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November Writing

After last week's INSANITY (Halloween, torrential rain = inside recess, power outage, field trip) it was a relief to get back to normal today. It gave us the first real chance to try out the November writing prompts. I gathered a bunch of journal ideas from the internet and wrote each one on a leaf. I put them all in a pumpkin and the kids could pick one if they wanted.

I found leaves and pumpkin at Roberts Craft for 75% off!! Score! Writing on the leaves was a bit tricky. I tried markers first, but they bled too much. I ended up using my favorite Muji pen and it turned out great. I imagine any gel pen would work as well.

Here are the prompts I thought would appeal to my 2nd graders. They're not my original ideas, but I didn't think to pay attention to my sources while I was collecting them.

Write a letter to a fall tree. Try to convince the tree not to drop its leaves.
What will you do during Thanksgiving break?
Write a recipe for cooking a turkey.
What if you found a magical pumpkin patch?
What if Thanksgiving were in the summer?
If your Thanksgiving turkey burned, what would you eat?
Imagine you'll turn into a pumpkin at midnight tonight. Write about all the things you'd like to do before you turn into a pumpkin.
Once upon a time there was a turkey who never…
Tell about your favorite thing about autumn.
Imagine the school voted you principal. What would you do? What changes would you make?
Write about an autumn day. What would you do? Tell about the colors, smells, tastes, and sounds.
Would a turkey make a good pet? Why or why not?
If you could have whatever you wanted for Thanksgiving dinner, what would you have?
Write a story about a squirrel getting ready for winter.

I also got the new lists posted, as well. This still isn't nearly as popular a choice as journals and letter writing are. In fact, I think maybe 2 kids chose it all of October. For now, at least, I'm going to keep offering it.