One book I return to frequently is Don Murray’s “The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America’s Greatest Writing Teacher.” Murray describes the exploration of writing as a “process of discovery through language.” By “discovery” he is referring to the writing process but also how students find their own voices by writing, in essence their own truths. He said, “We are coaches, encouragers, developers, creators of environments in which our students can experience the writing process for themselves.”

Our lesson plans contain a ‘Reflecting and Projecting’ section which includes writing prompts to demonstrate students’ understanding of the film or photo essay they just viewed. The questions challenge students to write short narratives, consult secondary sources to make comparisons/contrasts, create potential solutions, respond to thought-provoking quotes, as well as provide their perspectives, experiences, and opinions on personal to global issues.

This collection is a compilation of lesson plans with some of my favorite writing prompts. The following is one of my favorite prompts from the lesson plan “Our Shared Humanity,” a companion to the short film My Enemy, My Brother by Ann Shin: Do you think positive human characteristics (such as love, empathy, and compassion) have the ability to cut across other "borders," such as gender, race, ethnicity, or different economic backgrounds? If so, how? Write a paragraph to explain your answer citing examples either from your own life or from a story in the media.

You can now create your own collection on our platform and publish a link to share with your students and colleagues. What collection will you create?