with Night Zookeeper’s Explanation Writing Activity Pack . This pack introduces examples of linking words and phrases that can help connect ideas in informational writing!

Opinion writing at third grade level requires more attention to detail, a stronger argument, and consistency throughout the text.

In third grade, your child is expected to demonstrate their point of view on a chosen topic and provide valid reasons for their perspective. Your child’s writing in third grade should also include linking words and phrases to piece together a compelling argument. Grade 3 learners should be working on writing to persuade or influence an audience.

How to write an opinion piece at third-grade level

• Start with a short introduction, stating a clear opinion on the topic
• Give a reason for this opinion, followed by a convincing example that validates the point
• Always refer back to the original statement, to ensure that the argument is consistent and coherent
• Finish with a summary of the argument, stating the original opinion once again, to leave the reader thinking about the perspective shared

You can encourage your child to develop opinions on specific topics by engaging in topical discussions! Choose a theme and start a conversation about it - you’ll be surprised by the opinions your child has already formed!

Stories at Grade 3 level should rely on descriptive writing techniques to create a cohesive plot of events, which provide the reader with as much information on the characters , settings and actions as possible!

As it’s not the first time your child will be asked to write a narrative text, they’ll already be familiar with the standard rules of story writing . As the complexity of their work increases however, here are a few tips on how the narrative writing process should happen in third grade:

• Plan and develop a well-structured plot
• Establish characters, settings and actions according to the theme of the story (be as descriptive as possible)
• Use figurative language and literary devices to enhance the plot
• Include an introduction, paragraphs which allow the story to progress chronologically and finish with a great narrative ending

Why not get your child to draw the characters and settings of their story before writing the piece? Not only will this encourage them to think about more details which can be described in the story (such as the clothes worn by the characters or the type of setting), but it will also improve their ability to think creatively about the chosen topic or theme!

How Night Zookeeper can help

Night Zookeeper is a language arts program that has been created to make language arts fantastically fun for elementary school students!

The extensive collections of lesson series on our program are especially relevant for Grade 3 students, such as The Persuasive Professor , Building Story Tension with the General , and Story Endings with the Guardians . Along with pre-defined lesson plans that your child can access at any time, Night Zookeeper also offers thousands of third grade writing activities, including games on spelling and grammar, creative writing prompts, printable resources, and much more!

All writing resources are determined by grade level, to ensure that your third grader has access to everything they need to become a budding young writer.

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Narrative Writing | Student Writing Samples

Narrative Writing Sample- Grade 3

Read Time 3 mins | Mar 25, 2020 8:02:22 PM | Written by: Toolbox

Here is a student sample that shows evidence of the ways students benefit from:

• the use of graphic organizers (Narrative Writing Diamond)
• teacher modeling
• guided practice
• the use of sentence starters to build vocabulary and fluency.

Teachers often ask, “When do students stop relying on modeling and sentence starters?” I’d like to have a perfect answer to that question but here’s the reality – the modeling component of the Empowering Writers' methodology allows students to peek inside the mind of the author in order to broaden their experience, enhance their vocabulary, and have a strong model to emulate. Sentence starters add a bit of variety and powerful word choice for students who may not have those tools themselves. I use modeling and sentence starters year round for all grade levels, K-8.

What I’ve seen is that some students rely on the modeling and sentence starters longer than others. They simply need more reinforcement in order to internalize the process and apply it independently. Others, however, begin to compose their own sentence starters and use elements of the model in very creative ways. These students are learning to play with words and syntax and are ready to flex their creative writing bones because they’ve been given the tools they need. Those that still need the scaffolding are reassured by this support, gaining confidence and skill with each subsequent rehearsal.

In the sample, you’ll see evidence of all parts of the writing diamond. The student sample reflects the learning that has taken place in the classroom. This student is reliant on the diamond structure and is using sentence starters effectively. As this student matures the writing will also mature to the point where the diamond structure melts away, and sentence variety and powerful word choice is evident naturally.

Here’s what worked in the piece:

• Beginning-sound effect and put the main character in the setting
• Great use of suspense-Magic of three technique
• Good use of “Red Flag Phrases”
• Included reactions
• The author included a great description of the giant
• The reader was able to have a picture of the giant in his/her own mind
• The author also included wondering/thinking throughout the main event-this makes the reader wonder as well.
• The author did a wonderful job using “Red Flag Phrases” throughout the main event-this helps transition the reader through the different events happening and gives the story fluency.
• The main event has a mix or action, dialogue, sound effects and wondering.
• Extended ending included a feeling, memory and decision

Recommended Resources

• Empowering Writer's Methodology
• Narrative Writing Guide for Grade 3

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Narrative Writing for Grade 3

Telling stories.

These worksheets and writing prompts help students develop their narrative writing abilities. 

