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Persuasive writing is one of those skills that can help students succeed in real life. Learn the basics of this valuable skill, then use our big roundup of persuasive essay topics for practice.
Plus, fill out the form on this page to grab our free printable persuasive essay graphic organizers to pair with your lessons!
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What is persuasive writing?
In a persuasive essay, the writer uses a combination of facts and emotion to sway a reader to adopt their own point of view or take a specific action. Here are the general steps to writing persuasively:
State your position: Clearly and succinctly, state your desired opinion or outcome up front. This could be the point of view you want the reader to adopt (“Pineapple has no place on a pizza.”) or the action you want them to take (“All adults should educate themselves and vote in every election.”).
Provide evidence and support: Use facts to support your point of view, citing sources whenever you can. Explain how those facts back up your position, using logic and reason.
Anticipate counterarguments: It’s important to know your audience so you can anticipate any counterarguments they might make and try to overcome them.
Use emotional appeals: Persuasive essays are similar to argumentative essays, but they incorporate more emotion rather than sticking to facts and logic. For instance, you might try to anger, scare, or create a sense of pride in your reader so they’ll be more likely to agree with you.
Make a call to action: Finish strong with the specific action you’d like the reader to take, whether it’s voting responsibly or never putting pineapple on a pizza again.
Do the benefits of nuclear power outweigh the risks?
Is it right for countries to still maintain nuclear weapon arsenals?
Should testing on animals be made illegal?
Will expanded use of artificial intelligence be good for humanity?
Should all people have free internet access in their homes?
Is there intelligent life on other planets?
Does technology create more jobs than it eliminates?
Should parents use their children’s cell phones to track where they are?
Should scientists try to develop a way for people to live forever?
What’s the best type of smartphone: Android or iPhone?
Which is better, Macs or PCs?
Do people rely too much on technology in the modern world?
Should cryptocurrencies replace cash?
Should there be a minimum age requirement to own a smartphone?
All people have a responsibility to help combat climate change.
Is it important to keep spending money on space exploration, or should we use the money for other things?
Should kids under 13 be allowed to use social media sites?
Should we ban cigarette smoking and vaping entirely?
Is it better to be an animal that lives in the water or on land?
Are humans responsible for an increase in climate change?
Should all communities be legally required to recycle?
Sports and Entertainment Persuasive Essay Topics
Should kids be allowed to watch TV on school nights?
Which is better, paper books or e-books?
Is the current movie rating system (G, PG, PG-13, etc.) effective?
Are video games better than board games?
Sports teams should have to pay to build their own arenas or stadiums rather than relying on the community.
Movie theater tickets are too expensive.
Should we allow little kids to play competitive sports?
Youth sports have become too competitive.
Which is better, reading books or watching TV?
Are celebrities obligated to be positive role models for their fans?
Does playing violent video games make people more violent in real life?
Video games need more inclusive and diverse characters.
Are graphic novels just as valuable as traditional fiction books?
Women’s sports deserve equal funding and coverage as men’s sports.
Should everyone play on the same sports teams, regardless of gender?
Choose a book that’s been made into a movie. Which was better, the movie or the book?
Who is the world’s best athlete, present or past?
Are professional athletes/musicians/actors overpaid?
Is hosting the Olympics a waste of a country’s money and resources?
College athletes should be allowed to accept a salary for playing.
Which is better, fiction or nonfiction?
The best music genre is …
What is one book that everyone should read?
What new sport should be added to the Olympics?
What’s the best video game system?
Does playing video games make you smarter?
Should high school athletes be required to maintain a minimum GPA to continue playing?
Contact sports like boxing and football are too dangerous.
Does reality TV actually depict real life?
Should all neighborhoods have free parks and playgrounds?
Are awards like the Grammys and Oscars biased and in need of reform?
Just for Fun Persuasive Essay Topics
What’s the best holiday?
The very best food of all time is …
Which make better pets, dogs or cats?
Which is better, artificial Christmas trees or real ones?
What’s the best season of the year?
Should you put ketchup on a hot dog?
Is a taco a sandwich?
Does fruit count as dessert?
Everyone should eat dessert first.
Should people have to go to school or work on their birthday?
Are clowns scary or funny?
Which is more dangerous, werewolves or vampires?
The best pizza topping is …
What would be the best superpower to have?
Should everyone make their bed every day?
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Should you put pineapple on a pizza?
Should you eat macaroni and cheese with a spoon or a fork?
Describe the world’s best ice cream sundae.
Is Monday the worst day of the week?
Would you rather travel back in time or forward in time?
Is it better to be too hot or too cold?
Are there aliens living among us here on Earth?
Get my free printable persuasive essay graphic organizers
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Download our persuasive essay graphic organizer bundle to pair perfectly with your lesson and allow your students to plan their writing with helpful visuals. There are two worksheets, one with a simple layout for younger students and one with a detailed layout that’s best for older students. Both graphic organizers feature a road map theme that walks your students through all the steps, such as stating their claim, providing reasons and supporting facts, and restating the claim. These graphic organizers work for both persuasive and argumentative essays. Just press the button below to grab them!
The key to helping middle schoolers succeed as writers is guiding them to connect their writing to their interests and experiences. When kids see themselves in the topic or imagine being in the situation, the words begin to flow naturally. That’s why we’ve curated a list of middle school writing prompts designed to inspire creativity, spark curiosity, and make writing fun. Whether crafting a story about a fantastical world or reflecting on a personal experience, the right writing prompts encourage middle school students to dig deeply, think critically, and express their thoughts in new, creative ways.
Be sure to fill out the form on this page to grab your own copy of our Google Slides featuring all of the writing prompts below to share with your class.
Writing Prompts for Middle School
The middle school writing prompts below are organized into categories to help students quickly find the right spark of inspiration. They’re excellent for developing vocabulary and encouraging kids to explore their imagination through freewriting.
Creative Writing Prompts for Middle School
Write a letter to your future self 10 years from now. What advice would you give you?
Imagine you discover a hidden door in your school. Where is it and where does it lead?
Write a story from the perspective of your pet or a favorite animal.
You wake up with the ability to speak any language fluently. What do you do with this new power?
Invent a new holiday. What are its traditions and celebrations? Be sure to include when it is celebrated.
You’re suddenly transported to the past, but no one believes you’re from the future. How do you prove it?
Write a story about a week in the life of a character who gains the power to become invisible whenever they wear a special pair of sunglasses they found.
You receive a one-way plane ticket to a destination of your choice, but there’s a catch: You must leave immediately. Where will you go and why? What will you pack?
Explain what your school day would be like if all the teachers were replaced by robots.
Write a mystery story where the main character is a detective solving a case involving a missing chameleon.
Fun Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
Write a story about a school where students are the teachers and teachers are the students.
You find a pair of magical socks that let you swap places with any living person for an entire day. Who do you swap with? Write about what that day looks like for you.
Write a dialogue between two objects in your bedroom. What are they discussing?
Describe a mythical creature you found living in your neighborhood that only you can see.
You’re an inventor and create a completely useless gadget. Describe the invention and its surprising effects.
Write a story where you are the main character in a video game. What’s the objective, and what obstacles do you overcome to win?
Describe an adventure you would have if you could shrink down to the size of an ant.
You wake up one morning to find yourself in the year 1957. Explain how the lack of technology really affects your daily life.
Write a letter from a character who has been stranded on a deserted island for seven years.
Imagine you show up to school on a Tuesday to see that your school has turned into a giant amusement park overnight. What does your class do all day?
You get a text from a friend you haven’t heard from in ages. They say they’ve found something important and need your help. The message includes a picture and an address. What do you find when you get there?
Writing Prompts for Middle School That Start With Dialogue
“You won’t believe what I found in the attic,” she said, handing me an old family photo album.
“I swear I saw him go in here,” he said, pointing to the abandoned house at the end of the street. “But the weird thing is that I never saw him come out.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, handing me a mysterious key. “Once you open that door, there’s no turning back.”
“It’s not just a game,” she said, her eyes wide with excitement. “What happens here will affect the real world.”
“I’ve been working on a new invention,” my dad said with pride. “Want to be the first to test it out?”
“I dare you to press that big red button,” my brother challenged.
“We have to leave now,” she said, glancing nervously at the clock. “They’ll be here any minute, and we can’t get caught.”
“You’re not going to believe this,” he said, holding up a peculiar-looking device. “But this little thing can change everything.”
“I can’t believe it’s finally happening,” exclaimed my classmate, showing me a mysterious invitation.
“You won’t believe what happened at the used-book store,” he said, showing me a limited-edition comic book.
Writing Prompts for Middle School That Start Out Just Like Any Other Day
As I walked into the kitchen for breakfast, I noticed a strange manila envelope on the counter with my name on it. Inside, there was a …
I was getting ready for school when I discovered that my backpack had mysteriously transformed into a small, magical portal. You’ll never believe what happened when I stepped through it.
Every day, I walk my dog along the same path in the park. But today, my dog started pulling me toward a secluded area where I found an old, forgotten book. As I opened it, the world around me changed.
I opened my locker, but instead of my books, I found an old, dusty journal. The pages were filled with the same sentence over and over and over again.
I sat down at my desk to do some homework, but before turning my computer on, the screen started to flicker. Suddenly, a message appeared on the screen.
As I got ready for bed, I noticed a peculiar, glowing object under my pillow. When I touched it, I was transported to a parallel version of my room where everything was eerily different.
While browsing through the local thrift store, I found an antique mirror that seemed to call out to me. When I looked into it, I saw a reflection of a world that didn’t match my own.
It was just a regular Saturday when I decided to clean out my closet. Among the junk, I found a small black velvet bag filled with …
I was at the library, reading a book for a school project, when I noticed that the words on the page started to change, revealing a hidden message that was written just for me.
When I got to school today, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The school was deserted, and a note was taped to the door. It said …
Thought-Provoking Writing Prompts for Middle School
Write about a place where everyone can only speak in metaphors. How does this impact communication and relationships? Describe a day in this place.
Imagine you are given the ability to communicate with animals for one week. Write about the conversations you have and what you learn from them.
If you could create a new rule that the entire world has to follow, what would it be and why? How would it change people’s lives and society as a whole?
Imagine you’re a journalist covering a strange event that’s just happened in your town. Write an exciting news report detailing what happened, who was involved, and why it’s so unusual.
If you could redesign the school curriculum, what subjects or activities would you add or change? How would these changes improve students’ learning experiences?
Imagine you have the power to solve one global problem. What problem do you choose to address, and what are the steps you would take to solve it?
Write a story where a character can change one event in history. What do they choose? How does it affect the world today?
Imagine a world where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts. How does this change society?
Create a dialogue between two historical figures from different eras. What would they discuss?
Write a story about a character who discovers a new planet. What do they find there?
Inspiring Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
Describe a moment when you felt incredibly proud of yourself. What did you achieve, and how did it impact your confidence and outlook?
Imagine a world where everyone has a superpower related to kindness. What are some of those superpowers? What superpower would you have, and how would you use it to make the world a better place?
Write a story where the main character learns an important life lesson through an unexpected event.
Describe a person who inspires you. What qualities do they have that you admire, and how can you incorporate those qualities into your own life?
Imagine you’re being helped by a stranger in a surprising and special way. Write a story from your point of view describing how this help makes you feel and what happens next.
Describe a place where you feel completely at peace and happy. How does this place help you recharge and find inspiration?
Imagine you are given the chance to start a new after-school club focused on making a positive impact on the school community. What would your club do, and how would it help others? What would it be called?
Write a letter to a famous person you admire explaining why they inspire you.
Imagine you are an inventor. What new gadget would you create and how would it help people?
If you had the opportunity to start a charity or nonprofit organization, what cause would you support? How would you use your skills and resources to make a difference in the world?
Imaginative Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
Write about a character who can only speak in riddles. What do their daily interactions with others look like?
Describe an unusual friendship between two animals from different species.
Imagine you are an inventor who creates a machine that can bring fictional book characters into the real world. Which characters would you invite, and how do they adjust when they arrive?
Write a story where the main character discovers a hidden talent they have every time they pick up a certain object.
You find a pair of glasses that let you see the hidden world of magical creatures living among us. Describe what you see.
Imagine a world where every person’s shadow has a life of its own. What adventures does your shadow embark on?
You receive a magical painting kit that brings whatever you paint to life. What do you paint, and how do your creations interact with your world?
You find an old video game console in your attic. Once you plug it in, it pulls you into the game world. What game do you enter, and what happens next?
You receive a letter from a mysterious pen pal who lives in a different dimension. What do you learn from their world, and how do you communicate with them across dimensions?
You wake up one morning to find that you’ve switched bodies with your pet. Describe your day as you navigate your new life.
Describe a world where you can only communicate through drawings. What happens?
Write about a character who receives a mysterious message in a bottle. What does it say?
You invent a new sport that combines elements from your favorite games. Describe the rules, how it’s played, and why it would be exciting to watch.
A UFO with three aliens lands in your town, and you’re the only one who can communicate with them. What do they want?
You’re a contestant on a reality TV show where you must survive on a deserted island for 30 days. You’re allowed to bring only three items with you. What three items do you choose, and how will each one help you survive?
You find a time capsule buried in your backyard from 100 years ago. What items are inside? How do these items help you understand the past?
You’re selected to be part of a top-secret mission to save an endangered animal. What species are you saving and what role do you play?
A mysterious box arrives at your doorstep with a note that says, “Open me when you’re ready for an adventure.” What’s inside?
You’re the new superhero in town with an unusual power. Describe your power, your superhero name, and your first big challenge.
Create a dialogue between a time traveler and a historical figure when they meet.
Unique Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
Write about a character who can read minds but struggles with the responsibility that comes with it.
Describe a world where people can only speak in song. How does that society function?
You wake up to find that all the objects in your room have switched places. What happens when you try to rearrange them?
You play a board game that transports you to a magical land. What’s your quest and how do you return home?
Imagine your favorite fictional movie character enrolls in your school. Write about how they adapt to school life and what challenges they face.
Create a story where your favorite inanimate object comes to life. How does it interact with you and the world around it?
Imagine you find a magical pen that writes stories on its own. Pick it up and let it write one epic tale.
Write about a character who finds a pair of shoes that lets them walk on any surface, e.g., water, walls, or even the sky. What incredible adventures do they set off on?
In your dusty attic, you find an old photo of a relative with an unusual pet. When you start researching the pet, you uncover a surprising family history. What do you learn?
Create a story where the mayor of your town wakes up with a new, random rule. What is the rule, and how does it affect your community?
Funny Writing Prompts for Middle School Students
Write a story where every character has an unusual phobia. How do they cope?
A talking dog shows up at your door and insists it’s here to help you with your homework. What kind of ridiculous advice does the dog give you?
Your classroom’s pet hamster builds a tiny amusement park inside its cage. What kind of rides and attractions are there, and how does your hamster become the park’s star performer?
All the teachers in your school have been turned into over-the-top cartoon characters. Write about a day at school with your new wacky teachers.
Write a story about a secret society of animals living in your backyard and planning to take over the town. What is their plan?
