The end of the school year is near, and everyone has one thing on their mind—summer vacation! And while summertime can be a ton of fun, it can also be a bit of a distraction in the classroom. Whether you’re looking for something to help keep your current 2nd grade students’ minds on their schoolwork for the next few weeks or looking ahead and planning projects for the next academic year, these summer-themed writing prompts and project ideas are just the thing to channel all that extra energy toward something productive.
Prompt #1: “The strangest thing happened during one summer vacation…”
Prompt #1: “The strangest thing happened during one summer vacation…”
We all know vacations don’t always go as planned. This creative summer writing prompt is as flexible as it is fun—you can ask your students to use real personal experiences for a little practice with personal narratives, or have them make up a fictional story and let their imaginations run wild. No matter which direction you pursue, their responses are sure to be entertaining.
PROJECT IDEA
If you’re planning ahead for next year, you can easily turn this into a fantastic class project by using this story starter as the basis for a classbook. After your students have written their responses, ask them to illustrate their stories—comic book panel-style. Then, publish their work in a graphic-novel style classbook that will bring the joy of summer to life all year round!
Prompt #2: “Create your own summer bucket list.”
Put a spin on the classic “What are you looking forward to this summer?” prompt with this writing activity by asking your students to create a list of all the things they want to do the most this summer. Encourage them to think outside the box and dream big—this is their chance to explore things they’re passionate about, whether that’s rock-climbing in the Andes, reading all of the books in The Magic Treehouse series or joining a local sports team. The sky’s the limit!
PROJECT IDEA
If you’d rather make this a project for next year, tweak the prompt slightly—instead of asking your students to fill their “bucket list” with want-to-dos, ask them to fill it with their best summer memories. Ask them to first draw the outline of a bucket and then fill it with words and short phrases that reflect these memories. Then have them choose one to illustrate. Finally, publish their bucket illustrations in a cute classbook project!
Prompt #3: “Choose a plant or animal that lives on the beach or in the ocean and share three fascinating facts about it.”
Sneak some science into your end-of-year classroom activities with this ocean-themed writing prompt. From sharks and dolphins to manatees and their favorite seaweed snacks, everyone is sure to learn something new about whatever aquatic flora or fauna they choose to feature.
PROJECT IDEA
To kick off next year with an awesome class project, ask your students to sign up for (or assign them) one plant and/or animal each to write about. For a larger class, you may even ask them to work together in pairs or in groups. Once they’ve written their responses, have them peer edit each other’s work and revise their answers accordingly. Finally, ask them to provide illustrations of their chosen specimens in their natural habitats. Publish their work in a cool, collaborative classbook, and when the finished books arrive, be sure to celebrate with an “Undersea Celebration” themed publishing party!
Channeling Summer Fun in the Classroom
As a certain animated snowman would agree, there’s no time like summertime. The sun is bright, the sky is blue and the surf is up. It’s all too easy, whether it’s the last week of school or the first, to get lost in daydreams and memories of fun in the sun. Summer-themed writing prompts like these can help your students keep their cool—and stay focused!—by using their enthusiasm about the hottest season of the year as fuel for practicing their creative writing.
For more cool classroom resources—for this academic year or for the next!—be sure to check out our online teacher’s lounge and sign up for a free publishing kit.
Image sources: Lead image via Shutterstock; Images 1, 2, 3 via OpenClipart.org