Writing Hooks : Write sentences to grab a reader's attention.

Setting : Brainstorm details for the place and time of a story

Character development: Outline a character's traits.

Writing dialogue : Create conversations with speech bubbles.

Show, don't tell! : Use descriptive details to show the reader what is happening.

Writing personal narratives : Write personal narratives starting with a prompt and organizer.

Narrative writing practice :  Write stories from a prompt, checklist & organizer.

Narrative writing prompts :  Write stories from these prompts.

Grade 3 Narrative Writing Worksheet

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10 Writing prompts for third graders

In third grade, students begin to write to express themselves rather than just learning the mechanics of writing. Writing prompts are an excellent way to give students an entry point into creative expression.

Often writing can feel as if it is overwhelming to young writers, but prompts can alleviate that feeling.

The purposes of a writing prompt are to encourage the student’s interest in a topic and encourage them to write about it in a thoughtful and creative way. Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Connecticut

The wide range of topics included in this article allows for differentiation for student needs, as well as variety in writing genres. 

Prompts can be used by students to demonstrate understanding of a specific genre of writing, such as narrative or informative. They can also be used as quick write prompts or journal topics. 

As all teachers know, not every student in a classroom is on the same level. Students have differing needs and skills. 

There are two ways to address the array of students in a classroom. 

The first is through the prompts themselves. Scaffolding writing assignments for specific students is pivotal to their success. Prompts can be modified to accommodate student skill levels. Students who are gifted, for instance, will typically require more challenging writing prompts. 

The second way comes when a teacher is evaluating, or grading, a writing assignment. At this time, the teacher can take into account each student and what is appropriate for them. 

For example, a student that is at the beginning levels of English language development may need to write in the present tense because the ability to write in the past tense develops later. 

Differentiation can take whatever form is best for student success. 

Table of Contents

• Narrative writing prompts
• Opinion writing prompts
• Creative writing prompts
• Fun writing prompts
• Finish the story writing prompts
• Descriptive writing prompts
• Informative writing prompts
• Emotive writing prompts
• Thankful writing prompts
• Holiday writing prompts

1) Narrative writing prompts

Narrative texts are a great place to start teaching the writing process. Telling a story is a way for students to build a personal connection to their writing.

Making a personal connection to text is an excellent way to “hook” students into writing. Stories help students build confidence in their writing abilities.  

• Describe the most meaningful event in your life. 
• Write a story about what you would do if you were the teacher for a day.  
• Write about your favorite memory. 
• Write about a moment when you were proud of yourself.
• Tell a story about a time when you were sad. 
• Create a story about a porcupine and a skunk going on an adventure. 
• Have you ever been hurt? Describe what happened. 

Take a look at available videos and resources on ClickView’s Parts of a Story Topic .

2) Opinion writing prompts

Elementary students love to give their opinions! 

Learning to construct reasonable arguments with evidence is a pivotal writing skill. Evidence to support opinions gives student writing authenticity. 

Teach students to provide reasons for their opinions. Giving reasons for their opinions will be beneficial as student writing develops to higher levels and deeper subjects. 

“Would you rather” questions and topics that are centered on familiar subjects provide a quick and easy way for students to give opinions and evidence. 

Starting writing activities with students verbally sharing their opinions with each other can result in a richer writing experience. This will help students to formulate their ideas before they put pen to paper. This strategy also supports students who are learning English or who struggle with writing tasks.  

• Which makes a better pet, cats or dogs? 
• What is the best candy? What makes it the best?
• Would you rather visit the beach or the mountains?
• Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?
• What is the best sport to play?
• What is the best sport to watch someone else play?
• Choose an animal, why is it the coolest animal?
• Would you rather have a longer winter break or longer summer break?

All students have attended school, therefore school related topics eliminate the concern of limited background knowledge. 

These prompts provide an easy access point for students to give opinions with evidence that is familiar to them. 

• We should/should not have to go to school on Mondays. Give reasons to support your opinion. 
• Teachers should not give homework, explain your opinion. 
• Summer vacation should be longer. Explain why or why not?
• Which is more important – math or reading? Explain why.
• Should students have to wear uniforms in school? Why or why not?
• Should we have year round school? Explain reasons why we should or shouldn’t.

Alternatively, use video prompts like Spot and Stripe to get students thinking, and discussing before they start writing.

3) Creative writing prompts

Topics for creative writing give students an outlet to express their individuality and imagination. 

Creative writing prompts are great for journal entries and quick writes. 

Maybe you need a quick activity to fill a few minutes before the next activity. 

Maybe your students need something to help them refocus after a high energy activity. 

Whatever the purpose, creative writing prompts provide a quick resource for fun. 

• If you could create a new animal, what would it be? 
• Write a journal entry as an explorer discovering a new world. 
• If you were granted one wish, what would it be?
• Write a story about meeting a famous person.
• If you could build your dream house, what kind of rooms would be in it?
• What would you do if you were an adult for a day.

