Practice Zone: Sharpen Your Skills!
Welcome to the Practice Zone! This is where you put everything you've learned into action. Think of it as the training arena for your writing adventures. Below you'll find lots of exciting prompts, especially focused on animals and adventures, to get your imagination firing. Choose a prompt, remember the strategies from the Playbook and the specific Task Type pages, plan your writing, and let your creativity flow!
Remember to spend a few minutes planning before you start writing, using tools like the Adventure Arc or Sensory Map. Good luck, writer!
Narrative Story Prompts (Animals & Adventure)
- Write a story about a brave squirrel who must retrieve a stolen nut from a grumpy badger's den.
- Imagine you discover a hidden map tattooed on the back of a lizard. Write a story about the adventure that follows.
- A young wolf gets separated from its pack during a snowstorm. Write about its journey to find its way back.
- Write a story titled "The Day the Animals Learned to Talk". What adventures or problems occur?
- Imagine a monkey finds a crashed drone in the jungle. Write about what it does next.
- Write a story about a group of penguins who decide to go on an expedition to find the legendary 'Land of Endless Fish'.
- A child befriends a lost baby dragon. Write about their secret adventures together.
- Write a story from the perspective of a guide dog leading its owner on an unexpected adventure through a busy city.
- Imagine you shrink down to the size of an insect. Write about your adventure crossing your own back garden.
- Write a story about a sea turtle trying to find a safe place to lay her eggs, facing dangers along the way.
Descriptive Scene Prompts (Animals & Adventure)
- Describe the moment just before a pride of lions begins a hunt on the savanna. Use all your senses.
- Paint a picture with words of a hidden, overgrown temple deep in the jungle, recently rediscovered.
- Describe the view from the back of a giant eagle as it soars high above snow-capped mountains.
- Describe a bustling underwater coral reef city, full of strange and colourful sea creatures.
- Describe the inside of a cosy badger's sett during a winter storm.
- Describe the scene as a group of explorers enters a dark, mysterious cave filled with glowing insects.
- Describe an elephant bathing pool at sunset. Focus on the sounds, sights, and atmosphere.
- Describe a chaotic monkey market high in the treetops.
- Describe the moment a volcano starts to erupt, from the perspective of an animal living nearby.
- Describe a shipwreck found on a deserted beach, focusing on the details that hint at its story.
Other Task Prompts (Animals & Adventure)
- Diary/Recount: Write a diary entry as an explorer who has just survived a close encounter with a yeti in the Himalayas. Use the FEAR formula.
- Diary/Recount: Write a recount from the perspective of a parrot who escaped its cage and flew over the city for the first time.
- Persuasive Letter: Write a letter to your local council persuading them to create a safe crossing (like a tunnel or bridge) for migrating frogs across a busy road. Use P.E.E.L.
- Persuasive Letter: Write a letter to the manager of a national park arguing that wolves should be reintroduced to help control the deer population.
- Discursive Essay: Discuss the arguments for and against using tracker devices on wild animals for research. Use a T-chart to plan.
- Discursive Essay: Explore the different viewpoints on whether it is right to keep exotic animals, like snakes or parrots, as pets.
- Report/Article: Write a newspaper report about the discovery of a previously unknown species of giant spider in the Amazon rainforest. Use the Inverted Pyramid.
- Report/Article: Write a report for a wildlife magazine about the successful rescue of a dolphin trapped in fishing nets. Include quotes.
Monkebius says: "Choose your quest, grab your planning map, and start writing! Every practice makes you a stronger writing adventurer!"