If there’s one thing your students have strong opinions about – it’s education. These expository prompts for writing on education range from unconventional learning to explaining of how to do something. They will get your kids thinking and writing about the educational environment.
→ Writing Prompt 1: Explain why it is important to learn to read.
→ Writing Prompt 2: We are learning all the time. Write about a new concept you have learned recently and how it has affected you.
→ Writing Prompt 3: Think of some things you learned outside of school. Perhaps something you learn from taking care of a pet, or from watching television. Maybe you learned a bit of wisdom from a grandparent. Explain what you learned.
→ Writing Prompt 4: Your principal has decided that students in your school can have several new computers in your classroom. Write an essay for the school newspaper about how the new computers will be used to benefit your learning.
→ Writing Prompt 5: The arts (music, art, drama, dance, etc.) and sports have important effects on people’s lives. Think of one of the arts or a sport that isn’t currently at your school and write a letter to your principal petitioning him to allow a program.
→ Writing Prompt 6: Think of something that you just learned how to do. Explain how to do it.
→ Writing Prompt 7: Next year you’ll be in a different class with a new teacher. Write a letter to your next teacher, giving her an example of the most important thing you learned this year.
→ Writing Prompt 8: Imagine you’ve been asked to explain to a group of students from a foreign country how to prepare a hot dog for lunch. They have never eaten a hot dog before and don’t know anything about them, especially the taste! Tell them each step you take in preparing one and describe what it will taste like.
→ Writing Prompt 9: Your school is having a health awareness day. For the occasion, write a short composition about a health problem you think is avoidable. Begin with a brief explanation of the problem – how it comes about, who is affected by it, and how it alters your life. Then tell how you think people could prevent this problem. In your composition, either urge your readers to follow your advice or warn them what may happen if they don’t.
→ Writing Prompt 10: You have just gotten into your dream school. However, your family is pushing you to go to a different school. Which school do you choose and why?
→ Writing Prompt 11: More and more students are planning on living off-campus their first year of college. Do you plan on living on or off campus for your freshman year of college? Why?
Prompts for Writing
about Education Continue
→ Writing Prompt 12: Many other countries, including England, Australia, and New Zealand, encourage students to take a year off to travel and explore the world before going to college. While not a mainstay in American culture, this “gap-year” movement is beginning to take hold. Do you feel that it is a good idea for students to take a year off between high school and college? Or should they go straight into college?
→ Writing Prompt 13: Your guidance counselor is asking for you to defend your choice of major. Write a detailed argument outlining why you are choosing to pursue that particular major. If you are still undecided in what major you will be studying, write a detailed argument explaining why you haven’t made a choice of a major yet.
→ Writing Prompt 14: A close friend of yours is interested in pursuing a career in a specific trade craft. Do you think he should go to a trade school that specializes in teaching that craft or should he go to a traditional college that offers that craft as a major? Write a letter to convince him of your choice.
→ Writing Prompt 15: Homework is supposed to help students retain the information they were taught during classroom hours. However, some people think that letting your brain rest a while after learning something new is a better way to retain the information. If you take that view, homework would be unnecessary. Which way of retaining information works better for you? What suggestions or examples would you give to teachers to help you learn a concept without having to do homework?
→ Writing Prompt 16: Some states are taking away recess in order to have more instruction time for their students. Do you agree or disagree with removing recess? Why do you feel that way? Write an essay explaining your point of view.
→ Writing Prompt 17: Now that computers are introduced to even the youngest of children, learning to type well is being viewed as more important than learning cursive writing. Do you think children still need to learn cursive? Why or why not?
→ Writing Prompt 18: With calculators on every cell phone, it has been argued that there is no need to learn multiplication tables, division, or even addition or subtraction anymore, since the machine can do the equations faster and without error. Do you think students should still learn how to do math? Why or why not? Explain your reasons.
→ Writing Prompt 19: There are some school districts around the country that go to school year round with a two to three week break every two months or so. Would that be better for learning than the traditional schedule of having several months off in the summer? Which do you think would be better for you personally?
→ Writing Prompt 20: The average school day is 6 and a half hours long. If you could pick what time school started and what time it ended each day, what time would you choose knowing you must have 6 and a half hours of instruction. Would you like to see school start early and end early, or start later and end in the evening?