4) Fun writing prompts

These sort of writing prompts go hand-in-hand with creative writing prompts. They serve a similar purpose and provide the same creative outlet for student expression. 

• If you had a superpower, what would it be? What would you do with your superpower?
• What superhero would you like to meet? 
• Describe your perfect day.
• Imagine being trapped in a store overnight, what would you do?
• Describe the perfect ice cream sundae. 
• What is your dream job?

5) Finish the story writing prompts

Students often struggle with where to start when writing. While creativity may come easily for some, it does not for everyone. 

Use these prompts as a starting place. 

“Finish the story prompts” make excellent resources for journal entries. 

• She walked into the room and everyone stopped talking and stared. 
• The screen went blank and a message appeared…Do Not Trust Anyone.
• I was walking on the beach and tripped over something half buried in the sand.
• The astronaut stepped out of the ship and was surrounded by aliens. 
• He looked down the long, dark hallway, took a deep breath, and began walking. 
• The mashed potatoes flew across the school cafeteria and landed on my face. 
• She walked through the hidden door and into the enchanted forest.
• He opened the journal and found a note from his grandmother. 

6) Descriptive writing prompts

Site, touch, smell, taste, and hearing are good catalysts for descriptive writing for young writers.  

• You walk into an enchanted forest, describe what you see, hear, touch, and smell. 
• Using all of your senses, describe your favorite food. 
• Describe your favorite place.
• Describe what it is like on a really hot day.
• Describe what it is like on a really cold day. 
• Your pet has gone missing. Create a missing pet poster describing your pet. 
• What is something you would like to invent?
• Describe an important place in your city.

Descriptive writing can be aided with the use of pictures. Visuals allow all students to access the information regardless of experience.

Conducting a classroom discussion about the image before writing can increase the writing level of the students as well. 

There are places, other than Google Images, that have photos and images of various people, places, and things to spark creativity. 

• Nasa’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
• National Geographic – Best Photo of the Day
• The Guardian – Photos of the Day
• Voice of America News

*A note about images: It is up to the educator’s discretion when choosing appropriate images for students. 

Prompts to accompany images:

• Describe the image: What does it sound like?; What does it feel like?; What does it smell like?; What does it taste like?
• How does the image make you feel?
• Tell a story about what is happening in the picture. 
• Imagine you are in the picture, use all of your senses to describe what is happening. 
• Where is this picture taking place?
• What happened before this picture?
• What will happen next?

To extend an activity such as this, ask students to include figurative language devices such as simile and metaphors , alliteration, onomatopoeia and even personification .

7) Informative writing prompts

One type of informative writing is the “how to”. This writing allows students to be very descriptive and to demonstrate their knowledge of how to do a task.

Explaining how to do something has a two-fold benefit for students. 

First, they are able to gain confidence in writing because they are familiar with the topic.

Second, writers can practice the informative genre in a focused way. 

• Describe how to make your favorite sandwich. (Other appropriate food items can be substituted.)
• Choose a math problem and explain how to solve it. 
• Explain to a younger student how to play your favorite game. 
• Describe how to make a cake.
• Explain three ways that someone can help the Earth. 
• Compare and contrast summer and winter. 

Another form informative writing takes is research. 

In this type of writing, a student learns information about a topic and then shares that information in a formal writing assignment. 

This provides an opportunity for students to learn about age appropriate research strategies.

• Write about an influential person. Include specific details about this person’s life. 
• Research and write about a state (or country). Include important information such as language spoken, type of government, landmarks, and types of businesses.  
• Write about an example of extreme weather – tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, floods, etc. 
• Choose a scientist or inventor. What did they do? Why is what they did helpful to us?

Informational writing videos & resources

Discover informational writing with videos and teaching resources for your students.

8) Emotive writing prompts

Young children often have big emotions. Expressing feelings and emotions in writing can be beneficial to students’ social-emotional learning and development. 

SEL enhances young people’s coping skills, resiliency, and emotion identification, which can help reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in the short term. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

The emotional development of children is so important, especially in their formative years. 

Giving students an outlet for expressing their happiness, anger, fear, and all other emotions is a gift teachers can give to their students. 

• What makes you feel safe?
• What moment in your life is your happiest?
• What would you tell a friend who is feeling scared?
• Create a list of things that help you when you feel sad or overwhelmed.
• What makes a good friend?
• Describe what makes you unique?
• What do you like about yourself?
• How do you feel when faced with a challenge?
• Write about a mistake you have made. What did you learn from your mistake?
• What is something you accomplished today?

9) Thankful writing prompts

It does not have to be Thanksgiving for students to be thankful. Expressing gratitude is part of the social emotional development of children. 

