May Writing Prompts

Creative Writing Ideas and Journal Topics for May

Are you looking for a creative list of writing prompts and journal ideas to use during the month of May?

Below, you will find a list of general May writing topics and a list of specific calendar dates for May which contain creative writing ideas related to that particular date in May.

I have created this list of May writing prompts and ideas for elementary school teachers and students, but many of these creative writing ideas and topics would also be appropriate for other grade levels.

You will find some May writing prompts below that contain underlined links. If you click on an underlined link:

• You will be directed to another page on Unique Teaching Resources that contains detailed lesson plan ideas and printable worksheets for those May writing prompts.
• You will be directed to another website that contains useful information related to those particular May writing prompts.

Click here to go to Heidi's April writing prompts page.

General May Writing Prompts:

• Write a poem about flying a kite using kite shaped poetry templates.
• Click on the link below to view the page where these kite poetry templates can be found:
  Kite Poetry Templates
• Write poem about a time that you were "flying high" in the air and happy.
• Write a poem about a time that you were proud of yourself.
• Flying high in Grade ___.
• Imagine that there was no spring. What would happen to the earth and humans if spring didn't exist?
• An unusual picnic...

• April showers bring May flowers...
• Today you MAY do anything that you want to. What would you choose to do and why?
• For spring, have each of your students write a poem about caterpillars. These unique caterpillar shaped templates will help you to create an extra long poetry display in your classroom this May.
• For this unique poetry project, each student writes a poem in one section of the caterpillar.
• If you have 25 students in your classroom, you can create an extra long caterpillar poetry display that is over 15 feet with this unique set of poetry lesson plans.
• Click on the following link to view the page where this long caterpillar poetry project can be found: Caterpillar Poetry Templates



• Write about spring using your 5 senses: the smells of spring, the sights of spring, the sounds of spring, the touch of spring, and the tastes of spring.
• Choose your favorite color and write a poem about this color.
• Click on the following link to view a teaching resources set that involves students writing a poem about their favorite colors inside ice cream cone templates:
  Color Poems - Ice Cream Templates
• If I could create a new flavor of ice cream it would be...
• Write a S.P.R.I.N.G. acrostic poem.
• Click on the link below to view the page where this S.P.R.I.N.G. acrostic poem can be found:
  S.P.R.I.N.G. Rainbow Poetry Templates
• Design a tree house for yourself and your friends. What features would you include in your tree house?
• Write a spring story that has a beginning, middle, and end. Write each part of your story in one of the butterfly's wings. Draw a picture in one of the wings. This unique creative writing project measures 14 x 14 inches when it has been assembled together.
• Click on the link below to view the page where these unique butterfly story writing templates can be found:
  Butterfly Writing Templates
• Describe the life cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly using the beginning, middle, and end sections of these butterfly shaped creative writing templates.
• Are you looking for fun reading projects that will help you to design a colorful spring bulletin board display in your classroom? Try one of these unique book report projects that are ideal for spring:
  
  
  • Butterfly Book Report Projects
  • Caterpillar Book Report Projects
  • Sunflower Book Report Projects
  • Cause and Effect Tree Book Report Projects
• Are you looking for unique spring themed sticker charts that will help you to motivate and encourage your students to reach a goal that you set for them this April? Try one of these unique sticker chart templates that are ideal for spring:
  
  
  • Reading Umbrella Sticker Charts: This umbrella sticker chart template has 20 raindrop shaped sticker boxes to reward your students for reading books.
  • Reading Rainbow Sticker Charts: This rainbow sticker chart template has 25 sticker boxes to use for encouraging your students to read books independently.
  • Spring Flower Sticker Charts: There are 12 different flower templates in this set (only one is shown on the right). You can design a colorful garden themed spring bulletin board display filled with flower sticker charts in a variety of shapes and colors!

Specific May Writing Prompts:

Celebrations, Events, Holidays, and Dates in History:

Scroll through this page, or click on the links below, to read
about each of these May writing prompts and holidays.

