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23 1st Grade Writing Worksheets To Practice New Skills

Spelling, reading, and writing are three of the most important skills children will learn in their first few years of school—that’s why having access to an assortment of first grade writing worksheets will make your life easier as a parent or a teacher. By the time students reach first grade, many have started learning basic words and are able to write basic ideas out on paper. The writing worksheets below offer a variety of different activities for all skill levels and help students focus on essential writing skills and develop them. Worksheets are great support for learning through practice—the unique offerings and the classic activities alike will create a strong foundation to build on!

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What should a first grader be able to write.

• Best First Grade Writing Worksheets 

Should First Graders Be Able To Spell?

Check out these additional 1st grade resources.

First grade introduces the basics of spelling, grammar, and vocabulary to students. As they practice all of these skills, they’ll inevitably grow as writers. First grade teachers want to see kids who can write simple, complete sentences. They should ideally be using proper capitalization and end punctuation. 

Even if their spelling isn’t perfect, the ability to use their knowledge of letters and letter sounds to take an educated guess is really what teachers are looking for. First graders should also be adept at copying down words and sentences provided to them, and able to produce their own simple sentences from scratch.  

In partnership with Teach Simple , whose marketplace is full of educational materials created by actual teachers (plus 50% of all revenues go to them), I’ve gathered 23 totally-awesome grade 1 writing worksheets to help inspire your students and support their core language arts skills!

Best First Grade Writing Worksheets

• You Write The Story Soccer Picture Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

This writing worksheet offers students the chance to practice writing using a visual prompt. The use of visuals supports learning and aids students in idea generation. This 1st grade worksheet will help you teach brainstorming and the elements of a story. 

• Other Ways To Write Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

This worksheet may seem like it is just focused on writing, but it also engages essential critical thinking skills. Understanding that writing is a process that can happen on paper or on a computer will set your students up for success well beyond first grade!

• Search The Word By Worksheet By Splash Learn

Search the word by Worksheet is aimed at enhancing children’s literacy skills, particularly their familiarity with common sight words. Through an engaging, picture-based activity, it encourages learners to identify and understand the usage of a specific sight word in various contexts. The exercise is designed to improve reading fluency, speed, and comprehension, making it a valuable tool for early literacy development.

• Capitalization Errors Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

There are many elements of grammar that students need to learn throughout elementary school, but capitalization is truly fundamental. Catching errors is a fantastic practice to reinforce learning! This worksheet will certainly engage your reader and support their knowledge of grammar as they fix the errors in seven different sentences.

• Writing About Me Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

Cultivating a strong sense of self and identity is an important element of social-emotional learning for young children. This worksheet blends together writing, spelling, and those SEL elements to create an engaging and fun activity where students can write about someone they know very well!

• In My Own Words Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

Summarizing paragraphs and retelling narratives with a focus on key information are essential skills. They support not only reading and reading comprehension but also critical thinking as a whole. This worksheet asks students to retell four different quotes in their own words and offers particularly effective practice for your first grader! 

• Once Upon A Pancake For Younger Storytellers — Creative, Interactive Activity Book For Kids From A Story Book Day

This workbook is full of writing prompts and unfinished stories to spark kids’ creativity and enhance their writing by finishing up each one. This workbook is a fun way for children to develop their reading, writing, and storytelling abilities, using prompts about superheroes , friendships, magic, and more!

• “I” Handwriting Practice B By Have Fun Teaching

Handwriting is key to academic success and legibility is a key part of writing in the first grade . This simple worksheet let’s students practice uppercase and lowercase “I” handwriting while also constructing sentences starting with I or making silly sentences that only use “i” words.

• Journal Writing Prompts By Minds And Heart

Whether you need beginning of year writing activities, literacy centers, morning work, or early finisher work, these prompts will work for any time! With a checklist to self-edit for capitals, punctuation, and details, students will be reminded to utilize the components of strong writing that they are learning every day. 

• You Write The Story Artist Picture Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

This worksheet offers another delightful visual writing prompt—this time about some artists and a dinosaur. The benefits of the visual prompt paired with the writing practices will lead to fun and learning all at once!

• Draw A Story Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

Kids love to draw, and visuals are wonderful supports for reading and writing. This worksheet blends the two and guides your little author through the process of creating a story and illustration of their very own. 