• Why is it important to be thankful?
• What are you most thankful for?
• Is it always easy to be thankful? Why or why not?
• Think of a person who makes you feel loved and thankful? Why do they make you feel that way?
• Write a thank you letter to someone important in your life. 
• What does gratitude mean to you?

World Kindness Day videos & resources

Celebrate World Kindness Day with videos and teaching resources for your students.

10) Holidays and celebrations writing prompts

Holiday prompts can be a contentious subject. Not all students celebrate all holidays. Knowing your students is the key to successfully writing about holiday celebrations.

The following prompts are useful for a wide range of students and holidays:

• Describe a holiday tradition or celebration in your family.
• If you could invent a holiday, what would it be?
• What is your favorite way to celebrate?
• Write about your favorite season and what activities you do during that time.
• What makes a great gift?
• My favorite holiday is … because …
• Compare and contrast your Christmas traditions with another person’s. 
• What is your favorite Christmas present that you have received?
• Write a letter to Santa.
• Write a letter to the Grinch. 
• Write an adventure story told from the point of view of a reindeer. 
• Write a Christmas poem.
• Tell a story about being a Christmas elf in Santa’s workshop. 

Thanksgiving

• What are your family’s Thanksgiving traditions?
• Which Thanksgiving food is the best? Why?
• We can only eat turkey on Thanksgiving, why or why not?
• Write a story about a turkey that escapes a Thanksgiving dinner.
• Describe the best Thanksgiving you have ever had.
• We celebrate Thanksgiving because … 

Other holidays

• Write a Valentine’s Day poem.
• Describe the fireworks on July 4th (or another holiday you celebrate).
• Write a story about the groundhog on Groundhog Day.
• My New Year’s resolution is…
• Who would you give something to and why?
• My favorite Halloween memory is …
• I want to be ___________ for Halloween because … 
• Write about your day as the Easter bunny. 
• Write a story about a magical Easter egg. 
• Describe your dream birthday party. 
• Developing Writing Prompts – Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning – University of Connecticut 
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Mattie Farrer

AVID Site Coordinator / Content Curator

Mattie Farrer has been an educator in various grade levels and capacities during her career. She has a passion for supporting English learners and their language development. She also loves helping teachers reach all students.

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Creative Writing For Class 3 Format, Examples, Topics, Exercises

Creative writing for Class 3 is a great way to encourage young children to develop their imagination, improve their language skills, and foster a love of writing. In this guide, we will explore the format of creative writing for Class 3, provide examples of different types of creative writing, suggest topics for writing exercises, and give tips for teachers and parents on how to inspire and support young writers.

Also Read: Creative Writing Topics For Class 4 

Format of Creative Writing for Class 3

Creative writing for Class 3 should be structured in a way that is easy for young children to understand and follow. The basic format should include:

1. Introduction: The introduction should provide a brief overview of the topic and set the scene for the story. 2. Body: The body of the story should include the main events or ideas. This is where the plot unfolds and the characters develop. 3. Conclusion: The conclusion should wrap up the story and provide a sense of closure for the reader.

Examples of Creative Writing for Class 3

There are many different types of creative writing that Class 3 students can explore. Here are some examples:

1. Narrative Writing: Narrative writing is a story told from a particular point of view. It can be fiction or non-fiction and can be told in the first, second, or third person. Here is an example of a narrative:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Alice. She lived in a small house on the edge of the forest with her parents and her cat, Mittens. One day, Alice decided to explore the forest. She wandered deeper and deeper into the woods until she came across a clearing. In the center of the clearing was a small pond. As she approached the pond, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like soft, melodic singing. She looked around, but she couldn’t see anyone. Then, she saw a tiny, golden fish swimming in the pond. The fish was singing! Alice couldn’t believe her ears.

2. Descriptive Writing: Descriptive writing is when the author uses vivid language and sensory details to create a picture in the reader’s mind. Here is an example of descriptive writing:

The sun was setting over the ocean, casting a golden glow over the water. The waves were calm, lapping gently against the shore. A flock of seagulls soared overhead, their wings outstretched against the orange and pink sky. The salty breeze carried the smell of seaweed and sand. The beach was almost empty, except for a lone figure walking along the shoreline, lost in thought.

3. Persuasive Writing: Persuasive writing is when the author tries to convince the reader to agree with their point of view. Here is an example of persuasive writing:

Everyone should recycle. Recycling helps to reduce waste and conserve natural resources. By recycling, we can save energy, reduce pollution, and protect the environment. Recycling is easy and can be done by everyone. So, let’s all do our part and recycle!

Topics for Writing Exercises

Here are some topics that Class 3 students can use for writing exercises:

1. Write a story about a magical adventure. 2. Describe your favorite place in the world. 3. Write a persuasive essay about why kids should be allowed to have more free time. 4. Imagine that you are an animal. Write a story about a day in your life. 5. Describe a time when you felt really proud of yourself.

