Five Ways Teachers Can Use Writing Warmups:

1. Pass it around the class and let the students choose their own story idea.

2. Choose one warmup and give the kids ten minutes to quick-write and then select the two best sentences to read to the class.

3. Write three warmups on the board or overhead and challenge your writers to combine them into one story.

4. Write one warmup on the board and ask your writers how you can develop one or more literary elements (plot, setting, conflict, character, theme, etc.) from your selection.

5. Have each student choose a number between one and 1000 and use the prompt that corresponds to that choice. (Thank-you to a fellow teacher for that idea.)