You’re selected to test a new “ultimate prank” machine that causes harmless but hilarious pranks. What outrageous pranks do you play on your friends and family?
Your backpack starts giving you unsolicited advice on how to improve your life. What wacky tips does it offer and how do you respond?
Imagine your refrigerator decides to go on vacation and leaves a note saying it’ll be back in a week. Write a story about where the refrigerator went and what adventures it had during its vacation.
Your bedroom lamp starts hosting a nightly talk show with your toys as the guests. What kinds of interviews and performances do they give?
Imagine you wake up one morning to find that your pet cat is now a world-class chef. What kinds of gourmet meals does your cat start preparing for you and your family?
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Make sure to click the button below to fill out the form on this landing page to get your free copy of our Google Slides that include all of the writing prompts above to share with your class.
High school students generally do a lot of writing, learning to use language clearly, concisely, and persuasively. When it’s time to choose an essay topic, though, it’s easy to come up blank. If that’s the case, check out this huge roundup of essay topics for high school. You’ll find choices for every subject and writing style.
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Plus, click the button below to get your free printable five-paragraph essay graphic organizers to help your students plan their essays.
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Argumentative Essay Topics for High School
When writing an argumentative essay, remember to do the research and lay out the facts clearly. Your goal is not necessarily to persuade someone to agree with you, but to encourage your reader to accept your point of view as valid. Here are some argumentative topics to try. (Here are 100 more compelling argumentative essay topics.)
The most important challenge our country is currently facing is … (e.g., immigration, gun control, economy)
The government should provide free internet access for every citizen.
All drugs should be legalized, regulated, and taxed.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco.
Parents should be punished for their minor children’s crimes.
Should all students have the ability to attend college for free?
Should physical education be part of the standard high school curriculum?
Schools should require recommended vaccines for all students, with very limited exceptions.
Animal testing should be banned.
Does social media do more harm than good?
Is single-sex education better than co-education?
Capital punishment does/does not deter crime.
Are men and women treated equally?
Should plastic be banned?
Cause-and-Effect Essay Topics for High School
A cause-and-effect essay is a type of argumentative essay. Your goal is to show how one specific thing directly influences another specific thing. You’ll likely need to do some research to make your point. Here are some ideas for cause-and-effect essays. (Get a big list of 137 cause-and-effect essay topics here.)
Humans are causing accelerated climate change.
Fast-food restaurants have made human health worse over the decades.
What caused World War II? (Choose any conflict for this one.)
Describe the effects social media has on young adults.
How does playing sports affect people?
What are the effects of loving to read?
Being an only/oldest/youngest/middle child makes you …
What effect does violence in cartoons, movies, or video games have on kids?
Traveling to new places opens people’s minds to new ideas.
Racism is caused by …
Immigration benefits the United States.
Compare-Contrast Essay Topics for High School
As the name indicates, in compare-and-contrast essays, writers show the similarities and differences between two things. They combine descriptive writing with analysis, making connections and showing dissimilarities. The following ideas work well for compare-contrast essays. (Find 125 compare-contrast essay topics for all ages here.)
Public and private schools
Capitalism vs. communism
Monarchy or democracy
Dogs vs. cats as pets
Paper books or e-books
Two political candidates in a current race
Going to college vs. starting work full-time
Working your way through college as you go or taking out student loans
iPhone or Android
Instagram vs. X (or choose any other two social media platforms)
Gas-powered cars vs. electric cars
High school vs. college
Volunteering vs. paid work
Your teacher vs. your parent/guardian
Oldest child and youngest child
Introverts vs. extroverts
Descriptive Essay Topics for High School
Bring on the adjectives! Descriptive writing is all about creating a rich picture for the reader. Take readers on a journey to far-off places, help them understand an experience, or introduce them to a new person. Remember: Show, don’t tell. These topics make excellent descriptive essays.
Who is the funniest person you know and why?
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Tell about the most inspirational person in your life.
Write about your favorite place.
When you were little, what was your favorite thing to do?
Choose a piece of art or music and explain how it makes you feel.
What is your earliest memory?
What’s the best/worst vacation you’ve ever taken?
Describe your favorite pet.
What is the most important item in the world to you?
Give a tour of your bedroom (or another favorite room in your home).
Describe yourself to someone who has never met you.
Lay out your perfect day from start to finish.
Explain what it’s like to move to a new town or start a new school.
Tell what it would be like to live on the moon.
Expository and Informative Essay Topics for High School
Expository essays set out clear explanations of a particular topic. You might be defining a word or phrase or explaining how something works. Expository or informative essays are based on facts, and while you might explore different points of view, you won’t necessarily say which one is “better” or “right.” Remember: Expository essays educate the reader. Here are some expository and informative essay topics to explore. (You can also get 70+ expository and informative essay topics here.)
What makes a good leader?
Explain why a given school subject (math, history, science, etc.) is important for students to learn.
What is the “glass ceiling” and how does it affect society?
Describe how the internet changed the world.
What does it mean to be a good teacher?
How has modern technology changed teaching and learning?
Explain how we could colonize the moon or another planet.
Discuss why mental health is just as important as physical health.
Describe a healthy lifestyle for a teenager.
Choose an American president and explain how their time in office affected the country.
What does “financial responsibility” mean?
What is video game addiction, and how does it affect teens?
Humorous Essay Topics for High School
Humorous essays can take on any form, like narrative, persuasive, or expository. You might employ sarcasm or satire, or simply tell a story about a funny person or event. Even though these essay topics are lighthearted, they still take some skill to tackle well. Give these ideas a try.
What would happen if cats (or any other animal) ruled the world?
What do newborn babies wish their parents knew?
Explain the best ways to be annoying on social media.
Invent a wacky new sport, explain the rules, and describe a game or match.
Explain why it’s important to eat dessert first.
Imagine a discussion between two historic figures from very different times, like Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth I.
Retell a familiar story in tweets or other social media posts.
Describe present-day Earth from an alien’s point of view.
Choose a fictional character and explain why they should be the next president.
Describe a day when kids are in charge of everything, at school and at home.
Literary Essay Topics
Literary essays analyze a piece of writing, like a book or a play. In high school, students usually write literary essays about the works they study in class. These literary essay topic ideas focus on books students often read in high school, but many of them can be tweaked to fit other works as well.
Discuss the portrayal of women in Shakespeare’s Othello.
Explore the symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter.
Explain the importance of dreams in Of Mice and Men.
Compare and contrast the romantic relationships in Pride and Prejudice.
Analyze the role of the witches in Macbeth.
What is the role of resilience and hope in The Hate U Give?
Analyze the exploration of racism and social injustice in Dear Martin.
Dissect the allegory of Animal Farm and its relation to contemporary events.
Interpret the author’s take on society and class structure in The Great Gatsby.
Explore the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia.
Discuss whether Shakespeare’s portrayal of young love in Romeo and Juliet is accurate.
Explain the imagery used in Beowulf.
Explore the use of satire in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
What does Death of a Salesman say about the concept of the American dream?
Explore the effects of trauma on mental health in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Narrative and Personal Essay Topics for High School
Think of a narrative essay like telling a story. Use some of the same techniques that you would for a descriptive essay, but be sure you have a beginning, middle, and end. A narrative essay doesn’t necessarily need to be personal, but they often are. Take inspiration from these narrative and personal essay topics.
Describe a performance or sporting event you took part in.
Explain the process of cooking and eating your favorite meal.
Write about meeting your best friend for the first time and how your relationship developed.
Tell about learning to ride a bike or drive a car.
What is your biggest fear?
Describe a time in your life when you’ve been scared.
Write about a time when you or someone you know displayed courage.
Share the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you.
Tell about a time when you overcame a big challenge.
Tell the story of how you learned an important life lesson.
Describe a time when you or someone you know experienced prejudice or oppression.
Explain a family tradition, how it developed, and its importance today.
What is your favorite holiday? How does your family celebrate it?
Retell a familiar story from the point of view of a different character.
Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
Tell about your proudest moment.
Opinion Essay Topics for High School
When writing an opinion essay, you don’t need to rely as much on facts or persuasive techniques. You’re simply sharing your thoughts on a topic, as well as your justifications for your beliefs. You may include evidence if you like, but an opinion essay is more personal than persuasive. These topics work well for opinion essays:
Is technology too isolating?
What animal makes the best pet?
Everyone should be vegetarian or vegan.
What is one book that everyone should be required to read?
Is democracy the best form of government?
Is capitalism the best form of economy?
Students should/should not be able to use their phones during the school day.
Should physical education be graded?
The best country in the world is …
What one class should all high schools students be required to take and pass in order to graduate?
Do we really learn anything from history, or does it just repeat itself over and over?
Should parents use their children’s cell phones to track where they are?
What’s the best way to handle constantly rising college education costs?
Should little kids be allowed to play competitive sports?
Are professional athletes/musicians/actors overpaid?
The best music genre is …
Should schools have dress codes?
Is climate change reversible?
If I could change one school rule, it would be …
Is year-round school a good idea?
Selling tobacco should be banned.
Research Essay Topics
A research essay is a classic high school assignment. These papers require deep research into primary source documents, with lots of supporting facts and evidence that’s properly cited. Research essays can be in any of the styles shown above. Here are some possible topics, across a variety of subjects.
Which country’s style of government is best for the people who live there?
Choose a country and analyze its development from founding to present day.
Describe the causes and effects of a specific war, e.g., “What instigated World War II?”
Formulate an ideal economic plan for our country.
What scientific discovery has had the biggest impact on life today?
Tell the story of the development of artificial intelligence so far, and describe its impacts along the way.
Explore the impact of income inequality on education in this country.
Conduct an exploration of healthcare in this country, and make recommendations for improvement.
Explain the importance of participating in government by voting, running for office, campaigning, etc.
Analyze the way mental health is viewed and treated in this country.
Explore the ways systemic racism impacts people in all walks of life.
Defend the importance of teaching music and the arts in public schools.
Choose one animal from the endangered species list and propose a realistic plan to protect it.
Explain how space exploration has changed our understanding of the universe.
Explore the effects of sleep deprivation on academic and physical performance.
Get your free printable five-paragraph essay graphic organizers
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When it comes to wanting to emulate a certain screenwriter, the biggest “douchebag cliché” veers toward Charlie Kaufman worship. In the screenwriting world, it almost amounts to the same thing as a literary writer worshipping David Foster Wallace—who, yes, is mentioned within the first two minutes of Only Murders in the Building’s fifth episode in season four, “Adaptation.” (Specifically, “I can quote David Foster Wallace AND Ace Ventura.” Which is not exactly something to be proud of.) Obviously named as such in honor of Kaufman’s grudging homage to the masochism of screenwriting in the 2002 film of the same name.
To convey the masochism and imposter syndrome that’s particularly unique to screenwriting, Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha) opens the episode with the age-old question, “What makes a writer a real writer?” For most, whether writers or not, the answer, tragically, remains: being paid for it. Because being paid for things is what’s supposed to make you feel like a “real person” in general. But that sensation magnifies tenfold when you’re a writer—and, unfortunately, just one of many in the competitive cesspool of overall mediocrity that often actually allows only the mediocre to rise to the top.
After selling his script to Paramount (with producer Bev Melon [Molly Shannon] at the helm), Marshall fears that he might be just that sort of “success story” as he applies a fake mustache and beard in front of the mirror (an Antonioni poster looming in the background for added pretentious, pseudointellectual flair) to make himself appear more “writerly.” More “worldly,” as he calls it. And, as most people in New York will maintain, “It’s about convincing the world and, honestly, yourself that you have the goods.” The old “fake it till you make it” chestnut. A vexing platitude that was much easier to execute back during a time when absolutely every embarrassing and/or compromising detail about your past couldn’t be dredged up somewhere on the internet and used against/to discredit you.
Even so, Marshall tries his best to evoke the “Kaufman look” (a picture of Charlie tacked to the mirror, in what could be called Single Asian Male-style) in the hope that said screenwriter’s own “brilliance” might rub off on him. Because, as Marshall also adds, “The look only gets you so far.” Theoretically, you’re supposed to have some talent, too. But that theory seems quaint now, rooted in the days before the Kardashians landed onto the scene. Marshall then instructs, “It comes down to what’s on the page.” Alas, if that were truly the case, movies like Madame Web would never be made.
While OMITB’s “Adaptation” never bothers with getting meta in quite the same intense, envelope-pushing way as Kaufman’s movie (though, on a related note, Meryl Streep was in Adaptation just as she’s in season four of OMITB), the episode’s own writers, Steve Martin, John Hoffman and J.J. Philbin, are sure to drive home the meta aspect that stems from Charles-Haden Savage (Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) being forced by the studio turning their podcast into a film (rather than the movie-within-a-movie genre, OMITB seeks to embody the less-trodden movie-within-a-TV-show genre) to be photographed with their so-called doppelgangers: the actors playing them. For Charles, it’s Eugene Levy; for Oliver, it’s Zach Galifianakis; for Mabel, it’s Eva Longoria (who tells Mabel she’s been “aged up” to make her relationship with two old men seem less creepy). This serves only as more creative fodder for Marshall as he delves into additional rewrites on the script after spending more time with the trio (thanks to being questioned by them as a suspect).
As Mabel and Charles wrap up their questioning of their “suspect,” Mabel can’t resist the inclination to ask, “Is your beard…fake?” An embarrassed Marshall replies, “Oh god, is it that obvious? This is supposed to be costume-grade human hair.” When Mabel continues to probe about why he has it, Marshall admits, “I can’t really grow facial hair and… I wanted to sell myself as a ‘real writer.’ This is the look, right?” Charles and Mabel both regard him as though he’s the saddest creature in the world before Charles gently inquires, “How could a writer of your talent have imposter syndrome?” Mabel, however, can immediately relate to knowing what it’s like to be good at what your passion is, yet still not really believe in that talent even after being accepted by the Establishment. Indeed, for Mabel, Establishment acceptance seems to be another sign, to her, that she’s an imposter. Particularly after Bev laps up every half-cooked idea she offers as Bev’s next adaptation-from-a-podcast movie.
As for Martin (even if playing Charles while saying it) asking the abovementioned question, he’s no doubt speaking from his own experience in the screenwriting field, a métier that makes most of its pursuers feel like a fraud. Especially if they’ve never even sold a script. That one-in-a-million chance befalling only so many aspirants—and it’s typically only the most annoying, least talented ones who are willing to openly say, “Yeah, I’m a screenwriter” despite having no evidence other than an ego and a spec script to back it up.
But what this episode of OMITB aims to do (apart from introducing a pair of new lead suspects) is assure those billed as “amateur” artists that said word is not a bad thing. That, in fact, it proves one is doing it for the love of the art rather than the quest for commercial “glory.” Marshall initially serves as a representation of both sides of that coin, albeit one who only really wants “success” because he’s been conditioned his entire life, like everyone else, to believe that art has value solely if it’s being in some way corporately subsidized. Therefore, “sanctioned” by a “higher power.”