Tips for Teachers and Parents

Here are some tips for teachers and parents to help inspire and support young writers:

1. Encourage creativity: Encourage children to use their imagination and think outside the box. Let them explore different writing styles and genres.

2. Provide feedback: Give children constructive feedback on their writing. Point out what they did well and suggest areas for improvement.

3. Create a positive environment: Create a positive and supportive environment for writing. Celebrate each child’s successes and encourage them to keep writing.

4. Read and discuss: Read books together and discuss them with your child. Talk about the characters, the plot, and the writing style. This can help inspire children to create their own stories.

5. Use prompts: Use prompts to help children get started with their writing. Prompts can be as simple as asking them to write about their favorite animal or as complex as asking them to imagine a world without electricity.

6. Set realistic goals: Set realistic goals for your child’s writing. Start with small goals, such as writing a paragraph or a page, and work up to longer pieces of writing.

7. Allow for revisions: Encourage children to revise their writing. Explain that writing is a process and that it is okay to make mistakes. Help them to see the value in revising and improving their writing.

Creative writing for Class 3 is an important part of developing young children’s language skills and fostering a love of writing. By providing a structured format, examples of different types of creative writing, topics for writing exercises, and tips for teachers and parents, we hope to inspire and support young writers in their creative endeavors.

Fall 2024 Semester

Undergraduate courses.

Composition courses that offer many sections (ENGL 101, 201, 277 and 379) are not listed on this schedule unless they are tailored to specific thematic content or particularly appropriate for specific programs and majors.

• 100-200 level

ENGL 151.S01: Introduction to English Studies

Tuesday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Sharon Smith

ENGL 151 serves as an introduction to both the English major and the discipline of English studies. In this class, you will develop the thinking, reading, writing and research practices that define both the major and the discipline. Much of the semester will be devoted to honing your literary analysis skills, and we will study and discuss texts from several different genres—poetry, short fiction, the novel, drama and film—as well as some literary criticism. As we do so, we will explore the language of the discipline, and you will learn a variety of key literary terms and concepts. In addition, you will develop your skills as both a writer and researcher within the discipline of English.

ENGL 201.ST1 Composition II: The Mind/Body Connection

In this section of English 201, students will use research and writing to learn more about problems that are important to them and articulate ways to address those problems. The course will focus specifically on issues related to the mind, the body and the relationship between them. The topics we will discuss during the course will include the correlation between social media and body image; the efficacy of sex education programs; the degree to which beliefs about race and gender influence school dress codes; and the unique mental and physical challenges faced by college students today. In this course, you will be learning about different approaches to argumentation, analyzing the arguments of others and constructing your own arguments. At the same time, you will be honing your skills as a researcher and developing your abilities as a persuasive and effective writer.

ENGL 201.S10 Composition II: Environmental Writing   

Monday/Wednesday/Friday 1-1:50 p.m.

Gwen Horsley

English 201 will help students develop the ability to think critically and analytically and to write effectively for other university courses and careers. This course will provide opportunities to develop analytical skills that will help students become critical readers and effective writers. Specifically, in this class, students will:

• Focus on the relationships between world environments, land, animals and humankind.
• Read various essays by environmental, conservational and regional authors.
• Produce student writings. 

Students will improve their writing skills by reading essays and applying techniques they witness in others’ work and those learned in class. This class is also a course in logical and creative thought. Students will write about humankind’s place in the world and our influence on the land and animals, places that hold special meaning to them or have influenced their lives and stories of their own families and their places and passions in the world. Students will practice writing in an informed and persuasive manner, in language that engages and enlivens readers by using vivid verbs and avoiding unnecessary passives, nominalizations and expletive constructions.

Students will prepare writing assignments based on readings and discussions of essays included in "Literature and the Environment " and other sources. They may use "The St. Martin’s Handbook," as well as other sources, to review grammar, punctuation, mechanics and usage as needed.

ENGL 201.13 Composition II: Writing the Environment

Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45 a.m.

Paul Baggett

For generations, environmentalists have relied on the power of prose to change the minds and habits of their contemporaries. In the wake of fires, floods, storms and droughts, environmental writing has gained a new sense of urgency, with authors joining activists in their efforts to educate the public about the grim realities of climate change. But do they make a difference? Have reports of present and future disasters so saturated our airwaves that we no longer hear them? How do writers make us care about the planet amidst all the noise? In this course, students will examine the various rhetorical strategies employed by some of today’s leading environmental writers and filmmakers. And while analyzing their different arguments, students also will strengthen their own strategies of argumentation as they research and develop essays that explore a range of environmental concerns.

ENGL 201 Composition II: Food Writing

S17 Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 p.m.

S18 Tuesday and Thursday 2-3:15 p.m.

