Free Journal Topics for 3rd Grade

Incorporate journal writing into the daily classroom routine.

Free journal writing in the third grade allows students to express themselves through their daily writing. These young students practice their writing skills without the stress of having their writing graded for mechanics and grammar. Journal writing is most successful in the classroom when it becomes a part of the daily routine. The students become more confident in all types of writing by gaining confidence through their daily journal writes.

Favorites

"My Favorite Holiday" is a favorite title for third grade students.

Children love to write about themselves. Free journal topics that ask the students to name their favorite of something is a creative starting point. Write the journal topic title on the whiteboard, or project on the interactive whiteboard, "My Favorite ___________." The teacher fills in the blank with a favorite topic. Their favorite color, holiday, restaurant, movie or song, are examples of the endless bank of topics to complete the favorite title.

Picture Prompts

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Pictures are inspirational and convey different meanings to different writers. Project a picture on your board, either through your interactive whiteboard, document camera or projector hooked up to the Internet. Inspiring pictures are available at Pic - Lit, a website with thought provoking pictures displaying fresh photos daily. "Life" magazine also presents photos to spark a topic for the day's journal writing in their "Top Photos of the Day" segment.

How-To

How-to topics are not only fun to write for the students, it is also revealing for the teacher to read. Write the title on the board, "How-to _______________." Fill in the blank with a title you want to know if they understand. For example, if the students are learning how to cursive write, ask them to write "How-to Make an Uppercase 'B' in Cursive Writing." The blank can also be filled in with more trivial matters: tie a shoelace, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or catch a ball. The topic can be more thoughtful, such as how to make a friend, apologize to your sibling or handle a bully on the playground.

What If

"What If I Was Abducted by an Alien" can be a creative, fun topic for your third graders.

"What If" titles bring out the fantasy writer in third graders. Motivate the students with your topic prompt to imagine something fantastical happens to them. Some topic ideas to provide are "What If I Was Abducted by an Alien," "What If I Spent the Day as My Pencil" or "What If I Became the Teacher for the Day."

References

• Education World: Curriculum: Journal Writing Every Day: Teachers Say It Really Works!; Gary Hopkins; 2010
• Write Source: Writing Topics
• The Northern Nevada Writing Project and WritingFix: Right-Brained Writing Prompts
• The Northern Nevada Writing Project and WritingFix: Left-Brain Writing Prompts

Resources

• PicLit: Create a Pic Lit
• "Life" Magazine: Your World in Pictures