• My Opinion The Big Orange Splot Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

Opinion writing includes elements of informational texts. This worksheet asks first graders to think critically about the prompt, practice writing, and focus on their opinion of the characters and plot of the story .

• The Big Orange Splot From Art with Mrs. F

• Capitalization And End Punctuation Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

A sentence has distinct features to indicate where it begins and where it ends. Early literacy skills focus on these text features to support students in their grammatical understandings. This practice worksheet is a wonderful resource for emerging readers and writers to practice capitalization and end punctuation on different types of sentences.

• Comprehensive Language Arts Skills Practice Test For Grade 1 By Twin Sisters Digital Media

Knowing where your students are is important to tracking progress. These worksheets are designed to be used as a practice test, focusing on core writing and reading skills. Ranging from punctuation and grammar to story structures and more, this is a great assessment tool to check in on your student’s learning. 

The worksheets in this bundle include topics like:

—Consonant Sounds

—Blends and Digraphs

—Compound Words

—Contractions

—Synonyms and Antonyms

—Adjectives

—Sequencing and Story Mapping

—Capitalization

—Punctuation and Grammar

• Writing Sentences Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media

A simple but useful tool, this sentence writing practice looks at the writing basics younger students need to learn and focuses on each one!

• Writing Conventions And Applications Printable Workbook By Twin Sisters Digital Media

Make learning more fun with a variety of activities and games related to all things about writing conventions! This set features various types of practice with nouns, verbs, plurals,  subject-verb agreement, adjectives, statements vs. questions, capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences and beginning/middle/end-story structure. Packed in a set of unique worksheets, this practice is fun and effective.

• Describing Emotions Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

This worksheet is a double whammy! Not only are you getting engaging writing practice, but you will also be supporting students’ emotional learning. A simple but effective way to ask kids to write about their own feelings in descriptive words.

• Make Sentences With The Sentence Maker By Guinea Pig Education

A choose your own adventure of sorts, this worksheet allows students to piece together words and create sentences. A fun and tactile tool, this activity encourages students to be creative while offering a support scaffold and building a solid foundation for writing sentences on their own.

• Silly Stories Story Starters By Have Fun Teaching

Who doesn’t love a silly story? Inspire your students to flex their imagination with this worksheet full of story starters. They’ll have ideas to jump off from and will practice writing while being creative and thinking of stories that are outside of the box.

• Scholastic Success With Writing, Grade 1 By Worksheetbee

This comprehensive writing workbook from Scholastic focuses on several different parts of writing skills in 1st grade including identifying sentence parts, building sentences, sequencing, writing descriptive sentences, and identifying story parts.

• Star Wars Workbook: 1st Grade Writing Skills From Workman Publishing 

Get kids hooked on writing by providing them with writing activities about their favorite characters from Star Wars. This workbook is aligned with Language Arts Common Core Standards and combines editorial quality, fun presentation, and the rigorous educational standards that Workman applied to the Brain Quest Workbooks as well.

• Space Poetry Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

This charming worksheet is a perfect way to practice poetry and tie in science. The creative writing elements and cross-curricular connections make this a wonderful resource for your first grader to think about how to write a poem about space.

• Uppercase And Lowercase Letters Worksheet By Have Fun Teaching

Having two versions of each letter can be a weird concept to wrap your brain around as a child. This set of practice worksheets around the basics offers a quick and easy way to support students in understanding the difference. It also serves as handwriting practice making it a double whammy!

• Capital Letter Examples Worksheets By Have Fun Teaching

Let your students apply what they know with this worksheet. A little more capitalization practice can’t hurt, and with this sheet you can easily check their understanding of the concept before you move on from the topic.

The answer is yes and no. We want our first graders to be able to spell out CVC words they’ve memorized and can identify by sight. They should also have a handle on some decodable words—mostly those that can be broken down into their composite letter sounds. 

Complex, compound, and trickier letter combinations are not going to be words teachers expect first graders to spell correctly, but with practice they will come! Using these first grade writing worksheets will support your students in becoming proficient readers and writers in tandem with developing spelling skills they’ll need for second grade and the rest of elementary school.

About the Author Ali Pierce has been a proud public school teacher for nearly a decade. An English teacher by day, Ali works with educators throughout K-12 in a variety of coaching and support roles. A proud Wildcat, Ali earned both her BA in Creative Writing and M.Ed. in Teaching and Teacher Education from the University of Arizona. When not teaching, Ali can be found hanging out with her two young sons and sneaking in some reading for fun.