Jodi Andrews

In this composition class, students will critically analyze essays about food, food systems and environments, food cultures, the intersections of personal choice, market forces and policy and the values underneath these forces. Students will learn to better read like writers, noting authors’ purpose, audience organizational moves, sentence-level punctuation and diction. We will read a variety of essays including research-intensive arguments and personal narratives which intersect with one of our most primal needs as humans: food consumption. Students will rhetorically analyze texts, conduct advanced research, reflect on the writing process and write essays utilizing intentional rhetorical strategies. Through doing this work, students will practice the writing moves valued in every discipline: argument, evidence, concision, engaging prose and the essential research skills for the 21st century.

ENGL 221.S01 British Literature I

Michael S. Nagy

English 221 is a survey of early British literature from its inception in the Old English period with works such as "Beowulf" and the “Battle of Maldon,” through the Middle Ages and the incomparable writings of Geoffrey Chaucer and the Gawain - poet, to the Renaissance and beyond. Students will explore the historical and cultural contexts in which all assigned reading materials were written, and they will bring that information to bear on class discussion. Likely themes that this class will cover include heroism, humor, honor, religion, heresy and moral relativity. Students will write one research paper in this class and sit for two formal exams: a midterm covering everything up to that point in the semester, and a comprehensive final. Probable texts include the following:

• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages. Ed. Alfred David, M. H. Abrams, and Stephen Greenblatt. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and Early Seventeenth Century. Ed. George M. Logan, Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara K Lewalski, and M. H. Abrams. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century. Ed. George M. Logan, Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara K Lewalski, and M. H. Abrams. 9th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
• Gibaldi, Joseph. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003.
• Any Standard College Dictionary.

ENGL 240.S01 Juvenile Literature Elementary-5th Grade

Monday, Wednesday and Friday noon-12:50 p.m.

April Myrick

A survey of the history of literature written for children and adolescents, and a consideration of the various types of juvenile literature. Text selection will focus on the themes of imagination and breaking boundaries.

ENGL 240.ST1 Juvenile Literature Elementary-5th Grade

Randi Anderson

In English 240 students will develop the skills to interpret and evaluate various genres of literature for juvenile readers. This particular section will focus on various works of literature at approximately the K-5 grade level. We will read a large range of works that fall into this category, as well as information on the history, development and genre of juvenile literature.

Readings for this course include classical works such as "Hatchet," "Little Women", "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Brown Girl Dreaming," as well as newer works like "Storm in the Barn," "Anne Frank’s Diary: A Graphic Adaptation," "Lumberjanes," and a variety of picture books. These readings will be paired with chapters from "Reading Children’s Literature: A Critical Introduction " to help develop understanding of various genres, themes and concepts that are both related to juvenile literature and also present in our readings.

In addition to exposing students to various genres of writing (poetry, historical fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, picture books, graphic novels, etc.) this course will also allow students to engage in a discussion of larger themes present in these works such as censorship, race and gender. Students’ understanding of these works and concepts will be developed through readings, research, discussion posts, exams and writing assignments designed to get students to practice analyzing poetry, picture books, informational books and transitional/easy readers.

ENGL 241.S01: American Literature I

Tuesday and Thursday 12:30-1:45 p.m.

This course provides a broad, historical survey of American literature from the early colonial period to the Civil War. Ranging across historical periods and literary genres—including early accounts of contact and discovery, narratives of captivity and slavery, poetry of revolution, essays on gender equality and stories of industrial exploitation—this class examines how subjects such as colonialism, nationhood, religion, slavery, westward expansion, race, gender and democracy continue to influence how Americans see themselves and their society.

Required Texts

• The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Package 1, Volumes A and B Beginnings to 1865, Ninth Edition. (ISBN 978-0-393-26454-8)

ENGL 283.S01 Introduction to Creative Writing

Steven Wingate

Students will explore the various forms of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction and poetry) not one at a time in a survey format—as if there were decisive walls of separation between then—but as intensely related genres that share much of their creative DNA. Through close reading and work on personal texts, students will address the decisions that writers in any genre must face on voice, rhetorical position, relationship to audience, etc. Students will produce and revise portfolios of original creative work developed from prompts and research. This course fulfills the same SGR #2 requirements ENGL 201; note that the course will involve a research project. Successful completion of ENGL 101 (including by test or dual credit) is a prerequisite.

ENGL 283.S02 Introduction to Creative Writing

Jodilyn Andrews

This course introduces students to the craft of writing, with readings and practice in at least two genres (including fiction, poetry and drama).

ENGL 283.ST1 Introduction to Creative Writing

Amber Jensen, M.A., M.F.A.