Gearing up for some Halloween writing activities? You’ll want this list of evocative Halloween words to share with your students. Start by grabbing the free printables, then try some of our favorite Halloween activities for all ages.
Jump to:
Words for Halloween Creatures
alien
apparition
bat
black cat
boogeyman
crow
demon
devil
Dracula
Frankenstein
ghost
ghoul
goblin
Grim Reaper
hobgoblin
imp
jackal
leech
monster
mummy
ogre
owl
phantom
poltergeist
rat
raven
scarecrow
shape-shifter
skeleton
sorcerer
specter
spider
spirit
tarantula
toad
troll
vampire
vermin
werewolf
witch
wizard
wraith
zombie
Halloween Words About Fear
afraid
alarming
bizarre
blood-curdling
bloody
chilling
creepy
eerie
evil
fright
ghastly
gory
grim
grisly
gruesome
haunted
horrible
horrify
horror
jittery
lurid
lurk
macabre
morbid
nasty
nefarious
nightmare
ominous
petrify
quake
qualm
quaver
quiver
repulsive
revolting
scary
scream
shiver
shriek
sinister
terrible
terrify
terror
thrilling
tremble
unnerving
vile
weird
wicked
yell
yowl
Halloween Words About Death
bones
boneyard
cadaver
casket
cemetery
coffin
corpse
dead
epitaph
graveyard
headstone
killer
lifeless
mausoleum
netherworld
RIP (rest in peace)
skull
tombstone
undead
undertaker
urn
vault
victim
Halloween Words About Witches and Wizards
broomstick
cackle
cauldron
hocus-pocus
incantation
invisible
jinx
kettle
lair
legend
magic
potion
ritual
spell
supernatural
ugly
unearthly
vanish
voodoo
wand
Fun Halloween Words
autumn
costume
decoration
disguise
fall
fog
jack-o’-lantern
lantern
mask
Monster Mash
nocturnal
October
orange
pumpkin
quiet
shadow
twilight
whisper
Halloween Activities
bobbing for apples
bonfire
carving
corn maze
costume contest
costume party
dress up
games
ghost story
haunted house
hayride
masquerade
party
prank
prowl
pumpkin patch
trick-or-treat
Halloween Food and Drink Words
apple cider
apples
candy
candy apple
candy corn
chocolate
cocoa
gummy worms
hot chocolate
popcorn ball
pumpkin pie
pumpkin seeds
spicy
sugar
sweet
treats
More Halloween Words
boo
cobweb
dark
enchanting
eyeball
eye patch
fangs
flashlight
haunt
howl
icky
inferno
jet-black
knife
knock
laboratory
midnight
mist
moonlight
mutilate
mysterious
night
ooze
possessed
quagmire
rancid
rattle
reek
rotten
séance
slaughter
slimy
spooky
Transylvania
vengeance
venom
will-o’-the-wisp
wretched
X-ray
yuck
How To Use Halloween Words in the Classroom
There are so many ways to use these creative words with your students. Some ideas you might try:
Word Wall
Printable cards make it easy to build your own Halloween-themed word wall! Post options that kids can use in writing activities, journal entries, and more. Learn more about word walls here.
First, read some of the best spooky stories from masters of the craft like Poe and Lovecraft. Then, challenge kids to write their own, using as many words from the list as they can. Here are 10 scary short stories kids and teens will love.
Print copies of the Halloween word list and cards and hand them out to students to use for writing assignments, vocabulary practice, and more. Just click the button below to share your email address and get instant access. Then share your ideas for using it in our We Are Teachers Helpline Facebook group.
Kids love to tell you all their stories—especially when you’re trying to talk about something else!—but teaching them how to effectively write down their narratives takes work. Mentor texts for narrative writing are a teacher’s best friend when it comes to showing students how to write engaging and powerful stories. These are the books you pore over together both to get familiar with the narrative genre and to give kids examples when introducing new writing craft moves.
Your writing curriculum probably includes some reliable favorites, but updated titles can bring fresh energy. We’ve done the work for you to find recent, appealing, diverse, (mostly) first-person mentor texts for narrative writing to add to your collection. You’re welcome!
AmazonAmazon
1. & 2. Together We Ride and Together We Swim by Valerie Bolling
This pair of books takes telling the stories of the classic experiences of learning to ride a bike and learning to swim to the next level. A sister and brother persevere through fears and challenges with the help of their parents. Add these to your mentor texts for narrative writing for younger students who use mostly pictures and a few words. There are so many small visual details to notice that can encourage students to add more to their own drawings.
A child discovers his old shoes are too tight and heads to the shoe store to pick out new ones. Use this to show new writers how they can tell a great story with just a few sentences. You can also introduce new techniques for illustrations—all these pictures are delightfully zoomed in.
4. One Day, the End: Short, Very Short, Shorter-Than-Ever Stories by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
“One day, I lost my dog. I found him. The end.” This collection of tiny tales is one of the most perfect mentor texts for narrative writing to introduce kids to the idea that a story is when something happens. Use it with your littles to teach them how to add a sentence or two to their illustrations that tell a story from their lives.
From the moment the narrator wakes up to the sun streaming into her apartment windows, it’s clear that it’s a pool day! Everyone’s at the city pool, stowing their stuff in the lockers with a CLANK and a CACHUNK, coating themselves in” slippery, slimy sunblock,” and cooling off in “an ice-cold bowl of “City People Soup.” We’re definitely adding this energetic book to our list of mentor texts for narrative writing that show kids how to use interesting language and details to bring a story to life.
Granny and Bean go for a walk on a cloudy day. They enjoy all the simple pleasures of the beach, like waves, shells, sand, petting dogs, and seaside snacks. Use this to share an attainable example of a strong narrative for younger writers. Each page has only a short sentence or two, but they manage to tell a beautiful story.
7. Bábo: A Tale of Armenian Rug-Washing Day by Astrid Kamalyan
We love this story of the author’s favorite summer chore—helping her grandmother clean the family’s rugs—to help kids see stories in their daily lives. From dancing in soap bubbles to scrubbing, sliding, and mopping, the author stretches the experience into a delightful tale. Help kids notice the mix of sentence lengths and unexpected details that give the story its fun energy.
This unique read-aloud stars a mother and child snuggled up at bedtime, trading favorite memories of picnics, special birthdays, and thunderstorms. As the story goes on, it becomes clear they’ve just experienced a sad move to a new city. The happy memories help them feel strong. While the text is written as a conversation, you can add this to your stack of excellent mentor texts for narrative writing that get kids talking and thinking about their own meaningful memories.
Dot is the smallest person in her family, but she doesn’t hesitate to stand up for the new kid when he’s bullied in the cafeteria. (Clearly, she is NOT LITTLE!) Use this to teach about strong, impactful sentences. Plus, introduce the technique of using a repeating line to show readers what’s important in your story.
Dot from Not Little is back in this endearing follow-up story. She has an experience that will be familiar to many kids: She has an amazing vision for a project that turns out to be hard to execute. Even though this story stars younger students, it has endless potential as part of a collection of mentor texts for narrative writing across elementary school. Use it to discuss describing characters, varying sentence lengths, conveying emotions, and engaging readers throughout a problem-resolution narrative arc.
11. Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku by Curtis Manley
We love showing kids how reading a variety of genres can strengthen their personal narrative writing skills. This series of haiku tells the story of one family’s volcano hike with so many helpful examples of bringing a story to life with rich details. Classrooms could practice retelling the book in traditional narrative form, or try out creating their own collection of personal narrative haiku.
This poignant story shares how a young boy uses a special cape to help him cope with his grief on the day of his loved one’s funeral. It will be a supportive mentor text for students trying to write about their own challenging experiences. It’s also a masterful example for all writers about how a few carefully chosen words and details can make a big impact on readers.
If you have kids eager to write “how I got my pet” stories, you’ll definitely want to include this one in your collection of mentor texts for narrative writing. When a girl moves to a new city, making new friends feels overwhelming—until she and her mom go to the animal shelter and meet Millie. Use this as an example of how to string together different significant events that tie to a powerful theme.
14. Mamá’s Magnificent Dancing Plantitas by Jesús Trejo
This story about Little Jesús’ efforts to take good care of his mother’s precious plants—and his ensuing panic when he knocks one over—makes for an extra-entertaining read-aloud. It’s especially great for modeling how to write in your own unique voice. We also love it for a fun lesson on incorporating speech bubbles into personal narrative stories, or a lesson about strong beginnings and endings. It’s also available in Spanish.
For years, Marley has wanted to attend their local Pride celebration with their grandparent Zsa Zsa, but the thought of all the noise, people, and chaos has always felt too scary. This year, though, Zsa Zsa’s getting a special award for their work in the transgender community, and Marley works hard to build up the courage to go. This personal narrative is a fantastic example for student writers of how to explain complex emotions within a story.
A granddaughter explains all the reasons she loves visiting her grandad’s house—most of all, it’s because of the stories he tells about the many adventures he and Gramps had in their camper. It hasn’t felt the same since Gramps died, but a granddaughter-grandfather camping trip to the beach turns out to be just what everyone needs. This story is lovely for studying how to establish setting in a narrative, and how to include flashback moments effectively.
17. The Secret Fawn by Kallie George and Elly MacKay
As the youngest sibling, a girl feels like she misses everything—including the deer her family saw in the yard. She heads outdoors to try to see it for herself and ends up having an even more special experience. Use this quiet little story to show kids how to focus their narrative on a small but significant event.
A girl and her parents take a local hike to enjoy all the sights and sounds of fall. Use this to teach about adding more to a narrative by including details, thoughts, sounds, and dialogue.
A boy and his mom take a walk in the city at night to look for the moon. Add this to the mentor texts for narrative writing you use to teach about bringing the setting to life. Also, show students how to stretch one brief experience into a story that feels important.
Race along with the main character as he dashes to the train station. (Spoiler: At the end, we discover it’s so he can be on time to chivalrously meet his grandmother.) This is one of the few mentor texts for narrative writing included on this list that isn’t written in the first-person, but it made the cut because it’s such a relatable title for showing kids how to bring a small moment to life using impactful verbs. Verbs are conveniently capitalized on every page!
A boy spends time before and after school with his grandmother each day. He describes his Baba, her tiny house, and her actions with gorgeous precision. This will be one of your new favorite mentor texts for personal narrative writing to show students how carefully chosen words and details can be so powerful.
Tap into the excitement so many kids feel about being reunited with a special family member. A girl and her parents meet her Iranian grandfather at the airport and bring him home for a family welcome dinner. Add this to your mentor texts for personal narrative writing that shows kids how to include their internal monologue and model “show, don’t tell.”
23. Abuelita and I Make Flan by Adriana Hernández Bergstrom
Anita is excited to help her grandmother make her birthday dessert—so excited that she breaks her grandmother’s special plate. Can she help enough to make up for it? Use this to show kids how to add flair to their narratives with speech bubbles, labels, and different types of text. Also use it to encourage kids to try to include the narrator’s internal monologue in their writing.
With rich detail, a girl describes how summer smells, tastes, and feels when her grandmother visits from the Philippines. Use this to teach about adding sensory details to narrative writing.
They arrive in a flurry of big purses and hugs, with their coconut scent, spit-polishing thumbs, and big dreams of seeing the Quilt Museum. This hilarious account of a visit from a kid’s over-the-top aunts is one of the most fun mentor texts for narrative writing you’ll find for teaching students how to bring characters to life in their stories.
City-dweller Ernestine is so excited to go camping with her cousin. It turns out there are a few parts of the great outdoors that take some getting used to, though. Use this to teach about experimenting with speech bubbles and different page layouts as a way to add interest and detail to narrative pieces.
Joy finds a beat-up bike and convinces her tinkering granddad to help her fix it up. But when her peers make fun of her new ride, she makes the impulsive decision to push the bike down a steep hill, and then must face the feelings that follow. Use this as a solid example of a more detailed personal narrative that includes dialogue, characters’ thoughts and feelings, and interesting language.
It’s the day of the tribal powwow, but River is worried. She’s been sick and can’t join in as she usually does. The healing dance her friends and family perform inspires her to keep getting better. Use this to model the impact of using different sentence lengths. Intentional line breaks and onomatopoeia make the text feel almost like poetry too.
A boy who loves birds meets a girl who love birds in this sweet tale. When Jon calls out to the owls and gets a response, it’s not from an owl but from a girl named Janet. The two share tales of their bird-watching adventures in detail and bond over their love for birds.
Every Sunday the whole extended family gathers at Granny’s for a big meal. Today, Granny invites her grandson to help prepare the family’s favorite dishes for the first time. From grating the cheese to washing the grit from the greens, he learns about each crucial step. Use this to model how to break down an experience into small parts and describe them in more detail.
31. The Electric Slide and Kai by Kelly J. Baptist
As his family prepares to attend a big wedding, Kai desperately wants to impress his granddad with his dance moves so that he’ll give him a “dance nickname” like other members of the family. Use this to teach students to add their thoughts, goals, and emotions to their narrative writing, and to show, not tell, using dialogue and characters’ actions.
32. A Thousand White Butterflies by Jessica Betancourt-Perez and Karen Lynn Williams
Isabella recently immigrated to the United States from Colombia and is eager to start school and make friends. But an unexpected snow day changes her big plans. Use this to model writing precise sentences and to show how a character’s emotions change during a story. If you have bilingual students, this is also a nice one to show how to weave in words from another language.
This is one of our new favorite mentor texts for personal narrative writing to share when we’re encouraging students to write stories about problems or challenges. When a child feels too anxious to sleep, their dad plans a camping trip in the family pickup truck. Their conversations under the stars help ease bedtime worries. Study excerpts to talk about the power of weaving dialogue into narrative writing.
This story of a girl’s afternoon spent with her grandmother is ideal for nudging upper elementary students to extend their narrative writing. From Granny’s phone chatter to the colors of the beads to the smells and tastes of their fry bread lunch, the sensory details bring Maggie’s time beading and chatting to life. Maggie’s experience making beaded earrings—including her frustration and, eventually, pride—is a helpful example for kids about how to describe a process within a narrative so readers can imagine it.
An older brother gets tired of sharing his room with his annoying little bro, so he decides to build his own space in his yard. Both brothers learn from the experience and end up finding common ground together. Use this to teach about sticking close to a meaningful theme to write a focused narrative.
A young girl tells the tale of a motorcycle ride around her neighborhood with her Papi. Use this to model ways to characterize an important person throughout a story. It’s also great for modeling how to use vibrant descriptions and for building energy across the arc of a narrative.
Two best friends spend a final day together before one of them moves away. This one is full of heart, with equal parts sadness and sweetness. Use this to teach … well, everything. Model strong leads and endings, how to use small details to create a mood, and how to do justice to a particularly emotional experience by telling it step-by-step.
A girl moves to a new house and welcomes twin baby brothers to her family. Next door, an elderly neighbor grieves the loss of his wife. Use this to show students how describing what each character does or says in a situation can help create a complete scene. Also explore strategies for conveying the passage of time.
