500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade [Kindle Edition]

Bryan Cohen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The questions are open ended and give enough detail to spark a thought in a child who otherwise would have no idea where to begin. I certainly would recommend this book for any family - struggling or not in the writing department."
Kristal D., The Homeschool Post

"I would recommend this book especially if you are struggling to figure out some creative ways to get your children to write. The format of his book will allow for young students as well as the older student in promoting the creative juices needed not only to write but to start thinking towards blogging."
Debbie Ingold, Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn

"Bryan Cohen did an amazing job, not only did he come up with 500 interesting, thought provoking questions, he also managed to word them in a way that leaves room for so many different answers, making sure that the child knows that there is no "wrong" way of answering the questions. I think (it's) a really brilliant book and I know we will be using this book for many years to come."
Miriam Abigail, Here We Are Together

"Whether you are a home educator like myself, or a school teacher, or parent, this is a very useful book. It can also provide just plain fun conversation between you & your child (to) get to know your child better, encourage them to use their imagination, and have fun; the possibilities are endless!"
Erika Bragdon, Musings from a Stay at Home Mom

Product Description

500 Writing Prompts for Kids is a book full of story-starters catered to the elementary school age group that is perfect for your language arts curriculum! Writing on a variety of topics (50 topics in total) can help to improve your students' imagination, creativity, reading skills, vocabulary and comprehension. These 500 prompts are open-ended questions that stimulate the imagination even in the youngest learner, and they can help students to become independently literate. Teachers (and parents) all experience levels will find that there are more than enough prompts for the entire school year that can be used over and over again each year. It can be used by teachers, homeschool parents, babysitters, tutors and even overachieving third-graders!

The book contains prompts on birthdays, cartoons, time and space, family, the arts, religion, health, the four seasons and over 40 more! They work for blogs, scripts, stories, poems, essays and anything else your child might be interested in writing. Even prospective writers younger than first grade that are learning to read and up-and-coming authors older than fifth grade can use the prompts to stimulate their imaginations. Using these prompts any educator can find a story or book in his or her students!

Here are just a few of the applications the book can be used for:
* Writing tests
* Journal prompts
* Story, poem and essay exercises
* "Get to know your classmates" activities
* Spelling and grammar assignments
* Extra credit projects
* Writing songs, creating art and adding to bulletin boards

Author Bryan Cohen has spent several years creating prompts to stimulate the minds and pencils of adults and kids alike. His 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More has sold over 5,000 copies.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 173 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004SOYV4K
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,075 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #31 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Education > Elementary School

More About the Author

Bryan Cohen writes about writing, comedy and embarrassing anecdotes from his life. He is also an actor, director and producer who enjoys dabbling in both theatre and film in Chicago, Illinois. Bryan graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art with a minor in Creative Writing. He has written or co-written the plays Chekhov Kegstand, Something from Nothing, Kerpow! and The Morning After.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a neat little tool, June 15, 2011

By 

Shirley L. Sloan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade (Kindle Edition)

Now, i'll admit here that what he provides in his book could easily be accessed by a google search for writing prompts - o yeah, trust me i've done that before... But here, in one tidy little package, he provides 500 thoughtful questions complete with the natural follow up included, "... *why do you think that*? and *how did that make you feel*?" (that little ones like mine might have neglected to answer in their hurriedly scrawled four word response to the original writing prompt), giving them further inspiration to get their ideas down. He makes it easy to sift through to find what we're looking for by dividing the 500 prompts into categories like: Memorable Events, Relationships, Technology, Life Lessons and even a 'Grab Bag' section. He also includes a small appendix giving suggestions for ways to use the prompts.
His book is a neat little tool that might fill a need in a homeschool where mama is tired of hearing, "But i don't know *what* to write about...."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Book for the Home Library, June 15, 2011

By 

TheAttachedMama - See all my reviews

This review is from: 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade (Paperback)

The book contains 500 writing prompts divided into various categories such as Life Lessons, Memorable Events, Technology, and the Seasons. Additionally, inside each of these categories, the reader can find a wide diversity of writing prompts divided into various sub-categories. Most of the writing prompts are specific enough to give children a direction in writing. Yet Cohen does a great job of keeping the prompts open-ended enough to encourage critical free thinking in children.

I also like the fact that the author not only encourages children to write---he also encourages parents to write with their children. In households where children can view their parents writing for pleasure, they are more likely to seek out that activity for themselves. (And updating your facebook status doesn't count!)

Perhaps my favorite section of the book is the appendix at the back of the book. There Cohen provides a list of great ways to his writing prompts in the classroom or at home. I loved this list! It can really give parents and teachers some ideas on making writing an everyday pleasurable experience.

500 Writing Prompts for Kids covers grades first through fifth so parents could potentially use this book for years. I have also found that even very young children could can use some of these prompts verbally to parents. (One important pre-writing skill is the ability to verbally narrate. So this book could potentially build that skill too.)

Bottom Line:
The book is available either in an electronic format or as a paperback. Additionally, the book is listed at a very affordable price point which makes it realistically obtainable for most families. I think that parents who wish to encourage writing at home would do well to have a copy of this book on their shelves. I think that the book is a great reference book that I could see myself referring to often.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!, June 5, 2011

By 

Crisc - See all my reviews

This review is from: 500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade (Kindle Edition)

I used this book with my 11 year old son and it's great! Fun topics and encourages them to write.