This course explores creative writing as a way of encountering the world, research as a component of the creative writing process, elements of craft and their rhetorical effect and drafting, workshop and revision as integral parts of writing polished literary creative work. Student writers will engage in the research practices that inform the writing of literature and in the composing strategies and writing process writers use to create literary texts. Through their reading and writing of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, students will learn about craft elements, find examples of those craft elements in published works and apply these elements in their own creative work, developed through weekly writing activities, small group and large group workshop and conferences with the instructor. Work will be submitted, along with a learning reflection and revision plan in each genre and will then be revised and submitted as a final portfolio at the end of the semester to demonstrate continued growth in the creation of polished literary writing.

• 300-400 level

ENGL 424.S01 Language Arts Methods grades 7-12  

Tuesday 6-8:50 p.m.

Danielle Harms

Techniques, materials and resources for teaching English language and literature to middle and secondary school students. Required of students in the English education option.

AIS/ENGL 447.S01: American Indian Literature of the Present 

Thursdays 3-6 p.m.

This course introduces students to contemporary works by authors from various Indigenous nations. Students examine these works to enhance their historical understanding of Indigenous peoples, discover the variety of literary forms used by those who identify as Indigenous writers, and consider the cultural and political significance of these varieties of expression. Topics and questions to be explored include:

• Genre: What makes Indigenous literature indigenous?
• Political and Cultural Sovereignty: Why have an emphasis on tribal specificity and calls for “literary separatism” emerged in recent decades, and what are some of the critical conversations surrounding such particularized perspectives?
• Gender and Sexuality: What are the intersecting concerns of Indigenous Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and how might these research fields inform one another?
• Trans-Indigeneity: What might we learn by comparing works across different Indigenous traditions, and what challenges do such comparisons present?
• Aesthetics: How do Indigenous writers understand the dynamics between tradition and creativity?
• Visual Forms: What questions or concerns do visual representations (television and film) by or about Indigenous peoples present?

Possible Texts

• Akiwenzie-Damm, Kateri and Josie Douglas (eds), Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing. IAD Press, 2000. (978-1864650327)
• Erdrich, Louise, The Sentence. Harper, 2021 (978-0062671127)
• Harjo, Joy, Poet Warrior: A Memoir. Norton, 2021 (978-0393248524)
• Harjo, Sterlin and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs (selected episodes)
• Talty, Morgan. Night of the Living Rez, 2022, Tin House (978-1953534187)
• Wall Kimmerer, Robin. Braiding Sweet Grass, Milkweed Editions (978-1571313560)
• Wilson, Diane. The Seed Keeper: A Novel. Milkweed Editions (978-1571311375)
• Critical essays by Alexie, Allen, Cohen, Cox, King, Kroeber, Ortiz, Piatote, Ross and Sexton, Smith, Taylor, Teuton, Treuer, Vizenor, and Womack.

ENGL 472.S01: Film Criticism

Tuesdays 2-4:50 p.m.

Jason McEntee

Do you have an appreciation for, and enjoy watching, movies? Do you want to study movies in a genre-oriented format (such as those we typically call the Western, the screwball comedy, the science fiction or the crime/gangster, to name a few)? Do you want to explore the different critical approaches for talking and writing about movies (such as auteur, feminist, genre or reception)?

In this class, you will examine movies through viewing and defining different genres while, at the same time, studying and utilizing different styles of film criticism. You will share your discoveries in both class discussions and short writings. The final project will be a formal written piece of film criticism based on our work throughout the semester. The course satisfies requirements and electives for all English majors and minors, including both the Film Studies and Professional Writing minors. (Note: Viewing of movies outside of class required and may require rental and/or streaming service fees.)

ENGL 476.ST1: Fiction

In this workshop-based creative writing course, students will develop original fiction based on strong attention to the fundamentals of literary storytelling: full-bodied characters, robust story lines, palpable environments and unique voices. We will pay particular attention to process awareness, to the integrity of the sentence, and to authors' commitments to their characters and the places in which their stories unfold. Some workshop experience is helpful, as student peer critique will be an important element of the class.

ENGL 479.01 Capstone: The Gothic

Wednesday 3-5:50 p.m.

With the publication of Horace Walpole’s "The Castle of Otranto " in 1764, the Gothic officially came into being. Dark tales of physical violence and psychological terror, the Gothic incorporates elements such as distressed heroes and heroines pursued by tyrannical villains; gloomy estates with dark corridors, secret passageways and mysterious chambers; haunting dreams, troubling prophecies and disturbing premonitions; abduction, imprisonment and murder; and a varied assortment of corpses, apparitions and “monsters.” In this course, we will trace the development of Gothic literature—and some film—from the eighteenth-century to the present time. As we do so, we will consider how the Gothic engages philosophical beliefs about the beautiful and sublime; shapes psychological understandings of human beings’ encounters with horror, terror, the fantastic and the uncanny; and intervenes in the social and historical contexts in which it was written. We’ll consider, for example, how the Gothic undermines ideals related to domesticity and marriage through representations of domestic abuse, toxicity and gaslighting. In addition, we’ll discuss Gothic texts that center the injustices of slavery and racism. As many Gothic texts suggest, the true horrors of human existence often have less to do with inexplicable supernatural phenomena than with the realities of the world in which we live. 

