Story Starters Teaching Resources
Explore story starters for kids and printable worksheets created by teachers to spark your elementary and middle school students' imaginations as they learn all about narrative writing.
This collection of curriculum-aligned teaching resources has been carefully reviewed by our expert teaching team to make sure every resource is classroom-ready — so we can make your lesson planning easier!
New to using story starters in the classroom, or just looking for new ways to engage your students? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
What Are Story Starters?
A story starter is a great tool to help students begin a narrative writing piece! These prompts can help your students unlock their creativity and inspire them to explore more graphic elements in their writing — everything from imagery to figurative language.
For new writers, a blank page can be daunting, and it's easy to get frustrated or develop a serious case of writer's block when you're not sure where to begin. Using a story starter can prevent that frustration from setting in and help your students develop their writing skills.
What Are Good Story Starters for Kids?
The key to a good story starter for students is relatability! Story starters that can inspire kids to put pencil to paper are age-appropriate and relatable to their experiences. After all — the goal is to make writing easier for kids, not present new challenges.
A good story starter for kids can be anything from a question, a statement or even an interesting image such as a photograph. It should be open-ended and allow for multiple interpretations. This encourages your students to think critically and creatively.
You also want to be mindful that the story starter you're presenting should capture kids' attention — simply being relatable isn't enough if it bores them! The more engaging the starter, the more engaged your student and the more engaging they can make the resulting piece of writing.
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Labor Day Vocabulary Cards and Writing Center
Learn about Labor Day and write sentences using academic vocabulary with a Labor Day word wall and printable writing templates.
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What Happened Next? – Cinderella Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of CInderella in their own, unique way.
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Winter Writing Prompts for Beginning Writers
Celebrate winter and your growing writers with Winter writing worksheets for Kindergarten and first grade.
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Narrative Writing Lesson: Story Leads to Hook Readers
Hook readers with this narrative writing lesson that introduces your students to eleven story starting strategies.
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My Dream Story - Writing Prompt Template
Dream up some great stories using this creative story-writing prompt.
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Narrative Writing Prompts Worksheets
Download these engaging narrative writing prompts worksheets that spark creativity and make story planning easy for your students.
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What Happened Next? – The Three Little Pigs Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of The Three Little Pigs in their own, unique way.
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Goldilocks and The Three Bears - Finish the Story Writing Prompt
Finish the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story in your own words.
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Narrative Story Starter Worksheets - Writing Prompts
Use our printable narrative writing prompt worksheets to boost your students' imaginative writing skills.
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My Monster Story Template
Use this simple story template to get your students writing simple narratives based on a sequence of events.
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Easter Writing Prompts - Dear Diary
Encourage imagination with a fun set of Easter writing prompts!
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Easter Bunny Craft for Preschoolers
Celebrate Easter while encouraging imaginative storytelling with this bunny craft for preschoolers.
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April Fools' Day Writing Prompts
Celebrate April Fools' Day in the classroom with these fun writing prompt worksheets.
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Groundhog Day for Kids - Writing Prompts
Celebrate Groundhog Day and write imaginative stories using a collection of Groundhog Day writing prompts.
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What Happened Next? – Little Red Riding Hood Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of Little Red Riding Hood in their own, unique way.
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What Happened Next? – Jack and the Beanstalk Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of Jack and the Beanstalk in their own, unique way.
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What Happened Next? – The Gingerbread Man Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of The Gingerbread Man in their own, unique way.
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What Happened Next? – Alice in Wonderland Writing Template
A template for students to finish the story of Alice in Wonderland in their own, unique way.
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Narrative Writing Poster
A poster to encourage your students to think about narrative writing.
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My Ideal World – Writing Template
A template for students to use when writing about their ideal world.
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What If? Materials Template
A set of 6 templates to use when investigating the properties of materials.
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Adventure Story Starter Task Cards
Print and use these Adventure Story Starter Task Cards to inspire adventurous narrative writings.
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"If I Was an Astronaut ..." – Writing Template
A writing prompt template for students to write what they would do if they were an astronaut.
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Curious Creatures Character Spinner
A curious creature character spinner to use in a variety of ways.
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Roll to Create a Superhero Comic
A fun, hands-on activity using a die and a chart to create a comic strip story.
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Roll to Create a Groundhog Story
A fun, hands-on Groundhog Day activity using a die and a chart to create a narrative text.
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Narrative Setting Craft Templates
A set of circular diorama templates that combine to create three scenes.
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Writing Prompt Jar – Cut and Assemble Kit
A set of labels and prompts to create a writing prompt jar.
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Narrative Setting Prompts Posters
A set of 2 posters giving ideas for the setting of a narrative.
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Storytelling Cubes
Roll our Storytelling Cubes to generate fun narrative writing prompts to use in your classroom.
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Genre of the Month - Writing Prompt Grids (Upper)
Introduce your students to a variety of writing genres with our printable genre-specific writing prompt grids.
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Magical Story Starters Task Cards
Get your students writing magical stories with this set of story starter task cards.