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We've gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom.

You'll notice that none of the activities focuses on the technical aspects of writing. Instead, the activities encourage creativity, reflection, and self-expression-hallmarks of meaningful writing.

Minilesson 1: InstaMemory

1. Imagine a favorite memory as a cellphone picture.

2. Finish this sentence starter: My memory snapshot shows . . .

3. Keep writing until you've described your memory snapshot in full. Make sure to include who is in it, what is happening, where it is happening, and when it is happening. Note colors, emotions, facial expressions, and other visual details about the moment.

4. Read your memory snapshot. Does your writing create a clear picture?

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Minilesson 2: Back-and-Forth Stories

Writing back-and-forth stories takes a little creativity and a lot of flexibility. How long can you and a partner keep this story going?
An abandoned home sat at the top of the hill. Matt and Brianna knew the rumors about it, but they had to see it for themselves. They tiptoed their way up the steps, and when they reached the door, it swung open. Inside . . .

1. Continue the story. Write for two minutes.

2. Pass the story to a writing partner.

3. The partner continues the story where you left off and writes for two minutes before passing the story back.

4. Continue writing and passing the story every two minutes.

5. How long can you keep the story going? What happens inside the house?

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Minilesson 3: Four-Star Food Review

1. List the food items that would make up your ideal fall meal. Include one main dish, one side dish, one dessert, and one drink.

2. Describe the looks, smells, and tastes associated with the meal.

3. Finish this sentence: My meal reminds me of fall, because . . .

4. Use the details you've collected to write a review of your meal in one or two paragraphs. Exchange your review with a partner to see how your meals compare.

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Minilesson 4: Now how do I get out of this one?

1. List ten chores or tasks you hate doing. Cleaning my room is an example of a chore you might not like.

2. Select four tasks from your list and write a creative excuse explaining why you can't or haven't completed each one. Make your excuses as original and wild as possible.

3. When you've finished, exchange your work with a classmate. Read and discuss each other's excuses.

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Minilesson 5: Diary of a Famous Figure

1. List three famous people or characters you like or admire.

2. Imagine you are one of the famous figures from your list.

3. As that person, think of what you would do on a summer day.

4. Write a diary entry (or blog post) about your special day as the famous person.

5. Then write additional entries as you so choose.

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Want more creative writing ideas? Check out these creative activities.

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Blog post: 5 Fun Creative Writing Activities

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We've gathered five fun creative writing activities you can assign to spark a love for writing. Our hope is that these activities will create a workshop-like environment that fosters feedback and collaboration in your writing classroom. You'll notice that none of the activities focuses on the technical aspects of writing.

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Punctuation Games for Kids

Check out this great punctuation game for kids. Have fun completing grammar practice exercises that help students learn about important English language punctuation such as the full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe, exclamation mark and inverted commas. Read the sentences, aim the target and fire the correct punctuation where you think it should go in the sentence. Use the proper punctuation in the right location and you can move on to the next challenge, keep going and see if you can complete this interactive activity.

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Punctuation Game for Kids - Fun Grammar Practice Exercise Activity

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Punctuation Games for Kids Check out this great punctuation game for kids. Have fun completing grammar practice exercises that help students learn about important English language punctuation such as the full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe, exclamation mark and inverted commas.

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Journaling has always been something I am interested in. When I was younger I would try to write the normal journal entry, "Dear Diary..." and so on. I'd usually give up on it after a couple of weeks because I got bored. When I was a teenager I started journaling with photos and paintings; it was much more creative-almost like a scrapbook.

I recently discovered bullet journalling and it revolutionized my journalling style! It is fun and creative, but not too time consuming. You can use your journal to record lists, to write entries every day or some days, or even to make graphs.

Below I've given information and instructions on some of my favourite bullet journalling ideas and how you can make a creative bullet journal to suit your unique journalling needs!

Gratitude Lists:

I often find that journalling helps me reflect on the day or the week and put my thoughts together. I like to use that time to focus on the good rather than the bad, so I like to include gratitude lists into all of my journals.

Use a protractor and a ruler (or just freehand) to draw a sun with rays.

In the center of the sun write the title and in each ray of sunlight write something you are thankful for.

To Do Lists:

I'm not a huge fan of to-do lists because they tend to feel relatively messy, but with bullet journals creating to do lists is very effective. I don't make to-do lists everyday, but if there is something that is causing me lots of stress a to-do list really helps to get my thoughts in order.

Create a nice title to describe your to-do list.

Make a key to suit the needs of your to-do list. The key can include things like: task, task complete, event, notes. If you want a more indepth to-do list you can add more descriptions for each point, like: priority, expense, inspiration, explore.

Fill in the rest of the page with your to-do's.

Goal Pages:

My goal pages are like to-do lists except focused on one topic. I like to add a creative twist to each of my goal pages to give myself an extra sense of accomplishment when I work towards achieving that goal!

Draw or organize a visual representation of your goal (in the tips below I have outlined some possibilities).

Write your different goals into the visual representation you have created.

When you have accomplished a piece of your goal, color in a piece of your visual representation.

TIP: Use a bookcase for the visual representation of a "Books to Read" page.

