42 Prompts to Get Students Speaking or Writing at the Start of the School Year

I'm not as much a “connection over content” guy as I am a “connection AND content” guy. In my high school classes, relationship building is most often done in the context of skill or knowledge building.

There's a whole essay I could write on why I'm that way, but that's not the point today. The point is that when my students come into the classroom, the most common thing they'll see on the projector screen is a set of writing prompts. Often, at least one of these prompts is personal/whimsical/”connection”-oriented, and at least one of these prompts is academic/recall/”content”-oriented.

I thought it would be good to get down in one place a list of connection-oriented prompts I plan to pull from this year. And then, I'd love if you'd share some of your favorites in the comments.

Without further ado:

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
2. If you had to spend $500 today, how would you spend it?
3. Who is a famous person you admire?
4. Would you ever get a tattoo? If not, why? If yes, what would it be?
5. If you had to teleport to someplace else in the world today, where would it be?
6. Are you a good sleeper?
7. What is the weirdest food combo you've ever tried?
8. What things do you consider to be relationship deal breakers?
9. What's your dream job?
10. What makes you laugh out loud?
11. What is your favorite smell?
12. If you could save only one item from a house fire, what would it be?
13. What is the weirdest gift you've ever received? How about the weirdest one you've ever given?
14. What is your least favorite chore?
15. What is one thing you can't live without?
16. What's one thing you've won and how did you win it?
17. Have you ever won an award?
18. If someone offered to tell you your future, would you accept the offer?
19. What makes you really angry?
20. If you could have a miniature animal that fit in your backpack, what would you choose?
21. What is your favorite holiday?
22. What is the farthest you've traveled away from our school?
23. What is a show you enjoy watching?
24. If you could change one thing about our school, what would it be?
25. A magician shows up and says you've got to get turned into any animal, but you get to pick. What would you pick?
26. Share a place you've always wanted to visit and explain why it fascinates you.
27. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?
28. What is your favorite movie, and what makes it special to you?
29. Describe a person in your life who has had a significant impact on who you are today.
30. If you had the opportunity to learn any new skill instantly, what would you choose and why?
31. If you could invent a new invention, what would it be, and how would it benefit people?
32. Share a hobby or activity you enjoy doing during your free time.
33. What is your favorite quote or saying, and what does it mean to you?
34. If you could be any fictional character for a day, who would you choose and why?
35. Describe a time when you had to work in a team and what you learned from the experience.
36. Describe a memorable moment or achievement from your life so far.
37. Who is your biggest role model, and why do they inspire you?
38. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be, and what would you ask them?
39. Share one interesting fact about yourself that surprises people.
40. What is your favorite subject in school, and why do you enjoy it?
41. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
42. What is one thing you're really passionate about outside of school?

A couple of final teaching notes for using these kinds of prompts:

• If you do these as a written warm-up, make sure you're circulating throughout the room and helping anyone who is stuck. Especially in the early weeks of school, you want to be sure you're signaling to students that written warm-ups are not optional. This is just what we do in this kind of class.
• At the same time, you can signal warmth during this writing time by silently acknowledging what you are seeing students write or quietly saying hello to students you may have missed at the door.
• And always, ask for at least a couple of students to share. When students share, focus on really listening. You want to signal to them and their watching peers that you hear and enjoy who they are.

It's usually way less about the prompts I use than it is about how I use them.

Best,

DSJR