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Last Updated on September 10, 2023 by Teach Simple

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Miss Giraffe's Class

• How to Make Writing Fun for 1st Graders

1. Make writing into a craft activity!

2. Inspire your young writers with a lot of pictures!

3. Remove any frustrations for reluctant writers

4. Let your students write about topics they're interested in!

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Grade 1 Writing Activities

8 fun grade 1 writing activities.

We’ve compiled a list of seven exciting writing activities to inspire your little ones to get started on their writing journey.

1. Read, Read, Read!

Your first-grade child may have a book that they just love! Why not get them to read it one more time and then write a short paragraph explaining why they love it so much. Which character do they like the most and what would they want to ask them if they met in real life?

Reading is generally a wonderful way to improve writing levels in young children and is especially effective when done on a regular basis! On nightzookeeper.com , we love to encourage children to write about what they are reading in an interactive journal called ‘Reading Light’.

2. Get Active, Get Outdoors

A great way to inspire your little ones whilst burning off some excess energy is to get outside with pencils and paper. Before heading out on your adventure, make a chart like the one below:

The great outdoors is the perfect place to get your children using all of their senses. Begin your adventure by asking your child to write down an object that catches their eye in the first column. Then challenge them to describe the sounds they can hear around this object, how it feels and how it smells. Once your chart is complete, find a quiet place to sit with your child and invite them to write a sentence about each object using some of the lovely descriptions that they added to their chart.

3. The Sentence Building Game

Spelling often holds children back from getting started on their writing journey at first-grade level. You can help alleviate this barrier by giving children words they can use to build sentences with.

The idea of this activity is that children use the words provided to make as many sentences as they possibly can. Points can be awarded for each complete sentence that starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. Here’s an example of how you could set this up:

4. Get Crafty!

A wonderful way to make writing fun for your child is to combine the writing process with an arts and crafts project.

For example, challenge your children to paint a picture of an animal they love. This could be a pet or an animal they love to visit at the zoo. They could also use magazine clippings and other materials you have at hand to add a layer of collage to their picture. Finally, complete the activity by asking them to write three sentences about why they chose this animal in particular.

5. The Daily Journal

Keeping a journal is a great way to get your first-grade child writing in small chunks, on a regular basis, about a topic they know better than anyone!

Here’s a format you might like to use:

You could even ask your childr to be involved in the template creation process. Ask them which questions they would like to answer on a daily basis and incorporate these into the activity. This will give your child a sense of ownership and a deeper understanding of the activity.

6. The Greeting Card

Ask your child to make a card for a person in their family. This is a wonderful activity to get your children writing whilst also spreading love and joy in the process.

The card could be to celebrate a special occasion such as a birthday or holiday, or it could simply be a card to share their thoughts and feelings with their chosen family member. Children can be encouraged to write as much as they like about this special person, writing down all of their thoughts and feelings.

7. “When I am older, I want to be…”

Plan a special day for your child when they get to dress up as an adult they admire. This could be someone famous that they look up to, or it could simply be a profession that they admire, such as becoming a teacher, pilot or doctor. Set up activities to give your child the opportunity to explain verbally what they would like to be when they grow up and give them time to act as the person they have dressed up as. Towards the end of the day, present them with a template of questions for them to answer in writing. The below template may be helpful, or you can invent your own with your child.

8. Night Zookeeper

Night Zookeeper makes writing fantastically fun for children aged six to twelve!

Our reading & writing program for kids features an array of writing activities, such as prompts, games, and interactive lessons, created to inspire children while keeping them focused and engaged.

Sign up today to get a 7-day FREE trial!

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100 Fun Writing Prompts for 1st Grade: Journal Prompts

• Narrative Writing Prompts
• Informative Essay Writing Prompts
• Research Writing Prompts
• Funny Writing Prompts
• Self-writing Prompts
• Fiction Writing Prompts
• Animal Writing Prompts
• Journal Writing Prompts For 1st Graders
• Descriptive Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are important tools that parents can use when they want to improve their child’s inherent abilities. The right 1st grade writing prompts can help your kids improve their writing, reading, comprehension, and visual processing abilities.

By having prompts of different themes, styles, and objectives, you can diversify the way that your child approaches writing. You can also enhance their divergent thinking abilities with the right writing prompts. Let’s start with our list of the 100 best writing prompts for 1 st graders.

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SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

Here are more educational resources for your first grader so that they never stop practicing!

10 Narrative Writing Prompts

Narratives can be powerful teaching tools to help kids understand the importance of sequencing in writing. They can practice the core skills of narration, including storytelling, plot design, and conclusion. The best narrative-driven 1st grade journal prompts can help kids refine their writing capabilities. You can use these 1st grade narrative writing prompts to help your young ones develop their storytelling. 

1. What if you had a magical wand? What would you do with it?  

2. What are your favorite after-school activities?

3. Describe a time when you felt lost. What did you do? How did you feel?

4. What superpower would you love to have the most?

5. What are your favorite things about being in the 1 st grade?

6. Describe a difficult time in your life when you had to face some form of adversity.

7. What is your best memory from a vacation that you took with your family?

8. If you could meet one cartoon character in real life, who would it be?

9. Describe your favorite animal. What are its characteristics?

10. What is your favorite holiday? Why do you love that time of the year? 

10 Informative Essay Writing Prompts

Informative prompts help kids understand the value of being accurate, precise, and descriptive. You can have them talk about events, historical figures, and facts in greater detail with the right informative prompts.

1. Write an informative essay about animated movies for kids .  

2. Pick any stationery item from school. Write about the importance of using that tool.

3. Talk about why it is important to consume healthy foods. Why are vegetables good for us?

4. Talk about how you would teach a special skill to someone you’ve never met.

5. Talk about your favorite hobbies. Why do you enjoy participating in them?

6. Think about what you want to be when you grow up. Talk about your plan on how you’re going to achieve it.

7. Explain in detail why reading is important for all 1 st grade kids.

8. Talk about a time when you failed at something. How did you get back up and succeed?

9. What do you like the most about your best friend? Why is your friendship so special?

10. Select a food item that you love eating, and talk about why it is your favorite.

10 Research Writing Prompts

Research writing is an innovative way of instilling the right work ethic in kids at an early age. You can have your kids practice reviewing, researching, and fact-checking when they prepare their writing prompts. The best 1st grade writing prompts are research-driven ones that require extensive analysis and reviewing. 

1. Talk about the origin of alligators.

2. What is the lifecycle of a butterfly? Write about all major stages.  

3. What is germination? Write about the process of germination.

4. Why does the earth have oceans?

5. Why does an elephant have large tuskers?

6. Write down five facts about your favorite teacher.

7. Research your family history. What are some interesting facts that you could find?

8. Find ten facts about your city and what makes the city special.

9. What is a biome? Why do we have biomes?

10. What does an ant eat? Describe its journey.  

10 Funny Writing Prompts

Funny 1st grade writing prompts can be hilarious to work on, giving younger kids a chance to develop their humor. You can have them imagine funny scenarios and come up with jokes that are in the form of long paragraphs. You can talk to them about the idea of a premise, a funny line, and a storytelling joke for kids .

1. Imagine a world where every house is a gingerbread house. What would your living room look like?

2. Write a funny story about going to space and meeting an alien.

3. Write an adventure short story about saving your friend from ghosts.

4. Write a funny story about futuristic methods of transportation.

5. Imagine that you’re permanently stuck on a ship. What would your life be like?

6. Write a story about what would happen if you woke up in a dog’s body.

7. Write a story about diving into the deepest ocean in the world.

8. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

9. What would you do if you had a tiger as a pet?

10. You have just invented a translation machine to talk to animals. What would you say first? 

10 Self-writing Prompts

Poems for kids can be an excellent form of self-expression. You can introduce poetic 1st grade writing prompts and have your little ones practice their creative thinking skills. Poems can also empower kids to sound letters and words, which helps in cementing phonics and other concepts.

1. Write a poem about your favorite animals. 

2. Talk about your day, but in the form of a poem. Make it rhyme to AABB.    

3. Create a poem about the spring season.   

4. Write a Haiku about the sky.

5. Create a Limerick about how much you love dancing.

6. Write a poem about the tiniest things in the universe.

7. Can you write a poem about words that don’t rhyme? Try it!

8. Write a poem about the letters of the alphabet.

9. Write a short poem about how much you love your family.

10. Write a poem about counting fruit, vegetables, or marbles. 

10 Fiction Writing Prompts

Fiction-based 1st grade writing prompts are also amazing writing tools that can help your child access new areas of their creative thinking. You can help them uncover their true writing potential and improve their problem-solving skills with the right fiction-themed 1st grade writing prompts.