When a girl’s parents spot watercress growing on the roadside, they pull over to pick it so they can make a meal reminiscent of their native China. The girl hates the whole experience but ends up appreciating it more as she learns what it means to her family. Add this to your mentor texts for narrative writing for when you work on revising for tighter, more precise language. Imagine how this narrative might have started out and compare that to its sparse but incredibly powerful final text. Also, share the author’s note, in which she describes the experience that led to this book, to teach about how to choose meaningful narrative topics.
40. On the Trapline by David A. Robertson and Julie Flett
A boy visits his grandfather’s old trapline in the northern wilderness, which is steeped in memories. Besides being a beautiful example of personal narrative, this is a fascinating exploration of Cree tradition for kids. Use this to model how to include details and dialogue to explain things to readers and for planning an interesting structure for your narrative. (In this case, it’s a repeating line at the end of each section that explains a Cree word.) It’s also a nice example of how to weave memories of the past into a present-tense narrative.
When ChatGPT was released to the public in November 2022, advocates and watchdogs warned about the potential for racial bias. The new large language model was created by harvesting 300 billion words from books, articles and online writing, which include racist falsehoods and reflect writers’ implicit biases. Biased training data is likely to generate biased advice, answers and essays. Garbage in, garbage out.
Researchers are starting to document how AI bias manifests in unexpected ways. Inside the research and development arm of the giant testing organization ETS, which administers the SAT, a pair of investigators pitted man against machine in evaluating more than 13,000 essays written by students in grades 8 to 12. They discovered that the AI model that powers ChatGPT penalized Asian American students more than other races and ethnicities in grading the essays. This was purely a research exercise and these essays and machine scores weren’t used in any of ETS’s assessments. But the organization shared its analysis with me to warn schools and teachers about the potential for racial bias when using ChatGPT or other AI apps in the classroom.
AI and humans scored essays differently by race and ethnicity
“Diff” is the difference between the average score given by humans and GPT-4o in this experiment. “Adj. Diff” adjusts this raw number for the randomness of human ratings. Source: Table from Matt Johnson & Mo Zhang “Using GPT-4o to Score Persuade 2.0 Independent Items” ETS (June 2024 draft)
“Take a little bit of caution and do some evaluation of the scores before presenting them to students,” said Mo Zhang, one of the ETS researchers who conducted the analysis. “There are methods for doing this and you don’t want to take people who specialize in educational measurement out of the equation.”
That might sound self-serving for an employee of a company that specializes in educational measurement. But Zhang’s advice is worth heeding in the excitement to try new AI technology. There are potential dangers as teachers save time by offloading grading work to a robot.
In ETS’s analysis, Zhang and her colleague Matt Johnson fed 13,121 essays into one of the latest versions of the AI model that powers ChatGPT, called GPT 4 Omni or simply GPT-4o. (This version was added to ChatGPT in May 2024, but when the researchers conducted this experiment they used the latest AI model through a different portal.)
A little background about this large bundle of essays: students across the nation had originally written these essays between 2015 and 2019 as part of state standardized exams or classroom assessments. Their assignment had been to write an argumentative essay, such as “Should students be allowed to use cell phones in school?” The essays were collected to help scientists develop and test automated writing evaluation.
Each of the essays had been graded by expert raters of writing on a 1-to-6 point scale with 6 being the highest score. ETS asked GPT-4o to score them on the same six-point scale using the same scoring guide that the humans used. Neither man nor machine was told the race or ethnicity of the student, but researchers could see students’ demographic information in the datasets that accompany these essays.
GPT-4o marked the essays almost a point lower than the humans did. The average score across the 13,121 essays was 2.8 for GPT-4o and 3.7 for the humans. But Asian Americans were docked by an additional quarter point. Human evaluators gave Asian Americans a 4.3, on average, while GPT-4o gave them only a 3.2 – roughly a 1.1 point deduction. By contrast, the score difference between humans and GPT-4o was only about 0.9 points for white, Black and Hispanic students. Imagine an ice cream truck that kept shaving off an extra quarter scoop only from the cones of Asian American kids.
“Clearly, this doesn’t seem fair,” wrote Johnson and Zhang in an unpublished report they shared with me. Though the extra penalty for Asian Americans wasn’t terribly large, they said, it’s substantial enough that it shouldn’t be ignored.
The researchers don’t know why GPT-4o issued lower grades than humans, and why it gave an extra penalty to Asian Americans. Zhang and Johnson described the AI system as a “huge black box” of algorithms that operate in ways “not fully understood by their own developers.” That inability to explain a student’s grade on a writing assignment makes the systems especially frustrating to use in schools.
This table compares GPT-4o scores with human scores on the same batch of 13,121 student essays, which were scored on a 1-to-6 scale. Numbers highlighted in green show exact score matches between GPT-4o and humans. Unhighlighted numbers show discrepancies. For example, there were 1,221 essays where humans awarded a 5 and GPT awarded 3. Data source: Matt Johnson & Mo Zhang “Using GPT-4o to Score Persuade 2.0 Independent Items” ETS (June 2024 draft)
This one study isn’t proof that AI is consistently underrating essays or biased against Asian Americans. Other versions of AI sometimes produce different results. A separate analysis of essay scoring by researchers from University of California, Irvine and Arizona State University found that AI essay grades were just as frequently too high as they were too low. That study, which used the 3.5 version of ChatGPT, did not scrutinize results by race and ethnicity.
I wondered if AI bias against Asian Americans was somehow connected to high achievement. Just as Asian Americans tend to score high on math and reading tests, Asian Americans, on average, were the strongest writers in this bundle of 13,000 essays. Even with the penalty, Asian Americans still had the highest essay scores, well above those of white, Black, Hispanic, Native American or multi-racial students.
In both the ETS and UC-ASU essay studies, AI awarded far fewer perfect scores than humans did. For example, in this ETS study, humans awarded 732 perfect 6s, while GPT-4o gave out a grand total of only three. GPT’s stinginess with perfect scores might have affected a lot of Asian Americans who had received 6s from human raters.
ETS’s researchers had asked GPT-4o to score the essays cold, without showing the chatbot any graded examples to calibrate its scores. It’s possible that a few sample essays or small tweaks to the grading instructions, or prompts, given to ChatGPT could reduce or eliminate the bias against Asian Americans. Perhaps the robot would be fairer to Asian Americans if it were explicitly prompted to “give out more perfect 6s.”
The ETS researchers told me this wasn’t the first time that they’ve noticed Asian students treated differently by a robo-grader. Older automated essay graders, which used different algorithms, have sometimes done the opposite, giving Asians higher marks than human raters did. For example, an ETS automated scoring system developed more than a decade ago, called e-rater, tended to inflate scores for students from Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong on their essays for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), according to a study published in 2012. That may have been because some Asian students had memorized well-structured paragraphs, while humans easily noticed that the essays were off-topic. (The ETS website says it only relies on the e-rater score alone for practice tests, and uses it in conjunction with human scores for actual exams.)
It was also unclear why BERT sometimes treated Asian Americans differently. But it illustrates how important it is to test these systems before we unleash them in schools. Based on educator enthusiasm, however, I fear this train has already left the station. In recent webinars, I’ve seen many teachers post in the chat window that they’re already using ChatGPT, Claude and other AI-powered apps to grade writing. That might be a time saver for teachers, but it could also be harming students.
This story about AI bias was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for Proof Points and other Hechinger newsletters.
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Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, and Arizona State University found that human feedback was generally a bit better than AI feedback, but AI was surprisingly good. Credit: Getty Images
This week I challenged my editor to face off against a machine. Barbara Kantrowitz gamely accepted, under one condition: “You have to file early.” Ever since ChatGPT arrived in 2022, many journalists have made a public stunt out of asking the new generation of artificial intelligence to write their stories. Those AI stories were often bland and sprinkled with errors. I wanted to understand how well ChatGPT handled a different aspect of writing: giving feedback.
My curiosity was piqued by a new study, published in the June 2024 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Learning and Instruction, that evaluated the quality of ChatGPT’s feedback on students’ writing. A team of researchers compared AI with human feedback on 200 history essays written by students in grades 6 through 12 and they determined that human feedback was generally a bit better. Humans had a particular advantage in advising students on something to work on that would be appropriate for where they are in their development as a writer.
But ChatGPT came close. On a five-point scale that the researchers used to rate feedback quality, with a 5 being the highest quality feedback, ChatGPT averaged a 3.6 compared with a 4.0 average from a team of 16 expert human evaluators. It was a tough challenge. Most of these humans had taught writing for more than 15 years or they had considerable experience in writing instruction. All received three hours of training for this exercise plus extra pay for providing the feedback.
ChatGPT even beat these experts in one aspect; it was slightly better at giving feedback on students’ reasoning, argumentation and use of evidence from source materials – the features that the researchers had wanted the writing evaluators to focus on.
“It was better than I thought it was going to be because I didn’t have a lot of hope that it was going to be that good,” said Steve Graham, a well-regarded expert on writing instruction at Arizona State University, and a member of the study’s research team. “It wasn’t always accurate. But sometimes it was right on the money. And I think we’ll learn how to make it better.”
Average ratings for the quality of ChatGPT and human feedback on 200 student essays
Researchers rated the quality of the feedback on a five-point scale across five different categories. Criteria-based refers to whether the feedback addressed the main goals of the writing assignment, in this case, to produce a well-reasoned argument about history using evidence from the reading source materials that the students were given. Clear directions mean whether the feedback included specific examples of something the student did well and clear directions for improvement. Accuracy means whether the feedback advice was correct without errors. Essential Features refer to whether the suggestion on what the student should work on next is appropriate for where the student is in his writing development and is an important element of this genre of writing. Supportive Tone refers to whether the feedback is delivered with language that is affirming, respectful and supportive, as opposed to condescending, impolite or authoritarian. (Source: Fig. 1 of Steiss et al, “Comparing the quality of human and ChatGPT feedback of students’ writing,” Learning and Instruction, June 2024.)
Exactly how ChatGPT is able to give good feedback is something of a black box even to the writing researchers who conducted this study. Artificial intelligence doesn’t comprehend things in the same way that humans do. But somehow, through the neural networks that ChatGPT’s programmers built, it is picking up on patterns from all the writing it has previously digested, and it is able to apply those patterns to a new text.
The surprising “relatively high quality” of ChatGPT’s feedback is important because it means that the new artificial intelligence of large language models, also known as generative AI, could potentially help students improve their writing. One of the biggest problems in writing instruction in U.S. schools is that teachers assign too little writing, Graham said, often because teachers feel that they don’t have the time to give personalized feedback to each student. That leaves students without sufficient practice to become good writers. In theory, teachers might be willing to assign more writing or insist on revisions for each paper if students (or teachers) could use ChatGPT to provide feedback between drafts.
Despite the potential, Graham isn’t an enthusiastic cheerleader for AI. “My biggest fear is that it becomes the writer,” he said. He worries that students will not limit their use of ChatGPT to helpful feedback, but ask it to do their thinking, analyzing and writing for them. That’s not good for learning. The research team also worries that writing instruction will suffer if teachers delegate too much feedback to ChatGPT. Seeing students’ incremental progress and common mistakes remain important for deciding what to teach next, the researchers said. For example, seeing loads of run-on sentences in your students’ papers might prompt a lesson on how to break them up. But if you don’t see them, you might not think to teach it. Another common concern among writing instructors is that AI feedback will steer everyone to write in the same homogenized way. A young writer’s unique voice could be flattened out before it even has the chance to develop.
There’s also the risk that students may not be interested in heeding AI feedback. Students often ignore the painstaking feedback that their teachers already give on their essays. Why should we think students will pay attention to feedback if they start getting more of it from a machine?
Still, Graham and his research colleagues at the University of California, Irvine, are continuing to study how AI could be used effectively and whether it ultimately improves students’ writing. “You can’t ignore it,” said Graham. “We either learn to live with it in useful ways, or we’re going to be very unhappy with it.”
Example of feedback from a human and ChatGPT on the same essay
Source: Steiss et al, “Comparing the quality of human and ChatGPT feedback of students’ writing,” Learning and Instruction, June 2024.
In the current study, the researchers didn’t track whether students understood or employed the feedback, but only sought to measure its quality. Judging the quality of feedback is a rather subjective exercise, just as feedback itself is a bundle of subjective judgment calls. Smart people can disagree on what good writing looks like and how to revise bad writing.
In this case, the research team came up with its own criteria for what constitutes good feedback on a history essay. They instructed the humans to focus on the student’s reasoning and argumentation, rather than, say, grammar and punctuation. They also told the human raters to adopt a “glow and grow strategy” for delivering the feedback by first finding something to praise, then identifying a particular area for improvement.
The human raters provided this kind of feedback on hundreds of history essays from 2021 to 2023, as part of an unrelated study of an initiative to boost writing at school. The researchers randomly grabbed 200 of these essays and fed the raw student writing – without the human feedback – to version 3.5 of ChatGPT and asked it to give feedback, too.
At first, the AI feedback was terrible, but as the researchers tinkered with the instructions, or the “prompt,” they typed into ChatGPT, the feedback improved. The researchers eventually settled upon this wording: “Pretend you are a secondary school teacher. Provide 2-3 pieces of specific, actionable feedback on each of the following essays…. Use a friendly and encouraging tone.” The researchers also fed the assignment that the students were given, for example, “Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeed?” along with the reading source material that the students were provided. (More details about how the researchers prompted ChatGPT are explained in Appendix C of the study.)
The humans took about 20 to 25 minutes per essay. ChatGPT’s feedback came back instantly. The humans sometimes marked up sentences by, for example, showing a place where the student could have cited a source to buttress an argument. ChatGPT didn’t write any in-line comments and only wrote a note to the student.
Researchers then read through both sets of feedback – human and machine – for each essay, comparing and rating them. (It was supposed to be a blind comparison test and the feedback raters were not told who authored each one. However, the language and tone of ChatGPT were distinct giveaways, and the in-line comments were a tell of human feedback.)
Humans appeared to have a clear edge with the very strongest and the very weakest writers, the researchers found. They were better at pushing a strong writer a little bit further, for example, by suggesting that the student consider and address a counterargument. ChatGPT struggled to come up with ideas for a student who was already meeting the objectives of a well-argued essay with evidence from the reading source materials. ChatGPT also struggled with the weakest writers. The researchers had to drop two of the essays from the study because they were so short that ChatGPT didn’t have any feedback for the student. The human rater was able to parse out some meaning from a brief, incomplete sentence and offer a suggestion.
In one student essay about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, reprinted above, the human feedback seemed too generic to me: “Next time, I would love to see some evidence from the sources to help back up your claim.” ChatGPT, by contrast, specifically suggested that the student could have mentioned how much revenue the bus company lost during the boycott – an idea that was mentioned in the student’s essay. ChatGPT also suggested that the student could have mentioned specific actions that the NAACP and other organizations took. But the student had actually mentioned a few of these specific actions in his essay. That part of ChatGPT’s feedback was plainly inaccurate.
In another student writing example, also reprinted below, the human straightforwardly pointed out that the student had gotten an historical fact wrong. ChatGPT appeared to affirm that the student’s mistaken version of events was correct.