• May - National Salad Month
• May 1 - Save the Rhino Day
• May 2 - Brothers and Sisters Day
• May 5 - Cinco de Mayo
• Second Sunday of May - Mother's Day
• Second Week of May - National Pet Week
• May 8 - World Red Cross Day
• May 12 - Limerick Day
• May 16 - First Academy Awards Ceremony
• May 29 (1917) - John F. Kennedy's Birthday
• Last Monday of May - Memorial Day

May - National Salad Month

May is National Salad Month. The first salads trace back centuries to the simple vegetable dishes of the Roman Empire. Today salads are made with crisp greens, delectable pastas, luscious fruit, and flaked seafood.

The American Heart Association recommends five or more servings of vegetables and fruits per day. Darker salad greens contain the antioxidant beta-carotene, which battles certain cancers, and folic acid, which helps tissues grow. Most salad greens are also sources of vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

• Why is it important to eat vegetables each day?
• Many people eat salads that they think are healthy. Write a list of some ingredients that are used in salads that are not beneficial to our health.
• Write down the ingredients needed and the steps to make a healthy salad that you enjoy eating.
• Have a Salad Day in your classroom where your students make a healthy salad in class together or have students volunteer to bring in a salad to share with their classmates.

May 1 - Save the Rhino Day

May 1 is Save the Rhino Day and this day helps to make people aware of the threats to this animal and to support the efforts to help save the rhinoceros from extinction.

Rhinoceroses get their name from their most famous feature: their horns. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek rhino (nose) and ceros (horn).

There are five species of rhinos and they are found in parts of Africa and Asia. Rhinos rank among the most endangered species on Earth.

Valued for their horns, rhinoceros face a serious threat from poaching. In recent times, poachers have hunted the rhino to near extinction.

• Research facts about rhinoceros and use these facts to help create a Save the Rhino poster.
• Create a new date to celebrate for another endangered animal. Research this endangered animal and design a poster to celebrate the day that this animal is remembered.
• Save the Rhino is a website that contains a section dedicated to children. This page contains information about the 5 types of rhinos, as well as free printable worksheets about rhinos that you can download.
• Wikipedia's rhinoceros page contains detailed information about the 5 types of rhinos.

May 2 - Brothers and Sisters Day

May 2 is Brothers and Sisters Day

• What can you do to be a better brother or sister to your siblings?
• Write about a funny memory that you can recall that involved a brother or sister.
• Make a card for each of your brothers and sisters.
• Learn about the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. How do you think that this program helps children?

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on May 5 and is a time to be proud of coming from Hispanic descent. This day celebrates the victory of the historical battle of 1862 between Mexico and France.

This holiday is a symbol of Mexican pride and unity and includes great festivities. It is a time of song, dance, and parties.

• Write an acrostic poem about Cinco de Mayo and Mexico using the letters of the word F.I.E.S.T.A.
• Research when Mexican Independence Day is and write a summary about this Mexican holiday.
• Wikipedia's Cinco de Mayo page contains detailed information about this holiday.
• Interesting facts and information about Cinco de Mayo can be found on this holiday page.

Second Sunday of May - Mother's Day

Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May and was first observed in 1907.

• What is special about your mother?
• Being a mom is the most important job because...
• Imagine that you and your mom switched places and you suddenly became "Mom for a Day." What would it be like?
• Write about the best advice that your mom ever gave you.
• Write a list of things that you can do to help your mom and then create a Mother's Day coupon book for your mom.
• Click on the following link, or the 3 flowers below, to view a fun project activity that involves students creating a Mother's Day flower on Unique Teaching Resources:

Second Week of May - National Pet Week

The second week of May is National Pet Week. National Pet Week was founded in 1981 by the American Veterinary Medical Association.

• Write about a family pet that is (or was) special to you.
• Your mother or father has just brought home the most unusual new pet for your family. What kind of pet is it? What would it be like to have this animal as your pet?
• If you could have any animal as a pet (that you have not had before) what would it be and why? Write about your adventures with this pet.
• Do you think that is right for people to own wild animals as pets? Why or why not?
• What would it be like to have a pet parrot that could talk to you?
• What are the responsibilities involved in having a pet?
• If you have a pet, how do you help to take care of your family pet?
• There is a saying that a dog is man's best friend. How do you think this saying came to be?
• During National Pet Week read your students the Newbery award winning book Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. For lesson plans and fun projects to use with this award winning novel, click here to go to Heidi's Shiloh lesson plans page.