1. You’re suddenly thrust into a game of Island survival and are tasked with saving the people. What would you do?

2. On your next fishing trip, you spot a deep-sea monster. Describe it in detail.

3. You suddenly have wings and are able to fly freely through the sky. Where do you go first?

4. You just slipped on a banana peel and made a mess. How do you clean it up?

5. You left for school and realized that all the streets are made of candy. What happens next?

6. You met Santa’s reindeer in the spring. What kind of questions would you ask it?

7. There are dinosaurs everywhere, and they’re taking control of the city. What happens next?

8. You’re a time traveler and you decided to visit ancient Egypt. What do you see?

9. Start a fairy tale and complete it with the prompt – “There was once a fire-breathing dragon protecting middle earth.”

10. You’re asked to write a completely new language. What would it sound like? 

10 Animal Writing Prompts

Animal-themed 1st grade writing prompts can bring a sense of joy back into practicing writing. Your kids can explore the depths of their imagination with prompts about different habitats and species. With the right animal-based 1st grade writing prompts, you can also improve their visual processing capabilities. 

1. What is your favorite animal in the whole wide world? Why?

2. Describe your last visit to a petting zoo.

3. If you met a talking cat, what would it say?

4. Which dog breed do you love the most?

5. I love dogs because they are _.

6. What magical animal would you like to meet and why? (Unicorn, dragon, etc.)

7. If you could pick up three animal traits, what would they be?

8. Think of a completely new imaginary animal. What would it look like?

9. Who’s the scariest animal in the jungle?

10. What kind of animal makes the best pet? Why? 

10 Prompts to Help Your Kids Understand and Appreciate Emotions

Some of the most impactful 1st grade journal prompts focus on writing about emotions. While opinion writing prompts 1st grade questions are great, you can really get into the mental framework of a child with emotion-driven prompts. 

1. When was the last time you were brave?

2. How do you feel when you goof up? Do you feel angry or sad?

3. What I love about myself is _.   

4. What makes me happy is when I am _.

5. How do you comfort a friend who is feeling scared?

6. Recall the last time you burst out laughing. How did you feel?

7. Sometimes I feel sad about _.

8. If I could change one thing in the world, it would be _.

9. Sometimes I am hard on myself about _.

10. Something I wish I were better at is _.  

10 Journal Writing Prompts For 1st Graders

The best first grade journal prompts are the ones that involve introspection, critical thinking, and active recalling. You can improve their writing and comprehension skills with some fun writing prompts for 1st grade students.

1. How are you feeling today? Talk about what emotions you felt.

2. What are five things that you are grateful for?

3. What is the one thing that surprised you today?

4. I love my mom because she’s _.

5. My idea of a fun vacation is.

6. If I lived on a mountain, my daily routine would be.

7. This spring season, I plan on doing _.

8. I love my sibling because _.

9. Write about your last vacation.

10. My favorite day of the year is.  

10 Descriptive Writing Prompts

When it comes to writing topics for 1st graders, descriptive ones are some of the most fun for little kids. The top writing ideas for 1st grade students can involve describing events, objects, narratives, and storylines, giving them more control on their vision for their answers. You can use these creative writing prompts 1st grade level questions at any time during the year. 

1. Describe a dream walk through a garden.

2. Describe a typical school day in detail.

3. What type of music makes you happy? Describe why you love your favorite artist.

4. Describe the most interesting birthday you’ve had.

5. What’s your favorite hobby? Describe it in detail.

6. How would you describe a smartphone to someone from 1920?

7. What’s your favorite dessert? Why do you love it so much?

8. Which is your favorite memory in the whole wide world?

9. Talk about someone you look up to in detail.

10. Is there a comic book hero you love? Describe their qualities and what makes them special. 

Quick Tips on Helping Your 1st Grader Improve Their Writing Skills

Now that we’ve explored the best writing prompts for 1 st graders, you can help them become better at the craft with the right strategies. You can use the best 1st grade journal prompts and encourage your kids to write with clarity and purpose.

