94 Intriguing Writing Prompts for High School

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High schoolers write a lot every school day. How can you help them improve their writing skills and have fun at the same time? That’s where daily writing prompts come in! From quick bell-ringers to argumentative ideas, these writing prompts for high schoolers will inspire everyone in your class, from the secret storytellers to the audacious authors.

18 Quick High School Writing Prompts

Have students write into the day with a series of quick writing prompts for high school. Perfect as bell-ringers, exit tickets, or brain breaks for high school, these five-minute writing ideas are a great way to get students into a writing state of mind right after the bell rings.

• What is your favorite way to communicate with friends?
• Do you like watching sports live or on TV?
• Would you prefer a late start to your school day or an early release?
• If you woke up famous, what would you like to be famous for?
• How do you decide whether to keep reading a book or to stop reading it?
• Do you mind when people use punctuation in their text messages?
• When would you wait in a line for 30 minutes? What about 3 hours?
• Is it ever okay to lie?
• What was the best field trip you’ve been on?
• What is the first sign that you’re going to like or dislike a teacher?
• Would you prefer seconds on dinner or a course of dessert?
• What is the best food you know how to make?
• Are pranks funny or mean?
• Do you feel energized from being around friends or being by yourself?
• Describe your idea of a loyal friend.
• Write a thank-you note to someone in your life.
• Would you rather have a lot of friends or a few very good friends?
• What makes someone admirable?

Add daily writing prompts to your class routine

Start a writing routine from day one when you use daily writing prompts in class. Have students write to the prompt before class begins. To extend the activity, have them share their thoughts with classmates.

Psychology “Do Now” Writing Prompts & Slides
By Loosli Learning
Grades: 9th-12th
Subjects: Psychology

Ideal for psychology classes or any subject focused on critical thinking, these “do now” writing prompts are an intriguing way to start the day. The slides include both psychology-specific and social-emotional prompts, including prompts about motivation and emotion, states of consciousness, and developmental psychology.

19 Longer Journal Writing Prompts for High School

For a deeper dive into your students’ thoughts, assign longer journal prompts for high school. Students can keep a long-term journal to respond all year long, or they can use journal prompts as a springboard into a class essay or assignment.

• If you had to start a career today, what career are you most qualified for?
• What challenges does your generation face that others have not?
• What are your goals for high school? How will you know if you’ve reached them?
• Do you think all students should attend school dances?
• If you could give a speech to your peers about any issue, what would you talk about?
• Is happiness the most important part of life, or should other things come first?
• Do you like it when a classroom is decorated, or is it distracting?
• Which historical event do your parents talk the most about? Which event would you like to ask them about?
• Is there a skill you wish you had? For example, do you wish you could play an instrument or a sport?
• What is the difference between a friendly debate and a heated argument?
• What advice would you give yourself in junior high? What about kindergarten?
• In your opinion, what sport gets too much attention? What sport should get more attention?
• When is it okay to break up with a friend?
• What is the most memorable topic you’ve learned in high school?
• What was the best birthday you’ve ever had?
• Do you wish your parents would ask you more questions about your day, or fewer questions?
• Should someone stay in a job if it doesn’t respect their values?
• Is there a political topic you would like to learn more about?
• What is the biggest difference between being a kid and being a teenager?

Take a walk on the wild side with nature journal writing prompts

Class writing doesn’t have to happen in a classroom! Inspire students with a walk outside, complete with notebooks, sunshine, and lots of topics for discussion.

Nature Walk Journal; Nature Scavenger Hunt; Nature Journal Prompt; Outside Guide
By Teach Go Green
Grades: 3rd-10th
Subjects: Environment, Science

Guide high schoolers through a writing walk with a nature walk journal. This resource includes nature observation sheets, scavenger hunt activities, and writing prompt ideas to continue the reflection process.

20 Creative Writing Prompts for High School

Channel your teens’ natural storytelling abilities with a collection of creative writing prompts for high school. Use them to begin longer narrative essays, begin class discussions, or introduce elements of fiction in your language arts class.

• Describe the perfect summer. Who would you spend it with? What would you do?
• You found a mysterious diary in your house. What secrets does it reveal?
• That witch you met in the forest seems fine. Sure, she’s a little creepy, but she gave you a powerful gift. What was it?
• Write a story about an app that lets you time travel — but only to your own memories.
• You’ve been accused of a crime that you didn’t commit. What happens next?
• Imagine a world where you could read everyone’s mind, but no one could read yours.
• A mysterious letter arrives at your house. What does it say?
• Write about a day in the life of your pet or any other animal from their perspective.
• Your robot has become self-aware. What do you do next?
• “When I went on the field trip, I never thought…”
• Imagine a reality where humans have three arms. How is life different?
• Write a story about a town that wakes up with all its vehicles missing.
• That love potion you invented doesn’t seem to work. Instead, it seems to…
• “When people turn 16 in my family, we suddenly have the power to …”
• You’re the first person to explore this remote alien planet. Everything seems fine, except…
• Imagine an invention that solves a major problem in society. What is it?
• Write a story about a minor character in your most recent book. How did they see the events from their perspective?
• Everyone’s afraid to step through that portal in the school hallway. But not you! What’s on the other side?
• Write a story about two characters from different TV shows meeting.
• You and your friends are lost on the hiking trail. There’s a cabin up ahead, but it looks a little creepy…

Explore their imaginative side with creative writing prompts

If your students could use a little inspiration in their fiction writing, help them get creative with a series of narrative fiction writing ideas for high school. Incorporate them into a fiction-writing unit or as icebreaker ideas at the beginning of the school year

9 Weeks of Creative Writing Journal Prompts for High School
By It’s Lit Teaching
Grades: 9th-12th
Standards: CCSS W.9-10.3, 4, 6, W.11-12.3, 4, 6
Subjects: Creative Writing, Poetry

Editable, extensive, and aligned to CCSS for writing, this set of creative writing prompts gets the story from their mind to the page. Slides include three writing choices each: two creative writing prompts, plus a free write prompt if students prefer that option.

Narrative Writing Prompts: TASK CARDS
By Stacey Lloyd
Grades: 6th-10th
Subjects: Creative Writing, English Language Arts

Avoid writer’s block with a helpful set of narrative writing task cards. This resource includes 40 cards with starting points for narrative essays to nudge young writers in the right direction, as well as a handout on the elements of literature, a writing checklist, and a rubric.

18 Argumentative High School Writing Prompts

Let high schoolers express their opinions in writing when you introduce persuasive writing topics in class. They can expand on these prompts with longer persuasive essay prompts for high school or to prepare for a more formal debate in class.

• Should high school last until age 20, or stop at age 16?
• How much freedom should teenagers have?
• Should high schoolers have the choice to do homework if they’re passing their classes?
• Is history an important class for today’s teenagers, or is it a waste of time?
• Should employers be allowed to check their employees’ social media accounts?
• Are TV shows and movies diverse enough to reflect 21st-century society?
• Are the drawbacks of animal testing worth the benefits to humans?
• Is it fair to judge someone based on social media posts from years ago?
• Do parents deserve respect no matter what? 
• What should be the minimum age to vote in the United States?
• Should kindergartners use tablets and laptops? Why or why not?
• Are students entitled to online privacy, or should parents be allowed to read their texts and social media posts?
• Should children receive participation trophies if they don’t win?
• Are extracurriculars important, or should students have more rest time outside school?
• Should students be allowed to use AI on their assignments?
• Are boys and girls treated the same in high school?
• Should students be required to take a music or art class?