ENGL 485.S01: Undergraduate Writing Center Learning Assistants 

Flexible Scheduling

Nathan Serfling

Since their beginnings in the 1920s and 30s, writing centers have come to serve numerous functions: as hubs for writing across the curriculum initiatives, sites to develop and deliver workshops and resource centers for faculty as well as students, among other functions. But the primary function of writing centers has necessarily and rightfully remained the tutoring of student writers. This course will immerse you in that function in two parts. During the first four weeks, you will explore writing center praxis—that is, the dialogic interplay of theory and practice related to writing center work. This part of the course will orient you to writing center history, key theoretical tenets and practical aspects of writing center tutoring. Once we have developed and practiced this foundation, you will begin work in the writing center as a tutor, responsible for assisting a wide variety of student clients with numerous writing tasks. Through this work, you will learn to actively engage with student clients in the revision of a text, respond to different student needs and abilities, work with a variety of writing tasks and rhetorical situations, and develop a richer sense of writing as a complex and negotiated social process.

Graduate Courses

Engl 572.s01: film criticism, engl 576.st1 fiction.

In this workshop-based creative writing course, students will develop original fiction based on strong attention to the fundamentals of literary storytelling: full-bodied characters, robust story lines, palpable environments and unique voices. We will pay particular attention to process awareness, to the integrity of the sentence and to authors' commitments to their characters and the places in which their stories unfold. Some workshop experience is helpful, as student peer critique will be an important element of the class.

ENGL 605.S01 Seminar in Teaching Composition

Thursdays 1-3:50 p.m.

This course will provide you with a foundation in the pedagogies and theories (and their attendant histories) of writing instruction, a foundation that will prepare you to teach your own writing courses at SDSU and elsewhere. As you will discover through our course, though, writing instruction does not come with any prescribed set of “best” practices. Rather, writing pedagogies stem from and continue to evolve because of various and largely unsettled conversations about what constitutes effective writing and effective writing instruction. Part of becoming a practicing writing instructor, then, is studying these conversations to develop a sense of what “good writing” and “effective writing instruction” might mean for you in our particular program and how you might adapt that understanding to different programs and contexts.

As we read about, discuss and research writing instruction, we will address a variety of practical and theoretical topics. The practical focus will allow us to attend to topics relevant to your immediate classroom practices: designing a curriculum and various types of assignments, delivering the course content and assessing student work, among others. Our theoretical topics will begin to reveal the underpinnings of these various practical matters, including their historical, rhetorical, social and political contexts. In other words, we will investigate the praxis—the dialogic interaction of practice and theory—of writing pedagogy. As a result, this course aims to prepare you not only as a writing teacher but also as a nascent writing studies/writing pedagogy scholar.

At the end of this course, you should be able to engage effectively in the classroom practices described above and participate in academic conversations about writing pedagogy, both orally and in writing. Assessment of these outcomes will be based primarily on the various writing assignments you submit and to a smaller degree on your participation in class discussions and activities.

ENGL 726.S01: The New Woman, 1880–1900s 

Thursdays 3–5:50 p.m.

Katherine Malone

This course explores the rise of the New Woman at the end of the nineteenth century. The label New Woman referred to independent women who rebelled against social conventions. Often depicted riding bicycles, smoking cigarettes and wearing masculine clothing, these early feminists challenged gender roles and sought broader opportunities for women’s employment and self-determination. We will read provocative fiction and nonfiction by New Women writers and their critics, including authors such as Sarah Grand, Mona Caird, George Egerton, Amy Levy, Ella Hepworth Dixon, Grant Allen and George Gissing. We will analyze these exciting texts through a range of critical lenses and within the historical context of imperialism, scientific and technological innovation, the growth of the periodical press and discourse about race, class and gender. In addition to writing an argumentative seminar paper, students will complete short research assignments and lead discussion.

ENGL 792.ST1 Women in War: Female Authors and Characters in Contemporary War Lit

In this course, we will explore the voices of female authors and characters in contemporary literature of war. Drawing from various literary theories, our readings and discussion will explore the contributions of these voices to the evolving literature of war through archetypal and feminist criticism. We will read a variety of short works (both theoretical and creative) and complete works such as (selections subject to change): "Eyes Right" by Tracy Crow, "Plenty of Time When We Get Home" by Kayla Williams, "You Know When the Men are Gone" by Siobhan Fallon, "Still, Come Home" by Katie Schultz and "The Fine Art of Camouflage" by Lauren Johnson.