Inspire Your Students with These 351 Visual Writing Prompts

Make Writing Fun with Visual Writing Prompts

Engaging writing prompts are an easy way to make writing fun. Every teacher needs a good collection of prompts, and the three sites below are full of great ones. The old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” just might prove helpful in moving students from asking “How many words do we have to write?” to not wanting to stop.

Visual Writing Prompts

Visual Writing Prompts is a great source for engaging writing prompts. You can browse their collection of writing prompts by genre, grade, or subject area. The prompts are written directly on each image.

While it’s a great source of writing prompts already, it is a site in-progress. They are in the process of adding additional information to each prompt. The prompts that have already been completed include a prompt explanation, an explanation of any relevant vocabulary and language, and a convenient one-click download button.

The Literacy Shed

Our school’s literacy coach shared this site with us, and I was instantly drawn in by the enthralling images. Most of the thought-provoking and stunning images really don’t need a written prompt, and most don’t come with one. I love the variety of prompts on this site. Some prompts simply consist of a single image, while others are made up of multiple related images. Some even come with suggestions and key questions.

Video Writing Prompts

This is another gem from John Spencer. If you’re not familiar with John’s work, you are seriously missing out. He shares a wealth of ideas, through his engaging and useful resources, to help teachers and students maximize their creative potential.

Now you can find all of his awesome sketch-animated writing prompts, organized by genre, in one place. All video prompts are hosted on YouTube, but you can download them for free when you subscribe to John’s mailing list.