Hone debate and research writing skills

Can your students back up their opinions? Help them strengthen their arguments with research resources and debate topics. Important argumentative writing skills include the value of counterarguments, posing new questions to challenge their stances, and how to find reputable resources 

Writing Prompts – Research Papers and Argumentative Essays
By Laura Torres Newey
Grades: 8th-11th
Standards: CCSS W.8.1, 8.7, 9-10.1, 9-10.7, 11-12.1, 11-12.7
Subjects: English Language Arts, Writing-Essays

A number of topics, questions to consider, and research ideas help high schoolers choose and debate their argument. With 40 research question cards, this resource allows every student in your class to have a different persuasive essay topic.

19 Informational Writing Prompts for High School

By the time they reach high school, students know a lot about various subjects. Let them explain what they know with expository writing prompts, which can range in topic from everyday activities to subject-specific knowledge and career exploration information.

• Explain how fashion has changed in the last 100 years.
• Describe how a popular company started and how it runs today.
• What is the most important environmental law affecting your life today?
• What are the positive and negative effects of teenagers owning smartphones?
• Describe how people stereotype your generation, and how that stereotype is untrue.
• Explain how to play your favorite sport, including how each position interacts with the others.
• Describe an impactful musical artist and how they are positively affecting society.
• What are the differences between private schools, public schools, and homeschool?
• How does sleep affect your daily health?
• What rights does free speech actually protect in the United States?
• Explain how your generation can begin to protect the environment.
• What is the impact of class size on student education?
• How do student loans work?
• What are the positive effects of owning pets?
• Describe the attributes of a leader.
• Explain how a bee extinction would change our lives.
• Describe how any American president has affected life in the 21st century.
• Explain how the COVID-19 pandemic changed society.
• How do elections work? What rights do you use when you vote?

Tie writing prompts into real-world experiences

Tying writing prompts into lesson plans and important life lessons helps students be more invested in their responses. Help your class prepare for their future employment in a low-stakes way with simple writing prompts about different parts of the job-getting experience. 

Vocational Picture Writing Prompts 
By Adulting Made Easy aka SpedAdulting*
Grades: 6th-12th, Special Education, Adult Education

Use 20 differentiated writing prompts with age-appropriate images to teach students of all skill levels about important job-related tasks and processes. This resource supplements vocational units but can be used separately to familiarize students with basic concepts of the employment process for most occupations.

Practice the writing and revision process

Take the everyday writing prompt through the writing process with revision and proofreading skills. Students can take their informational writing from a quickwrite to a formal essay in a writing workshop or revision-focused writing lesson.

Writing Prompts for Building Skills & the Habit of Revision
By Room 213
Grades: 8th-12th
Standards: CCSS CCRA.W.5, CCRA.W.10
Subjects: English Language Arts, Writing

Ideal for any writing lesson or unit, this set of writing prompts takes students all the way through the revision process. After they brainstorm and write on a given topic, students review their writing to add details, examples, and opposing views, as well as idea development and sentence fluency.

How to Use Writing Prompts in Every Class

Writing prompts aren’t just for language arts class! Incorporate writing ideas into every class, no matter the subject, to inspire students all day long. Some interdisciplinary writing ideas include:

• Science: Have students write argumentative or informational journal entries on science-related topics, such as climate change, human impacts on the ecosystem, and important inventions we use every day.
• Social Studies: Encourage high schoolers to write creatively about a time in history from a famous person’s point of view, or to imagine what life would be like if a historical event had never taken place.
• Math: Students can write reflectively about the ways they use math in their daily lives, or they can write about a math-focused career they’d like to have in the future.
• Music: Guide students through an informational writing prompt on prominent musicians, important times in music history, or how their chosen instrument works.
• Art: Have high schoolers write persuasively about their favorite art medium and why everyone should try it, including painting, sculpture, sketching, or digital art.

Keep high schoolers writing all year long with TPT

Daily writing prompts allow students to work on their writing skills long past a yearly language arts or history essay. Find more high school writing resources that you can use in any class, and supplement them with your own prompts or prompts created by your students!