Another example of feedback from a human and ChatGPT on the same essay
Source: Steiss et al, “Comparing the quality of human and ChatGPT feedback of students’ writing,” Learning and Instruction, June 2024.
So how did ChatGPT’s review of my first draft stack up against my editor’s? One of the researchers on the study team suggested a prompt that I could paste into ChatGPT. After a few back and forth questions with the chatbot about my grade level and intended audience, it initially spit out some generic advice that had little connection to the ideas and words of my story. It seemed more interested in format and presentation, suggesting a summary at the top and subheads to organize the body. One suggestion would have made my piece too long-winded. Its advice to add examples of how AI feedback might be beneficial was something that I had already done. I then asked for specific things to change in my draft, and ChatGPT came back with some great subhead ideas. I plan to use them in my newsletter, which you can see if you sign up for it here. (And if you want to see my prompt and dialogue with ChatGPT, here is the link.)
My human editor, Barbara, was the clear winner in this round. She tightened up my writing, fixed style errors and helped me brainstorm this ending. Barbara’s job is safe – for now.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Grading papers is hard work. “I hate it,” a teacher friend confessed to me. And that’s a major reason why middle and high school teachers don’t assign more writing to their students. Even an efficient high school English teacher who can read and evaluate an essay in 20 minutes would spend 3,000 minutes, or 50 hours, grading if she’s teaching six classes of 25 students each. There aren’t enough hours in the day.
Could ChatGPT relieve teachers of some of the burden of grading papers? Early research is finding that the new artificial intelligence of large language models, also known as generative AI, is approaching the accuracy of a human in scoring essays and is likely to become even better soon. But we still don’t know whether offloading essay grading to ChatGPT will ultimately improve or harm student writing.
Tamara Tate, a researcher at University California, Irvine, and an associate director of her university’s Digital Learning Lab, is studying how teachers might use ChatGPT to improve writing instruction. Most recently, Tate and her seven-member research team, which includes writing expert Steve Graham at Arizona State University, compared how ChatGPT stacked up against humans in scoring 1,800 history and English essays written by middle and high school students.
Tate said ChatGPT was “roughly speaking, probably as good as an average busy teacher” and “certainly as good as an overburdened below-average teacher.” But, she said, ChatGPT isn’t yet accurate enough to be used on a high-stakes test or on an essay that would affect a final grade in a class.
Tate presented her study on ChatGPT essay scoring at the 2024 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Philadelphia in April. (The paper is under peer review for publication and is still undergoing revision.)
Most remarkably, the researchers obtained these fairly decent essay scores from ChatGPT without training it first with sample essays. That means it is possible for any teacher to use it to grade any essay instantly with minimal expense and effort. “Teachers might have more bandwidth to assign more writing,” said Tate. “You have to be careful how you say that because you never want to take teachers out of the loop.”
Writing instruction could ultimately suffer, Tate warned, if teachers delegate too much grading to ChatGPT. Seeing students’ incremental progress and common mistakes remain important for deciding what to teach next, she said. For example, seeing loads of run-on sentences in your students’ papers might prompt a lesson on how to break them up. But if you don’t see them, you might not think to teach it.
In the study, Tate and her research team calculated that ChatGPT’s essay scores were in “fair” to “moderate” agreement with those of well-trained human evaluators. In one batch of 943 essays, ChatGPT was within a point of the human grader 89 percent of the time. On a six-point grading scale that researchers used in the study, ChatGPT often gave an essay a 2 when an expert human evaluator thought it was really a 1. But this level of agreement – within one point – dropped to 83 percent of the time in another batch of 344 English papers and slid even farther to 76 percent of the time in a third batch of 493 history essays. That means there were more instances where ChatGPT gave an essay a 4, for example, when a teacher marked it a 6. And that’s why Tate says these ChatGPT grades should only be used for low-stakes purposes in a classroom, such as a preliminary grade on a first draft.
ChatGPT scored an essay within one point of a human grader 89 percent of the time in one batch of essays
Corpus 3 refers to one batch of 943 essays, which represents more than half of the 1,800 essays that were scored in this study. Numbers highlighted in green show exact score matches between ChatGPT and a human. Yellow highlights scores in which ChatGPT was within one point of the human score. Source: Tamara Tate, University of California, Irvine (2024).
Still, this level of accuracy was impressive because even teachers disagree on how to score an essay and one-point discrepancies are common. Exact agreement, which only happens half the time between human raters, was worse for AI, which matched the human score exactly only about 40 percent of the time. Humans were far more likely to give a top grade of a 6 or a bottom grade of a 1. ChatGPT tended to cluster grades more in the middle, between 2 and 5.
Tate set up ChatGPT for a tough challenge, competing against teachers and experts with PhDs who had received three hours of training in how to properly evaluate essays. “Teachers generally receive very little training in secondary school writing and they’re not going to be this accurate,” said Tate. “This is a gold-standard human evaluator we have here.”
The raters had been paid to score these 1,800 essays as part of three earlier studies on student writing. Researchers fed these same student essays – ungraded – into ChatGPT and asked ChatGPT to score them cold. ChatGPT hadn’t been given any graded examples to calibrate its scores. All the researchers did was copy and paste an excerpt of the same scoring guidelines that the humans used, called a grading rubric, into ChatGPT and told it to “pretend” it was a teacher and score the essays on a scale of 1 to 6.
Older robo graders
Earlier versions of automated essay graders have had higher rates of accuracy. But they were expensive and time-consuming to create because scientists had to train the computer with hundreds of human-graded essays for each essay question. That’s economically feasible only in limited situations, such as for a standardized test, where thousands of students answer the same essay question.
Earlier robo graders could also be gamed, once a student understood the features that the computer system was grading for. In some cases, nonsense essays received high marks if fancy vocabulary words were sprinkled in them. ChatGPT isn’t grading for particular hallmarks, but is analyzing patterns in massive datasets of language. Tate says she hasn’t yet seen ChatGPT give a high score to a nonsense essay.
Tate expects ChatGPT’s grading accuracy to improve rapidly as new versions are released. Already, the research team has detected that the newer 4.0 version, which requires a paid subscription, is scoring more accurately than the free 3.5 version. Tate suspects that small tweaks to the grading instructions, or prompts, given to ChatGPT could improve existing versions. She is interested in testing whether ChatGPT’s scoring could become more reliable if a teacher trained it with just a few, perhaps five, sample essays that she has already graded. “Your average teacher might be willing to do that,” said Tate.
Many ed tech startups, and even well-known vendors of educational materials, are now marketing new AI essay robo graders to schools. Many of them are powered under the hood by ChatGPT or another large language model and I learned from this study that accuracy rates can be reported in ways that can make the new AI graders seem more accurate than they are. Tate’s team calculated that, on a population level, there was no difference between human and AI scores. ChatGPT can already reliably tell you the average essay score in a school or, say, in the state of California.
Questions for AI vendors
At this point, it is not as accurate in scoring an individual student. And a teacher wants to know exactly how each student is doing. Tate advises teachers and school leaders who are considering using an AI essay grader to ask specific questions about accuracy rates on the student level:What is the rate of exact agreement between the AI grader and a human rater on each essay? How often are they within one-point of each other?
The next step in Tate’s research is to study whether student writing improves after having an essay graded by ChatGPT. She’d like teachers to try using ChatGPT to score a first draft and then see if it encourages revisions, which are critical for improving writing. Tate thinks teachers could make it “almost like a game: how do I get my score up?”
Of course, it’s unclear if grades alone, without concrete feedback or suggestions for improvement, will motivate students to make revisions. Students may be discouraged by a low score from ChatGPT and give up. Many students might ignore a machine grade and only want to deal with a human they know. Still, Tate says some students are too scared to show their writing to a teacher until it’s in decent shape, and seeing their score improve on ChatGPT might be just the kind of positive feedback they need.
“We know that a lot of students aren’t doing any revision,” said Tate. “If we can get them to look at their paper again, that is already a win.”
That does give me hope, but I’m also worried that kids will just ask ChatGPT to write the whole essay for them in the first place.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Our minds can sometimes feel like a battleground of different thoughts competing with one another. In this exercise, you’ll be asked to write a fictional dialogue between your “positive self” and “negative self.”
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A new study finds that a “Science of Happiness” university course, designed to teach students a variety of happiness hacks, provides the most long-term benefits when participants stick with the tools and exercises after completion.
There have been many experiments showing the short-term benefits of positive psychological interventions like gratitude, meditation, kindness, and journaling, but not many studies have looked into these effects on a longer timeline.
At the University of Bristol, there’s a popular course known as “The Science of Happiness” that aims to teach students how to use various happiness hacks to improve their mental health and well-being. This course has been running since 2019 and has been offered both online and in-person.
The program balances practical advice with important information on topics such as: the nature of happiness, the role of biology and environment, cognitive biases, brain mechanisms, problem-solving, and the importance of social connection. At the end of each week, students are instructed to try evidence-based activities or “happiness hacks,” as a way of fostering positive mental well-being.
In previous years, individuals who took the course reported significantly increased mental well-being from the first week to the final week, as shown by a 10-15% increase in their scores on the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. Participants also reported reduced loneliness and anxiety. A follow-up after six weeks continued to show sustained benefits, but it was unclear how long these positive effects lasted.
In a new study published in the journal Higher Education, researchers analyzed 228 undergraduate students from various disciplines who had completed the positive psychology course either 1 or 2 years ago. Interestingly, while most students reported short-term benefits, later group analysis revealed that these benefits did not persist uniformly across all participants during the long term follow-up period.
A deeper look at the data revealed a crucial factor behind the program’s success: continued engagement. Approximately 51% of the students who actively practiced the recommended activities taught during the course maintained their increased mental well-being over the follow-up period. These students consistently applied positive psychology principles in their daily lives at least a year after they completed the class.
Here’s a chart from the study illustrating the findings:
As you can see, those who continued to follow the “happiness hacks” maintained their gains in subjective well-being during the long term follow-up.
The most commonly reported technique that students continued to use was gratitude (37.17%), including writing letters of gratitude to others and making lists of things that they were grateful for (“three good things”). Other commonly reported techniques were mindfulness/meditation (33.63%), exercise (21.24%), journaling (17.70%) and kindness (10.62%).
How to Create Sustained Positive Change
The study recommends that schools and institutions consider the long-term impact of psychoeducational courses. While initial benefits are essential, sustained effects depend on prolonged engagement and commitment.
Course designs should incorporate mechanisms to encourage continued practice:
The goal of psychology – whether it’s with a course, book, article, therapist, or coach – is always to take what you learn and integrate it into your real world living.
In the moment, learning about these tools and exercises can provide a nice temporary boost of relief, but then we quickly get bored, forget about them, stop applying them, and lose out on their benefits over time.
Much like a diet or exercise regimen, you need to create a mental health system in your life that works for you and is sustainable into the future. Quick fixes are a myth. You’ll always snap back to your old ways if you don’t choose a course of action you can follow continuously and indefinitely.
In theory, choose habits you can do for the rest of your life. That’s the mindset you need for continuous growth, happiness, and well-being. Gratitude, kindness, meditation, exercise, and journaling can become habits that are just as second-nature to you as tying your shoes or driving a car. Make self-care an everyday occurence.
Ultimately, if you want to build a happy life, you have to be in it for the long haul.
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The snow is melting, the temperatures are rising, the birds are chirping, and the sound of children at play are filling the air. Springtime is right around the corner, and with it, the hopes and plans of many. Spirits rise in spring, and your students are certainly not immune. Perhaps you want to incorporate a writing prompt about spring into your next ELA lesson. Or maybe you need an inspirational message to share at the start of class. Bookmark this page for sharing some of our favorite spring quotes in the classroom!