• I have created puppy shaped reading sticker charts that would be great to use with your students during National Pet Week. Click here to go to Heidi's puppy reading sticker charts page.
• During National Pet Week have your students complete a fun book report project using unique dog shaped book report templates. Click here to go to Heidi's dog book report templates page.
• Are you interested in a punctuation display that uses dog templates? My grammar bulletin board displays page contains 12 dogs templates featuring the following punctuation marks: period, comma, exclamation point, comma, apostrophe, quotation marks, colon, semicolon, parenthesis, ellipsis, hyphen, and dash. The photograph on the right shows examples of 5 Punctuation Puppies.

May 8 - World Red Cross Day

May 8 is World Red Cross Day. The Red Cross provides humanitarian efforts and disaster relief around the world, wherever it is needed. There are millions of Red Cross volunteers.

On May 8, the American Red Cross puts special focus on our programs that keep children healthy and safe around the globe.

• Have you ever volunteered to help in your local community? Describe how you helped and how this made you feel.
• Why are volunteer workers such special people?
• Describe a time when you helped someone.
• Click on the following link for information about the International Committee of the Red Cross.
• Click on the following link for information about the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

May 12 - Limerick Day

May 12 is Limerick Day and it honors the birthday of the English writer Edward Lear (1812-1888), who is credited with making the limerick popular.

A limerick is a five-line humorous poem in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme, and the third and fourth lines also rhyme. Its name comes from the city of Limerick, Ireland.

• Share some examples of limericks with your students and have them write their own limericks.
• Teach a lesson on How To Write a Limerick to your students.

Be sure to visit my poetry lesson plans page
where you will find some fun and unique poetry templates.

May 16 - First Academy Awards Ceremony

The first Academy Awards Ceremony was held on May 16, 1929.

• Think of your favorite films that you have seen and choose your own best picture, best actor, and best actress award winners. Explain why you made these choices.
• Write an acceptance speech for your favorite movie star who has just won an Academy Award.
• As a director, describe how you would create a movie based on your favorite book that you have read. My movie camera book report templates would be perfect for this activity!

• Have your students become stars for the day by describing themselves inside extra large star creative writing templates.
• Meet the Stars of Our Classroom is a teaching resources set will engage your students in writing an introduction and description about themselves using fun star writing templates.
• This fun writing activity contains 6 star writing templates that are assembled together to form a large star. The finished star projects measure 20 inches in width and 20 inches in height.

• Your students will enjoy creating an award for their favorite books and writing about their books inside trophy shaped creative writing templates.
• For this favorite book report project, students design a trophy for their favorite books that they have read during the school year. Students write about the main character, setting, their favorite part of the book, and why this book deserves the 1st Place Trophy Award.

• This is a great time of the year for your students to complete a star book report project.
• Click on the following link to view a fun book report project in which students write about the stars of their books inside extra large star shaped templates:

May 29 (1917) - John F. Kennedy's Birthday

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He was the 35th President of the United States and the youngest president ever elected.

At his inauguration, Kennedy challenged the youth of America when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

• Have your students complete a Biography Newspaper Project about John F. Kennedy. These newspapers can be assigned as individual or group projects.
• Have your students complete a Character Body Book Report about John F. Kennedy. These reports can be assigned as individual or group projects.
• Write a famous quote by John F. Kennedy on your chalkboard or whiteboard and have your students respond to this quote.
• You will find detailed information about this president on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum page.
• What can the youth of today do for their country?
• Pretend that you are the President and write a speech that would inspire the youth to volunteer and help in their local communities.

Last Monday of May - Memorial Day

The last Monday of May is Memorial Day in the United States.

On this day, Americans remember and honor the brave men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. Military.

• What does it mean to be patriotic?
• What makes someone a hero? Write a paragraph explaining what a hero is to you and how an individual becomes a hero.
• Do you have a parent or relative in the military? How has this experience affected your family?
• If you do not, how do you think you would feel having a family member in the military? How would you feel if he or she was called to war?
• Read about the History of Memorial Day on this page.
• On History.com students can read about how this holiday first came to be observed.

End of May Writing Prompts

Below are some examples of Spring powerpoint
lesson plans that are ideal to use during the month of May:

Below are some ideas and examples of teaching resources
that can be used for many of the May writing
prompts that are found on this page:

The following projects could be used for individual
and group projects about John F. Kennedy:

Click on one of the calendars
below to go to a specific page
of monthly writing prompts: