We all try to keep positivity at the top of our priority list when it comes to our students. You want them to stay upbeat and motivated all day, but sometimes that is easier said than done. Although 3rd graders may not have the same stress as adults, they still have to deal with their own challenging situations and sometimes that can bring their morale down.
It’s always a good idea to remind your students to keep positive attitudes—about themselves, the world around them and how to use positivity when they face difficult situations. A positive learning environment helps students get excited about gaining new knowledge and can set the stage for their future academic career.
These writing prompts are perfect for reinforcing positive thinking in the classroom and how to handle negative thoughts when they do arise.
Promote Positivity with These 3 Narrative Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade
Use the following writing prompts as an opportunity for your students to reflect on what positivity is, who influences their lives in a positive way and how they’ve overcome adversity. This is a great way to help you keep the importance of positive thinking front and center in your classroom while your students simultaneously improve their writing skills.
Writing Prompt #1: Tell me about something was hard or frustrating. How did you get through this frustrating time?
All of your students have probably faced what they would consider a difficult situation at some point before or during third grade. Writing about it and reminding themselves about how they overcame the problem is a good way to help your students remember how they can get through a difficult time.
You certainly don’t want anyone to make fun of or minimize anyone else’s problems—so it’s important to stress that a problem that is frustrating and difficult can mean something different to everyone. Remind your students that the important part of the story is how they overcame their personal situation.
PROJECT IDEA
One way to help students think about the ways to overcome hard or frustrating situations is to brainstorm the various ways to cope with different types of problems. Each student should share with the class or a trusted partner how they faced their situation head on. They can then put their thoughts down on paper in order to answer the writing prompt above. Have your students create an illustration in connection with the writing depicting how they fixed or plan to fix their problem. For example, “talked through the problem with my friend” would result in a picture of the two of them talking or even hugging after it was resolved. Making a classbook out of this project will give your students a chance to keep a positive memory and remind them of how to handle different types of problems!
Writing Prompt #2: Tell me a story about a time that someone had a positive influence on you. What did you learn from that experience?
This writing prompt is the perfect opportunity for your students to remember the positive influences in their lives—from teachers and parents to grandparents and friends. Hopefully it’s hard to pick just one story!
You might help along your third grade students by providing a few relatable examples. Encourage your students to think about how family members, close friends or a neighbor might demonstrate positive thinking and how to be a good influence.
Family members are going to be the most likely candidates, but there could be someone who really feels strongly that a babysitter or a family friend exhibits a behavior they want to model.
PROJECT IDEA
Have your students write about when their chosen person influenced them in a positive way and draw a picture of themselves with this person. If possible, have all of your students take a photo with that person to base their illustration on. Students can also illustrate when the influence happened and what that situation looked like. After your students complete their writing assignment and illustration, combine everything into an inspiring classbook that will be published in a professionally bound book for you! A fun way to celebrate the arrival of the published books is to have students invite their influential person to your classroom—perhaps without telling them exactly what the reason for the visit is—and have a classbook and positive thinking party!
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Writing Prompt #3: What does positive thinking mean to you? Why is it important to stay positive?
Of course, we want our students to know that it’s certainly normal to have emotions and they should understand it’s OK to feel sad or unhappy. However, it’s also important to demonstrate the power of positive thinking—as cliche as it may sound.
This writing prompt gives your students the chance to talk about how important positive thinking is to them and why. Remind them about what you mean by “positive thinking”— reminding yourself that the world is a wonderful place and even during tough times, you will be okay as long as you love yourself and embrace the world around you.
PROJECT IDEA
Have your students create a positivity board—why is positive thinking important? What words help remind you to stay positive? They can also add images that remind them to stay positive to their boards. Have them then take their boards and use their thoughts to answer the writing prompt. They can then draw a picture that represents how they view positivity, how they stay positive or even how they use positive thinking to help themselves or others. Take the writing and illustration and put them together to create a classbook. The students will love seeing their positivity books published!
Extra tools
Stop by our online teacher’s lounge to discover more ideas and discussions on way to improve your students’ writing.
Also, be sure to sign up and receive a free classbook publishing kit so you too can see what a special moment it is when your students see their published classbooks for the first time.