Spring Quotes by Poets
No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring. – Samuel Johnson
There are no ordinary feelings. Just as there are no ordinary spring days or kicked-over cans of paint. – Dean Young
And as he came he saw that it was spring, A time abhorrent to the nihilist Or searcher for the fecund minimum. – Wallace Stevens
A little Madness in the Spring Is wholesome even for the King. – Emily Dickinson
In California in the early Spring, There are pale yellow mornings, when the mist burns slowly into day, The air stings like Autumn, clarifies like pain – Well, I have dreamed this coast myself. – Robert Hass
One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of a March thaw, is the spring. – Aldo Leopold
Sweet April showers Do spring May flowers. – Thomas Tusser
Spring’s greatest joy beyond a doubt is when it brings the children out. – Edgar Guest
But the true nature of the human heart is as whimsical as spring weather. All signals may aim toward a fall of rain when suddenly the skies will clear. – Maya Angelou
Spring has come back again. The Earth is like a child that’s got poems by heart. – Rainer Maria Rilke
The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day. When the sun is out and the wind is still, You’re one month on in the middle of May. – Robert Frost
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. – Anne Bradstreet
It is about five o’clock in an evening that the first hour of spring strikes—autumn arrives in the early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day. – Elizabeth Bowen
What are heavy? sea-sand and sorrow. What are brief? today and tomorrow. What are frail? spring blossoms and youth. What are deep? the ocean and truth. – Christina Rossetti
If spring came but once a century instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake and not in silence, what wonder and expectation there would be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Dead my old fine hopes And dry my dreaming but still … Iris, blue each spring – Shushiki
Quotes About Spring by Songwriters and Musicians
It’s spring again. I can hear the birds sing again. See the flowers start to bud. See young people fall in love. – Lou Rawls
Spring is here, there’s no mistaking Robins building nests from coast to coast My heart tries to sing so they won’t hear it breaking Spring can really hang you up the most – Ella Fitzgerald
The spring, summer, is quite a hectic time for people in their lives, but then it comes to autumn, and to winter, and you can’t but help think back to the year that was, and then hopefully looking forward to the year that is approaching. – Enya
Spring fever, spring is here at last. Spring fever, my heart’s beating fast. Get up, get out. Spring is everywhere. – Elvis Presley
You make me feel so young, you make me feel so spring has sprung. – Frank Sinatra
There will be children with robins and flowers; sunshine caresses each new waking hour. – Rascal Flatts
Spring time. As the view from the window is getting greener and greener, my heart is getting stronger and stronger. – Yoko Ono
Spring Quotes by Philosophers and Mathematicians
For what is the program of the bourgeois parties? A bad poem on springtime, filled to bursting with metaphors. – Walter Benjamin
I return to the newborn world, and the soft-soil fields, What their first birthing lifted to the shores Of light, and trusted to the wayward winds. First the Earth gave the shimmer of greenery And grasses to deck the hills; then over the meadows The flowering fields are bright with the color of springtime, And for all the trees that shoot into the air. – Lucretius
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. – Cicero
In these minute creatures [insects], so nearly akin as they are to non-entity, how surpassing the intelligence, how vast the resources, and how ineffable the perfection which she [Nature] has displayed. – Pliny the Elder
A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love. – Max Muller
It seems to be true that many things have as it were, an epoch in which they are discovered in several places simultaneously, just as the violets appear on all sides in springtime. – Farkas Bolyai
Mathematical discoveries, like springtime violets in the woods, have their season which no human can hasten or retard. – Carl Friedrich Gauss
Quotes About Spring by Actors
The spring in Boston is like being in love: bad days slip in among the good ones, and the whole world is at a standstill, then the sun shines, the tears dry up, and we forget that yesterday was stormy. – Louise Closser Hale
Baseball begins in the spring, the season of new life. Football begins in the fall, when everything’s dying. – George Carlin
Gardening is the greatest tonic and therapy a human being can have. Even if you have only a tiny piece of earth, you can create something beautiful, which we all have a great need for. If we begin by respecting plants, it’s inevitable we’ll respect people. – Audrey Hepburn
It’s a wonderful opportunity to be part of a child’s growing up, which is always an endless springtime. You see the blossoming and the growing and the nurturing and the payoff. – Harrison Ford
I like to run in the springtime or in the fall … if I’m outside, I could just run for ages. – AnnaSophia Robb
I realize there’s nothing quite as satisfying as eating food that you’ve pulled up from the ground, and that’s why, at the height of the planting season, I bury cans of tomato soup in my backyard and dig them up in late spring. – Ellen DeGeneres
Quotes About Spring by Writers
From you have I been absent in the spring, When proud-pied April, dress’d in all his trim, Hath put a spirit of youth in everything. – William Shakespeare
Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in the dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. – Oscar Wilde
Youth has its romance, and maturity its wisdom, as morning and spring have their freshness, noon and summer their power, night and winter their repose. Each attribute is good in its own season. – Charlotte Brontë
It is better to remember our love as it was in the springtime. – Bess Streeter Aldrich, Spring Came On Forever
In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours. – Mark Twain
There’s a word in Japanese for being sad in the springtime—a whole word for just being sad—about how pretty the flowers are and how soon they’re going to die. – Sarah Ruhl, The Clean House and Other Plays
It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what. – John Galsworthy
Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring. – Vladimir Nabokov, Mary
I enjoy the spring more than the autumn now. One does, I think, as one gets older. – Virginia Woolf
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?” … “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine.” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own. – Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Revolution is as unpredictable as an earthquake and as beautiful as spring. Its coming is always a surprise, but its nature should not be. – Rebecca Solnit, The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness
I suppose the best kind of spring morning is the best weather God has to offer. – Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle
The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something for the good of the world. – Charles Dudley Warner, My Summer in a Garden
You need friends who think you’re fabulous, an angel in human shape, and a breath of springtime. – Cynthia Heimel
The only thing that could spoil a day was people. … People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself. – Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. – Harriet Jacobs
Every intoxicating delight of early spring was in the air. The breeze that fanned her cheek was laden with subtle perfume and the crisp, fresh odor of unfolding leaves. – Gene Stratton-Porter, The Song of the Cardinal
Gardening is not a rational act. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. – Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard’s Egg
The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts. – Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
Spring was running in a thin green flame over the Valley. – Ellen Glasgow, Vein of Iron
Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat. – Laura Ingalls Wilder
Stronger than iron crueler than death sweeter than springtime it lives beyond breath – Juliet Marillier, Cybele’s Secret
Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf is a flower. – Albert Camus, The Misunderstanding
Spring Quotes by Political and Religious Figures
When Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil. – Reginald Heber
Middle age is the way you would feel about summer if you knew there would never be another spring. – Clare Boothe Luce, The Women
Satan knows that youth is the springtime of life when all things are new and young people are most vulnerable. – Ezra Taft Benson
This [Ireland] is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection, and I certainly will come back in the springtime – John F. Kennedy
If there is any danger in the present weather, in the name of God, Monsieur, wait until spring. – Vincent de Paul
In this springtime of hope, some lights seem eternal; America’s is. – Ronald Reagan
All that happens is as usual and familiar as the rose in spring and the crop in summer. – Marcus Aurelius
The ballpoint pen was introduced in 1945, by a man named László Bíró, a Hungarian journalist. In 1945, his simple yet revolutionary writing instrument was introduced to the world.
This innovation dramatically transformed the act of writing, making it more accessible and practical than ever before.
Rise of the biro
Biró found fountain pens impractical, so he sought an alternative. His quest was also inspired by the quick-drying ink used in newspapers.
Partnering with his brother György, Bíró embarked on refining the ballpoint pen to use a paste-like ink that didn’t evaporate, mitigating the common frustrations associated with fountain pens. Bíró created a pen that revolutionized writing by introducing a rolling ball mechanism that evenly distributed ink as it moved across the paper.
Despite its initial luxury status, the pen’s practicality soon became undeniable. Its ability to write on various surfaces without leaking or smudging was a significant advancement over traditional ink and quill or fountain pens.
Global adoption
The Biro’s journey was not without its challenges. Navigating through financial difficulties, patent disputes, and wartime turmoil, Bíró’s invention found a lifeline in Argentina. Later, the British Ministries of Supply and Aircraft Production recognized the Biro’s utility for RAF pilots, propelling it into mass production. The post-war period saw further innovations, with entrepreneurs like Marcel Bich refining the design to manufacture the Bic Cristal, an affordable and ubiquitous model that cemented the ballpoint pen’s place in society.
Despite initial challenges, including fleeing war-torn Europe for Argentina, Bíró’s invention gained recognition for its practicality. The British Royal Air Force saw the pen’s potential. They ordered thousands for their pilots, who needed reliable writing instruments at high altitudes. This marked the beginning of the Biro pen’s global journey.
That’s why the name “Biro” is more than just a brand; it’s an homage to the inventor himself. In many parts of the world, the term “Biro” is synonymous with “ballpoint pen.” This is a testament to László Bíró’s lasting impact. The pen’s name varies globally, reflecting its widespread adoption and the universal need it addressed. In English-speaking countries, particularly the UK, the pen is often called a “Biro” in recognition of its creator’s ingenuity.
Transforming Writing Practices
The Biro’s simplicity belies the complexity of its impact. This shift facilitated a more dynamic and accessible form of communication, democratizing writing across different strata of society.
The story of Biro’s influence on writing practices invites us to appreciate the seemingly mundane objects that harbor rich histories.
(NewsNation) — University junior Marley Stevens faced a startling setback when a paper she worked on received a zero grade, plunging her into academic probation and jeopardizing her scholarship. The twist? She had used Grammarly, a popular writing plugin recommended by her university to refine her work.
Stevens, recounting her ordeal, expressed initial disbelief upon receiving the email notifying her of the zero grade. “I thought he had sent the email to the wrong person because I worked super hard on my paper,” she said in a Sunday interview on “NewsNation Prime.”
She didn’t expect that three months later, she would still be entangled in the aftermath, with her scholarship hanging by a thread. Grammarly says 30 million people use this tool to catch spelling errors, typos and grammar issues.
Grammarly also uses generative AI, and a detection service flagged Stevens’ assignment for the teacher as “unintentionally cheating.”
“I’m on probation until Feb. 16 of next year. And this started when he sent me the email. It was October. I didn’t think that now in March of 2024 that this would still be a big thing that was going on,” Stevens said.
Despite Grammarly being recommended on the University of North Georgia’s website, Stevens found herself embroiled in a battle to clear her name. The tool, briefly removed from the school’s website, later resurfaced, adding to the confusion surrounding its acceptable usage despite the software’s utilization of generative AI.
“I have a teacher this semester who told me in an email like, ‘Yes, use Grammarly. It’s a great tool.’ And they advertise it,” Stevens said.
Grammarly’s Jenny Maxwell clarified the company’s stance, emphasizing its role as a partner in enhancing writing experiences while ensuring responsible usage. “Our AI engine inside of it helps people create better writing experiences that are grammatically correct, [with] fewer spelling issues,” she explained.
Maxwell defended the tool’s integrity, highlighting its 15-year history of aiding students and professionals in crafting grammatically correct content. “We’ve recently added a generative engine within Grammarly,” Maxwell explained, emphasizing responsible usage and transparency in citing its assistance.
Despite Stevens’ appeal and subsequent GoFundMe campaign to rectify the situation, her options seem limited. The university’s stance, citing the absence of suspension or expulsion, has left her in a bureaucratic bind.
Maxwell, on behalf of Grammarly, extended support, including a $4,000 donation.
Reflecting on the broader implications, Maxwell urged institutions to adapt their assessment methods in light of evolving technologies like AI.
“Education is wrestling right now with how they need to evolve the way that they assess writing,” she remarked.
NewsNation reached out to the university for comment and hasn’t heard back.
What does the daily life of a legendary philosopher look like? Learn about Arthur Schopenhauer’s unique routine that he consistently followed for over 27 years.
Arthur Schopenhauer was a major figure in German philosophy throughout the 19th century along with Friedrich Nietzsche and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
While he’s known for his pessimism and negative outlook on life, there’s no denying that Schopenhauer was an intellectual powerhouse of his time who influenced many great thinkers, philosophers, and artists long after his death.
His book Essays and Aphorisms is a great introduction and overview of his philosophical ideas. It explains his core metaphysical belief of “world as appearance,” continuing the legacy of other idealist philosophers like Plato, Kant, and Indian philosophy, which warn about viewing the world strictly through a materialist lens.
The beginning of the book provides a nice biography of Schopenhauer’s family background, education, and life history. There’s one interesting section on his daily routine that caught my attention and wanted to share; it’s always fascinating to gain insights into the habits and lifestyles of influential figures, especially potential role models we can emulate and borrow from.
This specific routine characterizes the last third of Schopenhauer’s life:
“From the age of 45 until his death 27 years later Schopenhauer lived in Frankfurt-am-Main. He lived alone… every day for 27 years he followed an identical routine.”
Keep in mind, I’m only sharing this for educational purposes. I don’t necessarily recommend this way of living, but there are interesting lessons to takeaway from it, including how some of these habits relate to Schopenhauer’s overall philosophy.
Arthur Schopenhauer’s Daily Routine
Here’s a breakdown of Schopenhauer’s daily routine for the last 27 years of his life:
“He rose every morning at seven and had a bath but no breakfast;
He drank a cup of strong coffee before sitting down at his desk and writing until noon.
At noon he ceased work for the day and spent half-an-hour practicing the flute, on which he became quite a skilled performer.
Then he went out to lunch at the Englischer Hof.
After lunch he returned home and read until four, when he left for his daily walk:
He walked for two hours no matter what the weather.
At six o’clock, he visited the reading room of the library and read The Times.
In the evening he attended the theatre or a concert, after which he had dinner at a hotel or restaurant.
He got back home between nine and ten and went early to bed.”
While Schopenhauer mostly kept to this strict routine unwaveringly, he was willing to make exceptions under specials circumstances such as if he had friends or visitors in town.
Key Lessons and Takeaways
This daily routine seems fitting for a solitary and introspective philosopher, but there are key lessons that fit with conventional self-improvement wisdom:
Early Rising: Schopenhauer started his day at 7 a.m., which aligns with the common advice of many successful individuals who advocate for early rising. This morning ritual is often associated with increased productivity and a sense of discipline.
No Breakfast: Skipping breakfast was part of Schopenhauer’s routine. While not everyone agrees with this approach, it resonates with intermittent fasting principles that some find beneficial for health and mental clarity.
Work Routine: Schopenhauer dedicated his mornings to work, writing until noon. This emphasizes the importance of having a focused and dedicated period for intellectual or creative work, especially early in the day.
Creative Break: Taking a break to practice the flute for half an hour after work highlights the value of incorporating creative or leisure activities into one’s routine. It can serve as a refreshing break and contribute to overall well-being.
Outdoor Exercise: Schopenhauer’s daily two-hour walk, regardless of the weather, emphasizes the significance of outdoor exercise for both physical and mental health. This practice aligns with contemporary views on the benefits of regular physical activity and spending time in nature.
Reading Habit: Schopenhauer spent time reading each day, reflecting his commitment to continuous learning and intellectual stimulation.
News Consumption: Reading The Times at the library suggests Schopenhauer valued staying informed about current events. It’s worth noting that he limited his news consumption to a specific time of day (but it was easier to restrict your information diet before the internet).
Cultural Engagement: Attending the theater or a concert in the evening indicates a commitment to cultural engagement and a balanced lifestyle.
Regular Bedtime: Going to bed early reflects an understanding of the importance of sufficient sleep for overall health and well-being.
While Schopenhauer’s routine may not be suitable for everyone, there are elements of discipline, balance, and engagement with various aspects of life that individuals may find inspiring or applicable to their own lifestyles.
The Immovable Mind
Schopenhauer was known for his persistence and stubbornness – his consistent daily routine is just one manifestation of this.
He wrote his magnum opus The World as Will and Representation in 1818 when he was only 28 years old, and he never fundamentally changed his views despite continuing to write and publish until his death at 72.
Schopenhauer has been described as an “immovable mind,” never letting himself deviate from the course he was set out on.
His two hour walk routine in any weather is one of the most popular examples of this. From the biography in the book:
“Consider the daily two-hour walk. Among Schopenhauer’s disciples of the late nineteenth century this walk was celebrated fact of his biography, and it was so because of its regularity. There was speculation as to why he insisted on going out and staying out for two hours no matter what the weather. It suggests health fanaticism, but there is no other evidence that Schopenhauer was a health fanatic or crank. In my view the reason was simply obstinacy: he would go out and nothing would stop him.”
While this immovability has its disadvantages, you have to admire the monk-like discipline.
Schopenhauer was a proponent of ascetism, a life without pleasure-seeking and mindless indulgence. A lot of his philosophy centers around a type of “denouncement of the material world,” so it’s not surprising that a little rain and wind wouldn’t stop his daily walk.
This way of living is reminiscent of the documentary Into Great Silence, which follows the daily lives of Carthusian monks living in the French mountains while they eat, clean, pray, and fulfill their chores and duties in quiet solitude.
One of the hallmarks of a great routine is that it’s a sustainable system. The fact that Schopenhauer was able to follow this regimen for the rest of his life is a testament to its strength and efficacy, and something worth admiring even if it’s not a lifestyle we’d want to replicate for ourselves.
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Art has been created and enjoyed since the beginning of humankind. Art takes many forms including painting, drawing, writing, acting, music, and more. It serves as therapy, expression, protest, and entertainment. There have been many beautiful quotes about art, so we have compiled the best quotes about art from artists, writers, actors, politicians, and philosophers. Check out our list below and be prepared to inspire your students (and yourself!) to create.
Quotes About Art by Famous Visual Artists
I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality. —Frida Kahlo
Art is the best possible introduction to the culture of the world. I love it for the buried hopes, the garnered memories, the tender feelings it can summon at a touch. It washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. —Pablo Picasso
Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing. —Salvador Dalí
The task of the artist is to make the human being uncomfortable. —Lucian Freud
Philosophers and aestheticians may offer elegant and profound definitions of art and beauty, but for the painter they are all summed up in this phrase: to create a harmony. —Gino Severini
The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people. —Vincent van Gogh
We don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents. —Bob Ross
The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. —Paul Strand
The sculptor, and the painter also, should be trained in these liberal arts: grammar, geometry, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, perspective, history, anatomy, theory of design, arithmetic. —Lorenzo Ghiberti
A dead princess is only complete when surrounded by gaping crowds with their cameras out, or the opportunity to photograph yourself pulling an amazed expression when a killer whale leaps from a toilet. —Banksy
In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that cannot be explained. —Georges Braque
I don’t believe in art. I believe in artists. —Marcel Duchamp
Painting is the pattern of one’s own nervous system being projected on canvas. —Francis Bacon
Quotes About Art by Philosophers
The culture of a civilization is the art and literature through which it rises to consciousness of itself and defines its vision of the world. —Roger Scruton
As for the story, whether the poet takes it ready made or constructs it for himself, he should first sketch its general outline, and then fill in the episodes and amplify in detail. —Aristotle
The most beautiful colors laid on at random, give less pleasure than a black-and-white drawing. —Aristotle
When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters and great misfortunes, when harrowed nations begin to breathe again. And then, shaken by the terror of such spectacles, imaginations will paint things entirely strange to those who have not witnessed them. —Denis Diderot
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. —Thomas Merton
Ideas matter—and philosophy is the art of thinking about them rigorously. In my view, that should be done in as public a forum as possible. —Sam Harris
Art, it is said, is not a mirror, but a hammer: it does not reflect, it shapes. —Leon Trotsky
The productions of all arts are kinds of poetry and their craftsmen are all poets. —Plato
There are three arts which are concerned with all things: one which uses, another which makes, a third which imitates them. —Plato
Without material art can do nothing, material without art does possess a certain value, while the perfection of art is better than the best material. —Quintilian
Astronomy was born of superstition; eloquence of ambition, hatred, falsehood, and flattery; geometry of avarice; physics of an idle curiosity; and even moral philosophy of human pride. Thus the arts and sciences owe their birth to our vices. —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Psychology is a science and teaching is an art; and sciences never generate arts directly out of themselves. —William James
The rude beginnings of every art acquire a greater celebrity than the art in perfection; he who first played the fiddle was looked upon as a demigod. —Voltaire
It seems to me now that mathematics is capable of an artistic excellence as great as that of any music, perhaps greater; not because the pleasure it gives (although very pure) is comparable … but because it gives in absolute perfection that combination, characteristic of great art, of godlike freedom, with the sense of inevitable destiny. —Bertrand Russell
The urge for destruction is also a creative urge. —Mikhail Bakunin
Quotes About Art by Composers and Musicians
You don’t finish something because you need to get it done. You finish something because you have something to say. —Sarah McLachlan
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. —Frank Zappa
In order to create there must be a dynamic force, and what force is more potent than love? —Igor Stravinsky
To be deprived of art and left alone with philosophy is to be close to hell. —Igor Stravinsky
If you don’t call it art, you’re likely to get a better result. —Brian Eno
Try to make things that can become better in other people’s minds than they were in yours. —Brian Eno
We must be patient, and believe that inspiration will come to those who can master their disinclination. —Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
It is already a wonderful thing if just the main ideas and general outline of a work come without the racking of brains, through that supernatural and inexplicable force we call inspiration. —Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
If it is art, it is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art. —Arnold Schoenberg
An artistic impression is substantially the resultant of two components. One what the work of art gives the onlooker—the other, what he is capable of giving to the work of art. —Arnold Schoenberg
Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets. —Ludwig van Beethoven
The best music always results from ecstasies of knowledge. —Alban Berg
The gift of imagination is by no means an exclusive property of the artist; it is a gift we all share; to some degree or other all of us, all of you, are endowed with the powers of fantasy. —Leonard Bernstein
A work of art does not answer questions: it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between their contradictory answers. —Leonard Bernstein
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. —Charles Mingus
Passion is one great force that unleashes creativity, because if you’re passionate about something, then you’re more willing to take risks. —Yo-Yo Ma
The first mistake of art is to assume that it’s serious. —Lester Bangs
My role in society, or any artist or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. —John Lennon
Surrealism had a great effect on me because then I realized that the imagery in my mind wasn’t insanity. Surrealism to me is reality. —John Lennon
Listen, real poetry doesn’t say anything; it just ticks off the possibilities. Opens all doors. You can walk through any one that suits you. —Jim Morrison
All were artists, playing foolish, having fights and making love as if the rest of the world had no racial problems whatsoever. —Chuck Berry
I sometimes wondered what the use of any of the arts was. The best thing I could come up with was what I call the canary in the coal mine theory of the arts. This theory says that artists are useful to society because they are so sensitive. … They keel over like canaries in poison coal mines long before more robust types realize that there is any danger whatsoever. —Kurt Vonnegut
The practice of art isn’t to make a living. It’s to make your soul grow. —Kurt Vonnegut
Art and religion first; then philosophy; lastly science. That is the order of the great subjects of life, that’s their order of importance. —Muriel Spark
Artists are always the Johnny Appleseeds of gentrification. —Scott Hutchins
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. —Thomas Merton
I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, No. No, I’m finished. Bye. And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won’t do that. —Maya Angelou
Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art. —Maya Angelou
It is the art of mankind to polish the world, and every one who works is scrubbing in some part. —Henry David Thoreau
The conscious utterance of thought, by speech or action, to any end, is art. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Art is the need to create; but in its essence, immense and universal, it is impatient of working with lame or tied hands, and of making cripples and monsters, such as all pictures and statues are. Nothing less than the creation of man and nature is its end. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter’s honor. —Ernest Hemingway
Truth in art is the unity of a thing with itself: the outward rendered expressive of the inward: the soul made incarnate: the body instinct with spirit. For this reason there is no truth comparable to sorrow. —Oscar Wilde
The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid: the state of being alone. —James Baldwin
Artists are here to disturb the peace. —James Baldwin
And really the purpose of art—for me, fiction—is to alert, to indicate to stop, to say: Make certain that when you rush through you will not miss the moment which you might have had, or might still have. —Jerzy Kosinski
I collect human relationships very much the way others collect fine art. —Jerzy Kosinski
The person who wants nothing, hopes for nothing, and fears nothing can never be an artist. —Anton Chekhov
You are right to demand that an artist engage his work consciously, but you confuse two different things: solving the problem and correctly posing the question. —Anton Chekhov
Something is always born of excess: great art was born of great terrors, great loneliness, great inhibitions, instabilities, and it always balances them. —Anais Nin
There are two avenues from the little passions and the drear calamities of earth; both lead to the heaven and away from hell—Art and Science. But art is more godlike than science; science discovers, art creates. —Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
Art is the tree of life. Science is the tree of death. —William Blake
I don’t understand how any good art could fail to be political. —Barbara Kingsolver
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival. —C.S. Lewis
To discover the mode of life or of art whereby my spirit could express itself in unfettered freedom. —James Joyce
Really I don’t like human nature unless all candied over with art. —Virginia Woolf
How life did imitate art sometimes. And the cruder the art, the closer the imitation. —Stephen King
Quotes About Art by Mathematicians and Scientists
The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see. —John Tukey
True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist. —Albert Einstein
Is there not a certain satisfaction in the fact that natural limits are set to the life of the individual, so that at the conclusion it may appear as a work of art? —Albert Einstein
One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one’s own ever-shifting desires. —Albert Einstein
One can envisage an end of science no more readily than one can envisage an end of imaginative literature or the fine arts. —Peter Medawar
Every science touches art at some points—every art has its scientific side; the worst man of science is he who is never an artist, and the worst artist is he who is never a man of science. —Armand Trousseau
How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. —Isaac Asimov
All great scientists have, in a certain sense, been great artists; the man with no imagination may collect facts, but he cannot make great discoveries. —Karl Pearson
Space belongs to all of us. There is science in dance and art in science. —Mae Jemison
Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability. —William Osler
Errors are not in the art but in the artificers. —Isaac Newton
The thing about performance, even if it’s only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities. —Daniel Day-Lewis
To that extent that you can sustain and maintain that childlike part of your personality is probably the best part of acting. —Paul Newman
I’ve had different opportunities in my life, but I’ve tried to maintain the spirit of an amateur. Our culture roots everything in the barometer of success and how much money you make. But if you really just aspire to a life in the arts, it’s really not a barometer at all. —Ethan Hawke
It’s hard to act in the morning. The muse isn’t even awake. —Keanu Reeves
The real actor—like any real artist—has a direct line to the collective heart. —Bette Davis
Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. —Spike Lee
Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theater, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world. —Alan Rickman
It used to be that we in films were the lowest form of art. Now we have something to look down on. —Billy Wilder (on television)
I steal from every single movie ever made. If people don’t like that, then tough tills, don’t go and see it, all right? I steal from everything. Great artists steal, they don’t do homages. —Quentin Tarantino
Once a month the sky falls on my head, I come to, and I see another movie I want to make. —Steven Spielberg
I regard myself as an entertainer much more than an artist. —Peter Jackson
Quotes About Art by Famous Political Figures
Like music and art, love of nature is a common language that can transcend political or social boundaries. —Jimmy Carter
Above all, we are coming to understand that the arts incarnate the creativity of a free people. When the creative impulse cannot flourish, when it cannot freely select its methods and objects, when it is deprived of spontaneity, then society severs the root of art. —President John F. Kennedy
To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his country. —George Washington
Now I think, speaking roughly, by leadership we mean the art of getting someone else to do something that you want done because he wants to do it. —President Dwight D. Eisenhower
And that, I think, is what the arts and the humanities do—they lift up our identities, and make us see ourselves in each other. —President Barack Obama
Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse. —Winston Churchill
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too. —President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Learn from past love to improve future love. This worksheet will guide you step-by-step so that you can take away the most important lessons from your past relationships.
Jump-start engaging student conversations with Would You Rather questions for kids! Whether for debates, creative writing prompts, thought-provoking discussions, or captivating lessons on comparisons, these questions are your classroom’s secret ingredient to learning in disguise.
Want them all in one set of Google Slides? Just drop your email in the form, and we’ll send it your way!
Explore our collection of 250+ Would You Rather questions for kids, spanning a variety of intriguing topics!
Jump to:
Would you rather eat spaghetti with a fork the size of a toothpick or a sandwich the size of a surfboard?
Would you rather have an extra eye or an extra ear?
Would you rather be able to hear people’s thoughts or see behind you?
Would you rather have a pet dinosaur that follows you everywhere or a robot that keeps your room clean?
Would you rather eat ice cream for every meal or pizza for every meal?
Would you rather have a crayon that brings your drawings to life or a backpack that always has the exact food you want in it?
Would you rather have a pet horse that tells knock-knock jokes or a pet unicorn with no sense of humor?
Would you rather have to speak in rhyme all day or dance every time you enter a room?
Would you rather be able to fly only backward or run as fast as a cheetah but only in circles?
Would you rather always have to wear a chicken costume to school or a snorkel and flippers to bed?
Would you rather have a playroom full of slides or a playroom that’s one big bouncy castle?
Would you rather have an elephant-sized hamster or a hamster-sized elephant as a pet?
Would you rather be able to understand what animals are saying but not be able to speak their language or be able to talk to plants and make them grow faster?
Would you rather be a detective who solves mysteries or someone who creates bizarre inventions?
Would you rather have a personal assistant who’s a nosy gnome or a chauffeur who’s a mischievous leprechaun?
Would you rather wear shoes that make you dance uncontrollably whenever you hear music or a hat that tells you interesting facts about everything you see?
Would you rather always have to wear gloves or always have to wear sunglasses, even indoors?
Would you rather have a pet porcupine that stinks or a pet skunk that is very prickly?
Would you rather have a backpack that can turn into any vehicle you want or a pair of shoes that can take you anywhere in the world with the click of your heels?
Would you rather have a never-ending supply of chocolate or a bottomless bag of your favorite chips?
Would you rather read a paper book or listen to an audiobook?
Would you rather have to yell everything you say or whisper everything you say?
Would you rather always have to eat your favorite food or never eat it again?
Would you rather eat broccoli or brussels sprouts?
Would you rather always smell something bad or taste something bad?
Would you rather do 100 math problems or write a 5-page essay?
Would you rather have a phone or a laptop?
Would you rather live by the ocean or a lake?
Would you rather always see in red or see in blue?
Would you rather be a famous athlete or a famous actor?
Would you rather eat a bowl of fruit or a bowl of vegetables?
Would you rather get paid $10 to do your chores or $10 to do your homework?
Would you rather live life as a dog or live life as a cat for a day?
Would you rather wear the same outfit every day or a new outfit every day?
Would you rather eat pancakes or waffles for breakfast every day?
Would you rather ride an electric bike or an electric scooter to the park?
Would you rather have a room full of puzzles or a room full of books?
Would you rather attend a party where everything is upside down or a party where everything is in slow motion?
Would you rather learn to play a musical instrument or a new sport?
Would you rather have a super-long summer break or a bunch of shorter breaks throughout the year?
Would you rather explore the depths of the ocean or travel to outer space?
Would you rather be the oldest sibling or the youngest sibling?
Would you rather have to put hot sauce or syrup on everything you eat?
Would you rather have a personal jet pack or fly in an airplane with your friends?
Would you rather sleep in a pile of hay or on a concrete slab?
Would you rather eat pizza or spaghetti?
Would you rather always be hungry or always be tired?
Would you rather live in a tree house or on a boat?
Would you rather have a talking cat or a flying dog?
Would you rather view things through a telescope lens or a microscope lens?
Would you rather have the ability to time-travel to the past or see into the future?
Would you rather be able to talk to animals or understand every language in the world?
Would you rather have a robot that helps you with schoolwork or a special pencil case that produces any school supply you need?
Would you rather have the power to make objects float or make objects turn invisible?
Would you rather be a character in your favorite book or from your favorite video game?
Would you rather explore an ancient Egyptian pyramid or snorkel with colorful fish?
Would you rather be able to teleport anywhere in the world or have a time machine to visit any historical event?
Would you rather go camping in a tent or stay in a motel in the city?
Would you rather be a famous movie star or a famous astronaut?
Would you rather play in the World Cup final or the Super Bowl?
Would you rather take a road trip across the country or a boat cruise around the world?
Would you rather have a pool filled with chocolate syrup or Jell-O?
Would you rather have trampoline floors or a slide for your stairs?
Would you rather wear your clothes backward or your shoes on the wrong feet?
Would you rather always have to talk in a funny voice or only be able to whisper loudly?
Would you rather have noodles for hair or clothes made of cotton candy?
Would you rather have a pet parrot that only speaks in pirate phrases or always sings show tunes?
Would you rather have a nose that honks like a horn when you’re excited or ears that grow when you’re excited?
Would you rather be able to jump as high as a kangaroo or have the ability to crawl up and down walls like a spider?
Would you rather build a tree house or create an underground fort filled with secret passages?
Would you rather have a talking pillow that gives great advice or a magic mirror that tells the silliest jokes?
Would you rather wear a clown wig or big floppy clown shoes every day for a year?
Would you rather laugh uncontrollably every hour or sing randomly every hour?
Would you rather have a magic wand that can transform anything into candy or a magic wand that brings your favorite toys to life for a day?