TIP: Use popcorn or a movie real for the visiual representation of a "Movies to Watch" page.

TIP: Use a map, flags, or a camera for the visual representation of a "Places to See" page.

TIP: Use notes or a piggy bank for the visual representation of a "Money to Save" page.

Weekly Tracking:

I have a very busy schedule and can't make a seperate, ellaborate page for each day, so I set aside time each week to make a weekly tracking page. Then everyday I spend a small amount of time keeping track of things like my steps, the amount of water I drink, or just general things that I did that week.

Brainstorm what sort of things you want to track: sleeping habits, simple activities, daily mood/happiness levels?

Use pencil case tools (rulers, protractors, pencil, pens) to draw out your weekly tracking pages. Feel free to get creative with different drawings, fancy titles, etc.

Design a format that works best for you. There are lots of different graphs that can help you organize your thoughts and goals. Try standard bar graphs, line graphs, or even pie charts (yum!).

Now that it is all set up you can fill in your weekly tracking page each night!

TIP: Use a different theme for each week to add a creative flare!

TIP: If something on your weekly tracking page isn't useful, don't be afraid to make changes. It might take a few weeks to find a system that works for you!

Daily Entries:

I like to set aside some space to write down my thoughts in the tradtional journalling fashion. Just like with my weekly tracking pages I set aside time each week to create a fun page devoted to daily entries. Then each night I spend five or ten minutes writing down my thoughts.

Use a protractor and a ruler (or just freehand) to seperate the page or pages into 7 sections. The easiest way to divide the page is to use a standard agenda approach: a full section for each weekday and half a section for both saturday and sunday.

TIP: Bring the weekly theme into these pages as well to create a link between the daily entry pages and the weekly tracking pages (in the examples, my pages were all ocean themed!).

Weekly Meal Planning:

I go grocery shopping about once a week for all of the things that I will need for my meals. Incorporating a meal plan into my bullet journal helps me to plan ahead and get excited about cooking.

Use a protractor and a ruler (or just freehand) to organize a layout that will help you plan your meals effectively.

Brainstorm the different kinds of meals you might want to make and write out an organized list to look at when planning.

Use sticky notes and color coordinate while planning out the weekly meal.

Add any food that you don't already have at home to the weekly shopping list.

TIP: For younger kids who might not cook a dinner, they can use the meal planning idea to help plan their school lunches and snacks or even breakfasts for the week.

TIP: If you use sticky notes to plan the weekly meals and write out the shopping list then you only have to organize the layout page once and you can reuse the same page each week.
Print friendly version of these instructions

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Journaling has always been something I am interested in. When I was younger I would try to write the normal journal entry, "Dear Diary..." and so on. I'd usually give up on it after a couple of weeks because I got bored.

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Punctuation Games for Kids

Check out this great punctuation game for kids. Have fun completing grammar practice exercises that help students learn about important English language punctuation such as the full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe, exclamation mark and inverted commas. Read the sentences, aim the target and fire the correct punctuation where you think it should go in the sentence. Use the proper punctuation in the right location and you can move on to the next challenge, keep going and see if you can complete this interactive activity.

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Punctuation Game for Kids - Fun Grammar Practice Exercise Activity

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Punctuation Games for Kids Check out this great punctuation game for kids. Have fun completing grammar practice exercises that help students learn about important English language punctuation such as the full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe, exclamation mark and inverted commas.

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This game is like Pokémon meets math wizard.

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Amazing pets, epic battles and math practice. Prodigy, the no-cost math game where kids can earn prizes, go on quests and play with friends all while learning math.

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Baseball Pro Game for Kids - Math Multiplication Games - Multiplication.com

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Play Baseball Pro math game while solving math facts for kids at Multiplication.com. This interactive activity boost kids multiplication skills

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Free Learning Games - Kids Logic Online Puzzles

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Online Games Jigsaw Puzzles Coloring Pages Kids' Clip Art Learning Games Kids Online Toys

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1. Exactly one of the professors shares its initial with the pharaoh he discovered.

2. Rimet-ses was from the dynasty following Parry's find.

3. Naqada and Abydos held relics from the 1st or 2nd dynasty. Newman didn't work there.

4. Ankhu wasn't found by Parry. Ankhu's dynasty followed immediately after Nassor's one.

5. The dynasty of Pnafer was earlier than Karnak's pharaoh.

6. Rogers found the pyramid of Naqada or Bubastis.

7. Arnold didn't work on the 2nd dynasty, and didn't discovery Rimet-ses tomb.

8. The pyramid of Bubastis held the relics of Pnafer or was found by professor Newman.

9. Pharaoh Nassor didn't live in Karnak.

Observation: This table is automatically filled accordingly to the grid.

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1. Exactly one of the professors shares its initial with the pharaoh he discovered. 2. Rimet-ses was from the dynasty following Parry's find. 3. Naqada and Abydos held relics from the 1st or 2nd dynasty. Newman didn't work there. 4. Ankhu wasn't found by Parry. Ankhu's dynasty followed immediately after Nassor's one.

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If you've ever felt like your child is a wizard that understands puzzles long before you do, you're not alone. Kids' imaginations seem to allow them to solve problems that leave us adults scratching our heads for hours on end.