You should also use different types of writing prompts for 1st grade kids. This will help you keep things interesting for your little ones while making them feel joyful when writing. In fact, the best 1st grade journal topics are the ones that are within your kids’ realm of interest.

Additionally, you can continue to reward them for writing extensively. By giving them toys, books, and colorful stationery, you can subtly encourage them to continue improving their writing and comprehension at the 1 st grade level. 

Start With The Best Prompts That Appeal to Your Kids

You can start by mixing around writing prompts for your kids with different styles. You can also prepare your own prompts by referencing the examples mentioned above. The best way to get your kids excited about writing is to give them prompts that make them think outside the box.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your kids writing engaging narratives with these amazing writing prompts!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do i select the right writing prompts for my 1st grader.

You should start with topics that they enjoy talking about organically.

How do I improve participation and excitement for writing prompts?

You can have them write about their favorite cartoons, movies, and books during the initial stages of writing prompts.

What are some ways to improve my child’s writing?

You can use prompts, worksheets, and tracing sheets, to help your kids improve their writing.

What are some writing activities for 1st graders?

You can have them write letters, poems, stories, and other narrative-driven pieces.

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25 Fun First Grade Writing & Storytelling Prompts (Free Printable!)

I’m excited to learn about …

First graders have lots of big ideas and opinions, but they are still learning how to put letters and words together in order to communicate in writing. Help spark their imaginations and get them writing with these 25 first grade writing prompts.

The following writing prompts are designed to spark your first grader’s imaginations and get them writing! And they are perfect for in-person or virtual learning.

(Want this entire set in one easy document? Get your free PowerPoint bundle by submitting your email here, so you’ll always have the challenges available!)

1. After school I love to_______.

2. I’m proud of myself when_____.

3. To be a friend you must_____.

4. One of the fun things my family likes to do together is _____. 

5. Would you rather fly like a bird or swim like a shark? Why?

6. If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?

7. What would you put in a treasure chest?

8. This is how you make a sandwich.

9. If I were as tiny as an ant, I would ______.

10. My favorite color is ____ because_____.

11. I’m excited to learn about _____. 

12. Who is the funniest person you know?

13. If I could fly, I would go_____.

14. My favorite thing to do on the playground is_____.

15. I’m really good at_____.

16. Listening is really important because_____.

17. When a friend is sad how can you help them feel better?

18. List five things you know about bugs.

19. What is your favorite sport? Why?

20. I like to read books about_____.

21. My favorite art activity is_____.

22. One thing I find very interesting is_____.

23. I am different because_____.

24. When I am by myself I like to_____.

25. What are three things you do before you go to bed at night?

Get My First Grade Writing Prompts

Love these first grade writing prompts? Make sure to check out our first grade jokes to start the day !

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1st Grade Writing Worksheets

• Kindergarten
• All subjects

50 1st Grade Writing Worksheets

A series of events

What did you do today? In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice looking up words in a dictionary, writing words in alphabetical order, and drawing.

Airplane message banners

This worksheet presents airplane-drawn messages and gives your child practice with counting, reading, and writing skills.

It's the opposite! In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice identifying antonyms such as on/off, light/dark, and night/day.

In this language arts worksheet, your child learns about using commas to separate words in lists and practices writing sentences using commas.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that join sentences. In this writing worksheet, your child gets practice combining two sentences into one using different conjunctions.

Counting bugs!

How many snails are there? This coloring math worksheet lets your child count and draw bugs, draw the corresponding number of dots, and write the numbers.

Learn how to use a dictionary! In this language arts worksheet, your child learns why dictionaries are helpful and how to use one.

Editing is an important step that follows writing. In this language arts worksheet, your child gets practice deleting extra or unneccessary words and then rewriting the new, shorter sentences.

Poems: a mysterious story (pronouns)

The writer avoids pronouns by repeating the nouns. In this language arts worksheet, your child will get practice identifying nouns and pronouns by comparing and contrasting a section of a poem with pronouns replacing nouns.

Poems: calligrams

A calligram is a type of shape poem that uses the form of letters to add to the meaning. In this writing worksheet, your children will read two calligrams and then create their own.

• Kindergarden

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Proud to be Primary

Be inspired, motivate kids, and make a positive impact in your classroom.

