Want to improve your students' science literacy? Included are 10 rock and mineral writing prompts on the following topics:

1. Scientific Method- mineral identification

2. The rock cycle

3. Rocks on Mars

4. Fossils

5. Crystal size

6. Foliation

7. Gemstones

8. Mineral cleavage vs fracture

9. Mohs hardness scale

10. Coal and fossil fuels

Why use writing prompts?

All students need to improve their writing skills, especially english language learners. I created these writing prompts specifically for my ELL students. Writing is typically one of the lowest scoring categories on the state language proficiency exam. To help them improve, I assigned a writing prompt for homework BEFORE the lesson was taught. The goal is for students to think and write about scientific phenomena. Having them answer the prompt before the lesson was taught allowed me to assess prior knowledge, address misconceptions, and guide my teaching.

What's included?

- PDF of 10 writing prompts with teacher answer key (14 pages)

- Google slide student version (10 slides)