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Writing Prompts for 3rd Grade

This fun assortment  writing prompts for 3rd grade may be just what you need to get kids thinking, writing and spelling! Use one prompt at time, or hand out the entire set. This list contains 12  interesting fiction and non-fiction prompts.

list writing prompts for 3rd grade

Text from the Printable Page

If you don't require the illustrated printable page, here is the text from this set of writing prompts. Note that each prompt contains a bold word, from our third grade spelling word list.

See my suggestions below for using these prompts.

boy on a ball doing a balancing act with a big stack of plates, cups and more

 1. It’s Wrong Day at school. The right answers are wrong. If you sit in your normal seat, you are in the wrong seat. What else might happen?

2. If you joined the circus, what act would you like to do?

3. Once upon a time, there was a turtle named Tortellini. What happened?

4. In the morning, what sound do you most like to hear?

5. What things would you like to put on your mom’s shopping list, and why?

queen with robe and crown

6. Pretend you live in a castle. What would you like to do to help the queen?

7. You finished in first place in a math contest. What prize were you given?

8. Suppose you ran really fast to get home from school as quickly as possible. Why would you do that?

pair of feet with matching shoes and socks

9. Where is the best place in your house to eat dinner? Why?

10. Your aunt wants to sew a quilt for you. What color should it be? What designs would you like to have on it?

11. Do you like to wear socks that match? Why or why not?

12. A giant walked into your classroom. Other kids were afraid. But you were not. Why? 

Tips for using these grade writing prompts for 3rd grade:

  • Write one prompt at a time on the board, so that the entire class can write about the same one.
  • Or, offer three at a time, and give students their choice of prompts.
  • For extra spelling practice, ask students to use the words in BOLD at least once or twice in each piece that they write. 
  • Encourage kids to illustrate their work.
  • When appropriate, post student work on a classroom display. Be sure they've had the opportunity to edit their work before posting it. 
  • Try this set of 3rd grade writing prompts, too!

More Writing Resources

If you're looking for more writing prompts for 3rd grade and related resources, I recommend . . . 

AnyWord Writing Prompts eBook

AnyWord Writing Prompts - Here's a fun collection of original writing prompts that is perfect for middle grade students.  They're also a simple way to provide some extra spelling practice!  See these Creative Writing Worksheets which are sample pages from this eBook. 

Sentence Solvers and Excellent Excerpts - Great teaching ideas that help kids spell to write and read. 

Story Puzzles and A Listening Lesson - Great ideas for 3rd-5th grade classrooms.

3rd grade vocabulary word list

3rd Grade Vocabulary Words 200 words to boost your child's spoken and written language skills, arranged alphabetically!  Print the complete list from the web page for best results. 100 of the words also appear in an engaging printable, arranged by helpful topics. 

Author Ann Richmond Fisher

Ann Richmond Fisher is a longtime published educational writer, a former classroom teacher and a former homeschool teacher. Ann's spelling bee resources, graded spelling word lists, spelling games, worksheets, and other language arts resources have become respected around the globe since she launched Spelling-Words-Well in 2010.

Ann is also the creator of www.word-game-world.com.


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Spelling Bee Toolboxes for Grades 3/5 and  6/8    All the resources you need for a successful bee!

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Anyword Spelling Practice eBooks from www.spelling-words-well.com

AnyWord Spelling Practice Series   Fun Worksheets, games & prompts that work with almost ANY spelling words!

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Spelling Bee Toolboxes for Grades 3/5 and  6/8    All the resources you need for a successful bee!