Spark thoughtful classroom discussions and meaningful writing about migrant life with these engaging writing prompts.
Explore the Ups and Downs of Migrant Life
Migrant life can be tough. It involves leaving behind familiar surroundings, adapting to new cultures and facing challenges such as language barriers and homesickness. Teaching students about the migrant experience helps build empathy, encourages inclusive thinking and deepens understanding of the diverse backgrounds that make up communities.
To help your students explore these themes, Teach Starter has created this set of 12 open-ended writing prompts. Each prompt is designed to encourage reflection on the migrant experience and help students empathize with what it might feel like to move to a new country.
Example Prompt: Write a narrative (story) about a migrant who finds friendship in
an unexpected place in their new country. Be sure to create a rich personality and background for your migrant. In your story, explain how this new friendship influences the migrant’s experience and feelings about living in a new country.
Some of the other migrant life writing prompts found in this resource include:
- Diary Entry
- A Letter Home
- Migrant Interview
- Strength in Diversity
- Letter to the Community
- And many more!
Using these prompts will enable your students to develop and strengthen their writing skills while also considering the themes of change, identity, belonging and resilience.
More Activities for Exploring the Migrant Experience
These versatile writing prompts can be used for more than just writing! Here are a few suggestions on how you could adapt these prompts for additional classroom activities:
- Class Discussions – Use the prompts as conversation starters to explore students’ thoughts and questions about the experiences of migrants.
- Role Play and Drama – Encourage students to act out short scenes based on the writing prompts, helping them delve deeper into what life can be like for migrants.
- Accompanying Artwork – Once students have completed their writing, have them create an artwork to accompany and complement their text.
These activities support both literacy outcomes and social-emotional learning by encouraging thoughtful engagement with this important real-world issue.
Download These Migrant Life Writing Prompts
This resource can be downloaded as a full-color PDF or editable Google Slides file. Use the Download button above to select your preferred file format.
Print the cards on cardstock to increase the durability of the resource. Place the cards together in a large envelope or ziplock bag for safekeeping.
More Immigration Resources From Teach Starter
Click below to access more teacher-created, curriculum-aligned resources to use when exploring migration and related themes with your students.
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Migration & Immigration PowerPoint / Slides Presentation
Introduce your students to human migration and immigration with in-depth Immigration PowerPoint presentations.
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Immigration Worksheets - 4th & 5th Grade Reading Comprehension Pack
Use our printable Immigration Worksheets to introduce your students to the concept of immigration and the reasons why people migrate to new countries.
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Human Migration Match-Up Activity
A match-up activity linking human migration terms, examples and definitions.
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