Teachers with gifted children in their classrooms need to pay particular attention to developing the upper three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: (1) Synthesis, (2) Evaluation, and (3) Analysis.

Below are several creative-writing topics that emphasize the use of the upper levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Again, it is not only gifted students who will benefit from activities like these. They are enjoyable activities that stimulate higher-order thinking skills in everyone.

Story Starters

• Tell how to make a paper airplane (or anything else that is relatively simple to do).
• Describe an object without naming it.
• Write down all the actions of someone or something in the room.
• Pretend you are a tetherball (or anything else). Describe your feelings during the day.
• Describe a day in the life of a pencil. (Other nouns can be used.)
• Write a fairy tale in modern or futuristic terms.
• Invent a new machine; describe it.
• What would you put in a time capsule, and why?
• Invent a new holiday and tell how it came to be and how it will be celebrated.
• Write an advertisement for a make-believe product.
• Imagine the history of a discarded item in the junk pile.
• Invent a new vitamin.
• Re-design a piece of clothing you’re wearing and describe it.
• Rewrite your favorite nursery rhyme and substitute slang words.
• Analyze the qualities of a superhero.
• Classify yourself as a car (or any object) and describe your parts accordingly.
• Analyze what you would do if you were lost in the woods with nothing but the clothes you’re wearing, a pocket knife, and a match.
• Write down a conversation between a cat and a dog (or any two people or animals).
• How are your parents the same as and different from you?
• Discuss the differences between cars and oranges (any two items can be substituted).
• Analyze the construction of a chair.
• Describe the special abilities that a ballet dancer needs. (Other nouns can be substituted.)
• Describe the actions of an ant you are observing. (Other animals can be substituted.)
• How does it feel to look down from a high place (or from any precarious position)?
• Describe a meeting between your teacher and Superman (or any unlikely combination of two people).
• Critique your favorite TV show.
• Recommend three things that will be essential for those living 25 years from now.
• Debate an issue (handguns, smoking in public places, etc.) by writing the pros and cons.
• Write a note to put in a satellite to tell how good or bad Earth is.
• Is it a good idea to tell a secret? Why or why not?
• What is the most perfect place to be?
• What is the “good life”?
• What does generosity mean?
• Defend the idea that Earth is round.
• Describe your house from a visitor’s point of view.