10:11 am By Proud to be Primary 2 Comments

6 Fun Writing Activities for Your K-2 Writing Center

Writing may be difficult for some students, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Use exciting writing activities in your kindergarten, first grade, and second grade writing centers to show kids how fun writing truly is.

Create a Classroom Writing Center Filled with Writing Activities Kids Love

As a kid, I dreaded writing. It required too much brain power, and it wasn’t until I was allowed to use my own creative devices that I started to enjoy it more. The kids in your classroom may operate the same way.

Provide students with exciting ways to express themselves through writing, and their love for writing will soar! Take a look at some unique writing activities kids will adore!

Writing may be difficult for some students, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Use exciting writing activities in your writing centers to show kids how fun writing truly is.

Why is a Writing Center Beneficial to Students?

Imagine giving students a sheet of paper and asking them to start writing. They have a lot to wrap their brain around, and they may sit there without picking up their pencils. To get kids to write fluidly, they need scaffolding . This is where writing centers come in.

Writing centers are a great way to introduce students to smaller writing tasks that can later apply to larger writing assignments. These small writing activities help build a love for writing because they are on topics that interest students.

Writing centers come in all shapes and sizes and are easy to customize to meet your needs. If you aren’t sure where to start, here are simple writing center activities to incorporate into your classroom throughout the year.

1. Writing Spinners

When using writing centers in kindergarten, first grade, or second grade, it’s essential to use topics that are relatable to students . Kids love when there’s a monthly or seasonal theme because they are familiar with the changes.

Writing Spinners allow students to choose their topic at random . It gives them an element of surprise and adds some fun to the writing process. Kids spin for a writing prompt or picture to write about.

Place these themed spinners in your writing centers to motivate kids to write about things going on in their current lives or related to a monthly theme. Hang with your writing center vocabulary posters or place them in a container for kids to grab with a paperclip.

2. Writing BINGO

Kids love options when it comes to writing. All of your students won’t have the same interests, so supply them with plenty of different ideas they can choose from.

Writing Bingo is a fantastic way to allow kids to write about multiple topics of their choice related to a theme. Perfect as a differentiated option for older students who enjoy writing more often.

Provide kids with their own Bingo board to color in , and they can choose various topics throughout the month. Remind them to get five in a row when they are choosing their topics!

3. Writing Prompt Cards

Do you have students who need encouragement to find something to write about? Writing prompts are a simple way to give kids ideas quickly .

Laminate Writing Prompt Cards and hang them on a ring or set them in a bin for students to look through. You could also select a few for the day to place in a pocket chart for kids to select from.

Writing prompt cards on various topics gives students ideas to write about throughout the year.

4. Write About It

If you want students to work on writing about a specific topic, provide them with a fun Write About It Prompt . These prompts make it easy for students to write a few sentences about the topic and color a picture to match their words.

This writing activity is excellent for writing journals or writing centers to complete throughout the month. Students start with a picture and use their creativity to write about it . They can add details to the image and make it their own!

5. Writing Tear Off Strips

Another fun way to get kids excited about writing is to post Story Ideas on the board within your writing center . Like an ad for a job, students tear off a strip if they like the idea and begin writing about it.

Story idea tear-off strip sheets include multiple topics to write about that will have kids asking for more. It’s a fun twist that will get kids engaged.

6. Writing Prompt Mats

Writing Mats include a word list and are an excellent resource for beginning writers. Beginning writers in K-2 feel supported when they have a list of words to choose from and a conventions checklist to refer to when writing.

Writing Mats make a great writing center activity. These print-and-go activities require no prep and can be placed in your classroom writing center at any time of year.

Try a sample of Writing Mats in your classroom’s writing center with this FREE resource!

Click the image below to grab a copy.

Use these fun writing activities to engage and motivate students to write all year long . They will be eager to participate in the writing center you set up, and you will love how simple it is to teach and immerse students in writing.

Writing Centers for the Year

Try the Writing Center Bundle by Proud to be Primary. It includes all of the writing activities mentioned above plus a ton more (templates, posters, vocabulary) to get you through the entire school year. Everything you need for themed writing centers in the K-2 classroom.

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Reader Interactions

Love these ideas for.my special ed students ❤️

Thank you for sharing your brilliant ideas! I really appreciate it.

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