Would you rather have a pet lion that thinks it’s a house cat or a pet ferret that tap-dances?
Would you rather always have to hop like a bunny or waddle like a penguin?
Would you rather have an opera-singing dog or a cat that can juggle?
Would you rather have a closet that leads to a secret world or a bed that can fly you anywhere you want but only at night?
Would you rather live in a world where everyone walks on their hands or where people communicate by making funny faces?
Would you rather have a garden that grows jellybean plants or a field of flowers made of chocolate?
Would you rather have a magical burp that smells like your favorite dessert or a sneeze that makes bubbles come out of your ears?
Would you rather go sledding down a hill of marshmallows or ice-skate on a lake of frozen chocolate milk?
Would you rather go snowshoeing or snowboarding every day?
Would you rather build a snow fort with your friends or drink hot cocoa alone by a fireplace?
Would you rather have the power to stop snowstorms or instantly warm up a chilly room?
Would you rather have boots that magically turn into warm slippers when you go inside or shoes that turn into skates when it’s icy outside?
Would you rather ride a sled pulled by polar bears or by penguins?
Would you rather have a reindeer or an arctic fox as a pet?
Would you rather be a professional snowboarder or an ice-skating champion?
Would you rather have a snow fort that never melts or a snow castle that you can eat?
Would you rather wear mittens as shoes or earmuffs as gloves?
Would you rather it snow marshmallows or popcorn?
Would you rather spend a weekend in an igloo or in a gingerbread house?
Would you rather build the biggest snowman or the most intricate snow fort?
Would you rather have snow taste like your favorite ice cream or icicles turn into Popsicles when you break them off?
Would you rather wake up to a snowy wonderland or your neighborhood covered in twinkling holiday lights?
Would you rather ride a magical sled that can go up hills on its own or have skis with rocket boosters?
Would you rather wear wet mittens or wet socks all day?
Would you rather experience a long, fast adventure in a dogsled or a bobsled?
Would you rather meet Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman?
Would you rather have skis for feet or mittens for hands?
Would you rather spend a sunny spring day flying a kite or exploring a garden full of butterflies?
Would you rather have an umbrella that changes colors with every raindrop or rain boots that make funny squishy sounds with every step?
Would you rather have the ability to talk to plants or be able to make flowers bloom with a magical touch?
Would you rather wear rain boots or flip-flops every day?
Would you rather spend the day jumping in puddles or exploring the park on a bike?
Would you rather be able to talk to birds or understand what the trees are whispering?
Would you rather grow a garden with jumping beans that bounce around every time you water them or grow a garden with flowers that change colors when you walk by them?
Would you rather live in a tree house or a cozy cottage in a meadow?
Would you rather dance in the rain without getting wet or jump in puddles without getting wet?
Would you rather spend time in your garden planting seeds or painting rocks?
Would you rather spend a day as a raindrop or as a ray of sunshine helping plants grow?
Would you rather be able to talk to animals or have the power to make flowers bloom instantly?
Would you rather have a bicycle with a basket or a skateboard with a rainbow design?
Would you rather have a special birdhouse that attracts colorful birds to your garden or a hammock that gently swings you to sleep?
Would you rather have the power to make the trees bud and blossom on command or be able to turn rain into candy?
Would you rather have a magical seed that can instantly grow into any plant you desire or a special rain dance that makes flowers bloom with each move you make?
Would you rather watch a lightning storm or a peaceful sunset?
Would you rather be in charge of a garage sale or a lemonade stand?
Would you rather fly a kite or roll down a large grassy hill?
Would you rather it always be summer or always be winter?
Would you rather go to the same amazing place for summer vacation every year or go to a new place at the risk of not liking it?
Would you rather spend every day at the beach or at a water park?
Would you rather go on a camping adventure every weekend during summer break or visit an amusement park?
Would you rather have a magical beach towel that dries you instantly or a hat that provides instant shade wherever you go?
Would you rather spend the whole summer at the beach or in the mountains?
Would you rather have an endless supply of orange slices or an endless supply of watermelon?
Would you rather organize a summer scavenger hunt or a big game of capture the flag?
Would you rather have a pet eagle or a pet seagull?
Would you rather be a sandcastle-building champion or a professional surfer?
Would you rather always have to wear sandals or always have to wear sunglasses all summer long?
Would you rather have a magic seashell that can answer any question you have or a beach towel that can fly?
Would you rather have the ability to breathe underwater like a fish or be able to fly above the ocean like a seagull?
Would you rather have a backyard barbecue for dinner all summer long or go to an ice cream shop every evening?
Would you rather have an endless supply of Popsicles or an endless supply of ice cream for the entire summer?
Would you rather go on a treasure hunt for seashells or a scavenger hunt for a message in bottle?
Would you rather live in a hut on the beach or a tree house in the jungle?
Would you rather spend a summer afternoon reading your favorite book in a comfortable hammock or have an exciting adventure hiking in a forest?
Would you rather have a Jet Ski or a surfboard?
Would you rather go kayaking on a lake or float around in an inflatable doughnut in a swimming pool?
Would you rather spend a day jumping in puddles or walking on a trail filled with fallen leaves?
Would you rather have to wear a winter jacket or a tank top all the time in the fall?
Would you rather always wear acorns as shoes or always wear a sweater made of acorns?
Would you rather have a pumpkin for a head or apples for feet?
Would you rather have to wear fall colors all the time or have your whole room be painted in fall colors?
Would you rather have the ability to talk to animals preparing for hibernation or fly with migrating birds as they travel south for the winter?
Would you rather have a movie marathon on a rainy fall day or spend the day baking delicious treats?
Would you rather go apple picking and make caramel apples or carve a pumpkin and roast pumpkin seeds?
Would you rather take a hayride through a pumpkin patch or go on a corn maze adventure?
Would you rather have a pumpkin that can tell the future or a pine cone that can change the weather to your liking?
Would you rather have the talent to carve intricate designs on pumpkins or paint them with creative patterns?
Would you rather take a family trip to a cabin in the woods or stay in a historic small town known for its fun fall festivities?
Would you rather make art with leaves or play in a pile of leaves?
Would you rather pick, bake, and then eat an apple pie or a pumpkin pie?
Would you rather have a cozy outdoor movie night with blankets and pillows or a day of exploring a forest filled with fallen leaves?
Would you rather make your own Halloween costume or buy one from a store?
Would you rather build a scarecrow for your yard or design your own scarecrow costume for Halloween?
Would you rather only get small bags of chips when trick-or-treating or only get mini chocolate bars?
Would you rather every holiday be Halloween or never have Halloween?
Would you rather dress up as farm animals and go trick-or-treating with your friends or join your family in superhero costumes for a night of candy collecting?
Would you rather have an always-full bucket of your least favorite candy or a small bag of your favorite candy?
Would you rather visit a haunted house or a spooky pumpkin patch?
Would you rather have a pumpkin that can tell jokes or a black cat that can perform magic tricks?
Would you rather have a pet bat that sings or a pet ghost that always makes funny faces?
Would you rather have a spell book that can make objects come to life or a magical potion that changes your mood instantly?
Would you rather live in a pumpkin-shaped house or a haunted mansion?
Would you rather have a magical cauldron that makes the best potions or a crystal ball that predicts the future?
Would you rather go trick-or-treating with a group of friendly mummies or friendly ghosts?
Would you rather savor all your favorite Halloween treats or trade in all of your candy for $50 to spend on anything you want?
Would you rather bob for apples or carve a pumpkin?
Would you rather have a costume that makes you invisible for a day or a costume that allows you to fly around?
Would you rather be in charge of making Thanksgiving dinner or dessert?
Would you rather have a family football game or an epic scavenger hunt with your family after Thanksgiving dinner?
Would you rather create your own unique Thanksgiving tradition or celebrate the holiday in a foreign country with new customs?
Would you rather have a magical pumpkin that can turn into a carriage or a turkey that can help you with your chores?
Would you rather have a never-ending supply of cranberry sauce or a bottomless plate of mashed potatoes?
Would you rather have your Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant or at your home?
Would you rather snuggle up for a quiet nap after a big Thanksgiving meal or gather with your loved ones to watch a movie?
Would you rather have a Thanksgiving feast with your favorite cartoon characters or with characters from your favorite book?
Would you rather help set the table and decorate for Thanksgiving dinner or assist in the cleanup after the meal is over?
Would you rather participate in a pie-eating contest or a friendly competition for the best Thanksgiving-themed craft?
Would you rather always smell like cranberry sauce or always smell like gravy?
Would you rather burp loudly during Thanksgiving dinner or spill your drink?
Would you rather eat Thanksgiving leftovers for an entire year or never eat Thanksgiving food again?
Would you rather eat your entire Thanksgiving dinner with no utensils or have to eat dinner served inside a carved-out pumpkin?
Would you rather have a Thanksgiving where everything is made of candy or a Thanksgiving where everything tastes like your favorite food?
Would you rather spend Thanksgiving delivering meals to families in need or create handmade cards with thankful messages for friends and family?
Would you rather start a Thanksgiving tradition of sharing one thing you’re thankful for at the dinner table or make a gratitude tree where everyone adds leaves with things they’re thankful for?
Would you rather receive one big surprise gift on Christmas morning or open a small gift each day leading up to Christmas?
Would you rather decorate a gingerbread house or make ornaments for the Christmas tree?
Would you rather live inside a giant snow globe or have a magical snow globe that lets you visit any place in the world during the holiday season?
Would you rather spend the Christmas holidays in a snowy cabin in the mountains or on a sunny beach?
Would you rather live in a house made entirely of candy canes or one made of gingerbread?
Would you rather go caroling with your friends or cross-country skiing with your class?
Would you rather have hot cocoa with marshmallows or roast marshmallows over a fire?
Would you rather visit Santa at the North Pole or go on a magical sleigh ride with his reindeer?
Would you rather be an elf in Santa’s workshop or a reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh?
Would you rather make your own ornaments for the Christmas tree or design your own holiday cards to send to friends and family?
Would you rather have the ability to wrap presents beautifully with a snap of your fingers or instantly create batches of delicious Christmas cookies with a snap of your fingers?
Would you rather receive a special gift on Christmas Eve or give a gift that makes someone else really happy on Christmas morning?
Would you rather be the bright shining star at the top of the Christmas tree or the tinsel that sparkles and dances along its branches?
Would you rather have a magical sleigh like Santa’s that can take you anywhere in the world or a talking reindeer as your companion for a day?
Would you rather have a red nose that lights up or pointy elf ears?
Would you rather have tinsel for hair or have fingernails that light up like Christmas lights?
Would you rather drink milk or soda at every meal for the rest of your life?
Would you rather swim in a pool of chunky guacamole or a pool of spicy salsa?
Would you rather brush your teeth with ketchup or wash your hands with mustard?
Would you rather have to clean up after a messy pet pig or a messy pet skunk?
Would you rather drink a glass of pickle juice or take a bite of a sour lemon?
Would you rather drink a smoothie made of spinach and garlic or a milkshake with chunks of pickles?
Would you rather have a pet snail that leaves a slimy trail wherever it goes or a pet guinea pig that keeps multiplying?
Would you rather eat a plate of broccoli covered in chocolate syrup or a bowl of ice cream with ketchup?
Would you rather your toothpaste tasted like rotten eggs or your shampoo smelled like stinky cheese?
Would you rather have a pet dragon that sheds glitter or a pet pony that snorts rainbows?
Would you rather have a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth for a whole day or a booger hanging from your nose?
Would you rather have to wear socks full of jelly or gloves filled with pudding all day?
Would you rather eat a sandwich with peanut butter, pickles, and hot sauce or one with marshmallows, mustard, and relish?
Would you rather hold a slug in your hand or hold a handful of earthworms?
Would you rather have a pet that leaves hair and fur all over your house or a pet that drools constantly?
Would you rather have hands that are always covered in sticky honey or feet that are permanently coated in slime?
Would you rather be a fish or a bird?
Would you rather be 12 feet tall or 1 inch tall?
Would you rather only be able to eat sweet food or only be able to eat salty food?
Would you rather be a doctor or a firefighter?
Would you rather learn to play the guitar or the piano?
Would you rather eat vanilla or chocolate ice cream?
Would you rather have a never-ending supply of your favorite food or your favorite drink?
Would you rather explore outer space or a new country of your choice?
Would you rather go on a magical adventure with talking animals or travel back in time to meet dinosaurs?
Would you rather be an expert at making delicious treats or a master tree-house builder?
Would you rather be able to make objects come to life with a touch or have a special hat that helps you think of creative ideas?
Would you rather have a pet that can talk or a flying carpet that can take you places?
Would you rather be able to fly on the back of a giant butterfly or ride a rainbow to your favorite destination?
Would you rather have a wardrobe that allows you to wear clothes from different eras in history or a closet filled with costumes of mythical creatures?
Would you rather watch a new movie every day or your favorite movie over and over?
Would you rather have a squirrel’s ability to climb trees or a cheetah’s super speed?
Would you rather explore the moon or the depths of the sea?
Would you rather have two left feet or two right hands?
Would you rather be an only child or have nine siblings?
Would you rather be able to go 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
Would you rather lose all your books for a week or not be allowed screen time for a week?
Would you rather eat only vegetables for a month or give up dessert for a month?
Would you rather have to wake up an hour earlier every day or go to bed an hour earlier every night?
Would you rather do 50 push-ups or run a mile without stopping?
Would you rather be the class monitor and remind your classmates about rules or sit in the back of the class and never talk to anyone for the entire school year?
Would you rather do all your chores in one day or spread them out over a week?
Would you rather have to speak in front of your entire school or sing a song in front of your class?
Would you rather have a school day that’s twice as long but only have school four days each week or go to school for six hours six days a week?
Would you rather learn a new instrument or learn a new language?
Would you rather have a remote control that can pause time or fast-forward through boring moments?
Would you rather have the power to make objects appear or disappear?
Would you rather never taste again or never touch again?
Would you rather have the ability to make objects grow bigger or shrink smaller with a touch?
Get Your Free Would You Rather Questions Google Slides
Incorporating “Would You Rather” questions for kids into your teaching toolkit can transform mundane learning moments into exciting adventures. These Would You Rather questions for kids ignite students’ curiosity, encourage critical thinking, and foster enjoyable interactions. So, go ahead and infuse a dose of fun into your learning environment and witness the power of engaging discussions and collaboration among your students.
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![In these minute creatures [insects], so nearly akin as they are to non-entity, how surpassing the intelligence, how vast the resources, and how ineffable the perfection which she [Nature] has displayed. - Pliny the Elder](https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/80.png "In these minute creatures [insects], so nearly akin as they are to non-entity, how surpassing the intelligence, how vast the resources, and how ineffable the perfection which she [Nature] has displayed. – Pliny the Elder")
![This [Ireland] is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection, and I certainly will come back in the springtime - John F. Kennedy- spring quotes](https://www.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/108.png "This [Ireland] is not the land of my birth, but it is the land for which I hold the greatest affection, and I certainly will come back in the springtime – John F. Kennedy")
