Elementary Level Picture Book-Inspired Writing Ideas

I don’t always believe that writing prompts that come out of nowhere can always help our kids gain stronger writing skills. But, I do believe that high interest books can prompt kids to want to write! I’ve frequently written about books and the writing prompts I’ve given as a homeschool mom and co-op teacher. Here are the things I’ve written about on my blog. Many of these ideas have printables included. Others simply discuss great books and how writers can learn from a concept therein.

Early Writing Prompts Inspired by Picture Books

These prompts are for little kids who are just starting out writing.  They may want to put their own words into sentence frames, but sometimes they will need adult assistance with the writing. These are basic writing ideas and prompts, but they could be lots of fun.

• How I Eat My Gingerbread
• Pancake Craftivities
• Duck Craftivity
• Three Lively Leads: Writing Ideas
• Six Traits Sunday: Organization
• Six Traits Sunday: Voice in Interrupting Chicken and Chloe the Lion
• Six Traits Sunday: Ideas
• Six Traits Sunday: Voice in a River of Words 
• Writing Rhythmic Poetry Picture Book Lesson
• Writing Rhymes Picture Book Poetry Lesson

Second and Third Grade Picture Book Writing Ideas

Because these writing ideas are a little bit more complex, it may require a planning step before the kids write down their final draft. Or, maybe these writing ideas deal with slightly more complicated figurative language or language concepts. At any rate, these have been fun for my kids in the second and third grades.

• Persuasive Writing with the Pigeon
• Metaphors and Similes Picture Books Lesson* Some of this is appropriate for lower elementary as well.
• Guided Research Project: The Moon
• Guided Research Project: Animals
• Guided Research Project about a State

Upper Elementary Picture Book Writing Prompts

Even upper elementary kids love to practice writing with picture books!

• Persuading with Research: Mini-Unit Based on Hey, Little Ant
• Write with Creative Word Choice: A Mini-lesson using Two Bad Ants
• Learn to Compare and Contrast with A Tale of Two Beasts
• Story Outlining and Retelling Using a Wordless Book
• Mini-Book: Guided Research about the Coral Reef
• Compare and Contrast Writing (multiple book suggestions)
• Learning about Metaphors in Poetry
• Guided Writing and Research: The Thanksgiving Story by Dagleish
• Guided Writing and Research: Squanto’s Journey by Bruchac

Stocking a Picture Book-Inspired Writing Center

The first two years of my homeschooling career, I taught an elementary level writing class at my son’s co-op. Here are the essentials I needed for our writing center so the kids had the freedom to brainstorm, write, and/or even edit their writing.

I hope these writing prompts and lessons help make writing a bit more approachable for you as a teacher or homeschooling parent!