Writing Prompts for Grade 6

Here are writing prompts for Scott Foresman ESL 8: three prompts for the topic of each unit, plus three prompts for each reading.
Click on a link to go to that section.

Chapter
  1. Digging Up Fossils
  2. Digging Up Ancient Objects
  3. Types of Fitness
  4. Olympic Challenges
  5. Life Underwater
  6. Taking Care of the Ocean
  7. The Roman Empire
  8. Volcanoes in History
  9. The Physics of Fun
  10. Physics of Roller Coasters
  11. Handling Stress
  12. Getting Information


Chapter 1: Digging Up Fossils

  1. Tell how scientists learned about dinosaurs.
  2. Describe the likenesses and differences between plant eaters and meat eaters.
  3. Write a story. Title it "Digging Up the Past." Include Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops as two of your characters.

The News about Dinosaurs

  1. Scientists believe there were warm-blooded dinosaurs. Explain why they believe this.
  2. Many years ago scientists thought they knew how dinosaurs walked. Scientists today think differently. Compare the ideas of long ago to the ideas of today.
  3. Be a fossil hunter. Create and name a dinosaur that no one has discovered. Describe your dinosaur. Place your dinosaur in an era and period.
 
Chapter 2: Digging Up Ancient Objects

  1. Archaeologists uncovered tombs in Egypt. Tell what the archaeologists found.
  2. King Tut was nine years old. Imagine a nine-year-old being king or president today. Tell why this would or would not be good.
  3. Write a news story for your class newspaper. Imagine you visited ancient Egypt. Tell about the most interesting thing you learned there.
 
Chapter 3: Types of Fitness

  1. When you are physically fit, your body works better. List five areas of fitness. Tell how you can improve each of these areas.
  2. Look at the chart on page 47 of your Student Book. Compare the activities. Choose the four best activities to help control body fatness.
  3. Name your family's native country. Describe a game children play in that county. Give the rules of the game.
 
Chapter 4: Olympic Challenges

  1. Three skills in the Olympic games were important for soldiers. Name the three skills.
  2. Compare and contrast winners of early Olympic games to winners of today's Olympic games. Tell something that is the same. Tell something that is different.
  3. Imagine you are an Olympic athlete. Choose your event. Tell what you do. List the equipment you use. Share how much practice time you need. Discuss your feelings when you are in your game.

"Atalanta and the Golden Apples"

  1. Tell what myths do.
  2. In the story, Hippomenes and Atalanta each make a decision. Hippomenes decides to race Atalanta, even though it means he may die. Atalanta decides to pick up the golden apples, even though it means she may lose the race. Tell whether you think these were good decisions. Explain why you think as you do.
  3. Continue the story of Atalanta and Hippomenes. Write what you think happens next.
 
Chapter 5: Life Underwater

  1. Tell what happens to the temperature of the water in the ocean as the water gets deeper.
  2. Compare the temperature of the water in the coral reefs, the light zone, and the dark zone of the ocean. Explain the differences.
  3. Create a fish that lives near the top of the ocean. Name your fish. Describe your fish. Include its colors, size, movement, and any more information you choose.
"Why The Sea Is Salty"

  1. Explain how the story says the sea became salty.
  2. Tell who you liked better, Ichiro or Jiro. Explain why.
  3. Create and write a folk tale. In your tale, include one good person and one bad person. Have something good happen to the good person and something bad happen to the bad person.
 
Chapter 6: Taking Care of the Ocean

  1. List and describe four ways people pollute oceans.
  2. Reuse, reduce, and recycle are three ways people can help the environment. If you could do only one of these things, tell which you would choose. Tell why.
  3. Identify a pollution problem in your neighborhood. Plan a pollution solution. Create something that would help students keep their neighborhood clean. Describe this thing and tell how it would work.
 
Chapter 7: The Roman Empire

  1. Explain why many things are the same in different cultures.
  2. Identify three things citizens could do in Roman times that they can also do today. Identify something different about voting in Roman times and voting today.
  3. There will be an international luncheon at school. You have to bring your favorite dish from your family's native country. Write the recipe. Include a list of ingredients and tell how to make the dish.
 
Chapter 8: Volcanoes in History

  1. Tell what happens when a volcano erupts.
  2. Shield, cinder cone, and composite volcanoes form mountains. Describe these mountains. Compare their sizes and shapes.
  3. Imagine you are an archaeologist. You have just found a city that had been covered by an erupting volcano. Describe the city and tell what you found.

"The God Vulcan," Hill of Fire

  1. The word volcano comes from the myth about Vulcan. Tell who Vulcan was.
  2. Jupiter threw his son, Vulcan, from the top of Mount Olympus. Judge what Jupiter did. Analyze if you think it was right or wrong. Tell your reasons.
  3. Pablo and his family had to leave their home because it was not safe. Write a journal entry telling how you would feel if you had to leave your home.
 
Chapter 9: The Physics of Fun

  1. Explain motion, force, and friction.
  2. You are a soccer player. You are on the soccer field. Your leg is back. You are about to bring your leg forward. Predict what will happen to the ball. Explain why.
  3. Use your imagination. Write a story titled "What Goes Up Must Come Down."

"The Tug of War"

  1. Describe how Tortoise tricked Hippo and Elephant.
  2. Think about Tortoise, Hippo, and Elephant. Choose which one you would like to be and why.
  3. In "The Tug of War," Tortoise outsmarted Hippo and Elephant. Write a tale. In your story, create a character who outsmarts another character.
 
Chapter 10: Physics of Roller Coasters

  1. Tell what you know about how roller coasters move.
  2. There are two roller coasters. The hills on one roller coaster are much higher than the hills on the other roller coaster. Tell which roller coaster would be faster. Tell why it would be faster.
  3. Imagine you just got off a roller coaster. Describe the feelings you had when the roller coaster zoomed and twisted.
 
Chapter 11: Handling Stress

  1. List and describe six things your body does in response to stress.
  2. Look at page 200 in your Student Book. Evaluate Sally's response. Tell if you agree or disagree with Sally's advice. Write what your response would be.
  3. Winning and celebrating are examples of times of good stress. Write a journal entry describing a time you felt good stress.

From In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

  1. Describe Shirley's first day at school.
  2. Evaluate Shirley's decision to leave school for lunch. Tell if this was a right or wrong decision. Tell why.
  3. Tell about a decision you have made. Tell if it was a right or wrong decision and why.
 
Chapter 12: Getting Information

  1. Name five sources of information.
  2. You need to write a report about the current President of the United States. Select the sources you would use. Explain your choices.
  3. You are going to interview a favorite singer. Tell who this person is. Plan and write at least five questions to ask this person.