Check out these four puzzles that elementary school kids can solve in an instant and see how you fare.

Puzzle #1

First graders in Hong Kong were given this puzzle on an entrance exam. I know, right? An entrance exam, in the first grade?

Kids were able to solve the puzzle in just a few seconds.

Puzzle #2

Educated programmers took as long as an hour to solve this problem. Kids? 10 minutes.

Puzzle #3

Third graders in places like Singapore solve puzzles like this for fun in under five minutes.

Puzzle #4

This puzzle comes from a 12-year-old American math worksheet.

50 chocolate candies are in a box; 30 of them are caramel-filled; 25 are coconut-filled; 10 of them have both, and the rest are just plain chocolate.

Which image best represents the box of chocolates?

Answers

Did you solve any on your own? No? Me neither. You'll be kicking yourself when you see how easy these puzzles really are.

Puzzle #1

The car is parked in parking spot #87. How? Just turn the image upside down.

Puzzle #2

The answer is 2. The answer comes from the number of circles in each four-digit number. For example, 6 has one circle, and 8 has 2.7777, and 1 has zero.

Puzzle #3

D = 1345, E = 2440

The numbers at the bottom level are connected to the upper level. Add the numbers in the bottom line: 198 + 263 = 461.

The number you get is greater than the neighbor above. Subtract the numbers: 461 - 446 = 15.

All other squares in the pyramid produce 15 so 1345 and 2440 are the only answers that work.

Puzzle #4

Diagram B is the one that matches. There are 20 caramel candies in the box, 15 coconut and 5 (50 - [20+15+10]) plain chocolate ones.

Kids these days!

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These 4 Logic Puzzles for Kids Stump Most Adults! - David Avocado Wolfe

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If you've ever felt like your child is a wizard that understands puzzles long before you do, you're not alone. Kids' imaginations seem to allow them to solve problems that leave us adults scratching our heads for hours on end. Check out these four puzzles that elementary school kids can solve in an instant and ...

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CoolMath4Kids - Math and Games for Kids, Teachers and Parents. Math lessons and fun games for kindergarten to sixth grade, plus quizzes, brain teasers and more.

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CoolMath4Kids - Math and Games for Kids, Teachers and Parents. Math lessons and fun games for kindergarten to sixth grade, plus quizzes, brain teasers and more.

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Math explained in easy language, plus puzzles, games, worksheets and an illustrated dictionary. For K-12 kids, teachers and parents.

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Results: 1-40 of 194   |   Refined by: Part of: Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress   Remove Available Online   Remove

Classroom Material

Abraham Lincoln: Rise to National Prominence A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring Abraham Lincoln and his national role. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions. Speeches, correspondence, campaign materials...

Date: 1855

Classroom Material

After Reconstruction Students use Library of Congress primary sources to identify problems and issues facing African Americans immediately after Reconstruction.

Classroom Material

Alexander Hamilton Manuscripts, images, and historic newspapers document the life and accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions. Manuscripts, images, and historic newspapers document...

Date: 1757

Classroom Material

America at the Centennial Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine items and images of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876.

Classroom Material

The American Dream Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine 19th and 20th century social life in the United States in order to formulate ideas about the American Dream.

Classroom Material

Around the World in 1896 Students use Library of Congress primary sources to plan, take, and document a trip around the world in 1896.

Classroom Material

Baseball Across a Changing Nation A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring baseball and the various ways it was experienced by Americans between the close of the Civil War and the beginning of WWII. This...

Date: 1860

Classroom Material

Baseball, Race Relations and Jackie Robinson Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine race relations in the mid-20th century United States through a close reading of two documents relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial...

Classroom Material

Billy the Kid: Perspectives on an Outlaw Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine the role that gunfighters played in the settlement of the West and distinguish between their factual and fictional accounts.

Classroom Material

Charts and Graphs A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring charts and graphs. This set also includes a Teachers Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1900

Classroom Material

Child Labor in America Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine reformer/photographer Lewis Hine's photographs of child labor.

Classroom Material

Children's Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring Children's Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. This set also includes a Teachers Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1890

Classroom Material

Civil War Music A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring historical perspectives about the American Civil War. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1861

Classroom Material

The Civil War: The Nation Moves Towards War, 1850-61 Conflict between abolition and slavery marked the 1850s, preceding the election of 1860 and the attack on Fort Sumter that started the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott, Harriet Beecher Stowe,...

Date: 1850

Classroom Material

The Constitution A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring the United States Constitution. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1785

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Teachers Home
The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching.

Analysis Tool & Guide
To help your students analyze these primary sources, get a graphic organizer and guides.

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Search results from Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress, Available Online

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It's time to improve literacy skills during social studies instruction and ensure that readers of all abilities have what they need to access grade-level social studies concepts.

Join us on Thursday, December 7 for a look at scaffolded materials that provide extra literacy support while building key social studies concepts and skills.

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Newsela | Content and assessment platform

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Content Aligned To National & State Standard, Flexible To Support Relevant Curriculum. Find the Perfect Piece Of Content For Lessons. Go beyond the book.