"Pretend You're a School Bus!" Writing Prompt Craftivities

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1-2-3 Come Do a Super-Fun Writing Prompt With Me

No matter what grade I taught, if I added a bit of craftiness to a writing prompt, I’d grab my students’ attention.
Once they saw my example, they were excited to make one of their own and get right down to business.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, With that “focused & happy engagement” in mind, I thought a super-fun writing prompt, would be for students to pretend to be a school bus; which is a glimpse of “personification”, “point of view” and “text to self”.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, bus safety posters, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, If you’ve gone over bus safety with your kiddos, this is also an interesting way to reinforce those rules.

As one of the posters states: “I’m a bus and I’ve got something to say; which includes some rules that you need to obey.”

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, For example, my bus says: “Thank you for not eating or drinking. I hate getting all sticky and dirty. It makes me smell bad too.” Younger students can write a simpler sentence, like "Railroad crossing! Quiet please." etc.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, To introduce the craftivity, read “Bus Chatter”.

It's a little ditty I wrote, as a fun way to grab students' attention, give examples, and motivate kiddos with an “It’s your turn” challenge.

The packet includes 5 large, (full page) black & white bus patterns for students to choose from.

There are also 2 speech bubble options.

Students choose a bus, color & cut it out, then fill in a speech bubble with their final draft of “bus chit chat”.

Add extra pizzazz to the “flashing lights”, with flat-backed rhinestones, or red and gold glitter. 

A school photo adds that “finishing touch”.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, Completed projects make an interesting bulletin board too.

I've included several posters to explain your display.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, You can also use the two extra buses provided, as examples, then include them on your bulletin board for added interest.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, One reminds students to check for traffic, the other reasures children that a bus is built for their safety.

Besides the craftivity, you can also make a class book. There’s a cover, last page and 5 page options.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, As always, there are matching colorful templates for teachers.

I’ve also included my text-filled bubbles, if you’d like to use those, to expedite making an example to share.

Because students really enjoy this type of writing, you can certainly do both activities.

bus safety activities, bus safety posters, writing prompts for back to school, bus activities, bus rules, a list of bus rules, bus word search, back to school bulletin board, Since "National Bus Safety Month" is celebrated in October, do the craftivity for "back to school", then make the class book later in the fall; which will hopefully show lots of improvement!

For some word work, and vocabulary-building, I’ve also included a bus safety word find, which is a fun pre-writing activity. 

There's also a few other goodies to round out the packet. 

bucket filling activities, tweet board, something to tweet about writing prompt, writing prompt for back to school, classroom managementToday's featured FREEBIE is also a creative writing prompt called "Tweet Talk". 

Often teachers are so busy teaching, that sometimes they can miss important things that are happening in their students' lives.

Putting up a tweet board on a door, wall or bulletin board, helps you stay informed and builds community.
A more caring classroom will be created.

back to school activities, bucket filling, writing prompts for September, back to school writing promptsWell that's it for today. Thanks for stoppping by.

The thunder is booming and the lightning is crackling as it pours. Love a summer storm to soak my flower garden. 

Great day to hunker down and design some more fun stuff for school. Woo Hoo!

"Children must be taught HOW to think, not WHAT to think!" -Margaret Mead

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