10 Middle School Writing Prompts to Make Students Laugh

Are you tired of the same old writing prompts? You know the ones: Imagine you’re a character in your favorite novel. Write a letter to your 18-year-old self. What would you do if you found $2,000?

Yeah, these are fine, but they’re not exactly page turners. Or humorous. Here are 10 prompts to tickle your funny bone and make someone in your life laugh. Have fun!

That time you farted when it was quiet…
The first joke you ever laughed at…
A mistake your mom or dad made that got everyone in the family laughing…
What your dog thinks about when you’re too busy to take him outside for a walk…
Why your cat hates people…
When you walk into a pet store, what the fish talk about behind your back…
If you could give your 4 closest friends nicknames, what are the funniest nicknames for each one, and why?
If you could do a stand-up comedy routine about your coach, youth leader, or principal, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Why you hide the clothes your mom told you to put away (an excuse story/tall tale)…
How your (cat, dog, horse, fill in the name of your pet here) would dress you if you were the “talent” on your pet’s Best Dressed TV show…

Genre Writing Activities for Middle School and Upper Elementary School

Fun writing activities for middle school and upper elementary school students are sometimes hard to find! That’s why I created Your Story Matters. It’s a genre writing activity for older elementary school students or middle school students. Also, I’ll occasionally poll my readers with specific questions to help me add to my own novels – so watch this space! You can submit your ideas at any time through the pop-up box under this menu tab.

Your Story Matters

– How you craft it matters.

– How you listen to and read other people’s stories matters.

Come back here regularly for new activities related to sharing your story and highlighting stories for young readers.

What is your story?

You can write a mystery, a memoir, a poem or a short story. I’ve included some definitions of each below. All stories — even true ones like memoirs — have a beginning, a middle, and an end. All good stories have background details to explain things like setting, time period, and introduce the characters. All great stories have a plot with rising action (building tension), a climax (the highest point of the story), a problem or conflict, and the falling action (leading up to the resolution), and the resolution (how is the problem solved — or how does it lead to a new problem?).

Mystery: a fictional story about solving a crime

If you choose to write a mystery, make sure to include two of the images below somewhere in your story.

Memoir: a type of autobiography written using first person (“I” did this; “My” cat was…). Usually tells not the person’s entire life story, but one main season or event in that person’s story. It is real, but the author (writing about himself or herself) can add or slightly change some aspects if it’s needed to help the reader understand the story.

Poem: Kids.britannica.com says that poetry “is a type of literature, or artistic writing, that attempts to stir a reader’s imagination or emotions. The poet (author of a poem) does this by carefully choosing or arranging language” for what it means, how it sounds, or the patterns and rhythms it makes.

Short story: (A short story can also be a mystery, and a mystery can also be a short story.) There are many types of short stories. At its most basic level, a short story is a smaller work of fiction than a novel. It does share the story elements of a novel (character, setting, and plot), but in a short story, the plot is usually based on a simple narrative. It is not complex with multiple problems or conflicts. Also, characters are usually just a few and are not wholly developed. We may or may not see them change in the short story like we might in a novel. Types of short stories might include mystery, fable, adventure, action, or fantasy.

Here are some links to incredible memoirs, mysteries, short stories, and poems. Remember, don’t ever copy someone else’s work word for word. You can be inspired by others’ work (we all are!), but it must be YOUR STORY.