Prompt Library

Take a Stand and Defend It

25 copy-paste prompts

45 opinion writing prompts that teach students and writers how to form a clear position, support it with reasons, and persuade any audience.

Elementary (Grades 2-3)

5 prompts

The Best Pet

1/25

What is the best pet to have? Write your opinion and give three reasons why you think so. Use examples from your own life or from what you have seen. Try to convince your reader that your choice is the best one.

A classic opinion prompt that lets young writers draw from personal experience while practicing basic argument structure.

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Pro tip: Encourage kids to name a specific animal rather than saying "dogs" — "golden retrievers" forces more specific thinking.

Should Kids Have Homework?

2/25

Do you think kids should have homework every night, or should homework be removed? Write your opinion and give at least two reasons. Think about what homework helps you learn and what it takes away from your free time.

Taps into a topic every student has strong feelings about, making the writing feel urgent and real.

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Pro tip: Ask the student to consider what the other side might say. Even at this age, acknowledging a counterargument strengthens writing.

The Best School Lunch

3/25

If you could pick one food to be served at school lunch every day, what would it be? Write your opinion and explain why this food is the best choice. Think about taste, health, and whether other kids would like it too.

Introduces the idea of considering audience (other kids) while arguing for a personal preference.

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Pro tip: Push students to move beyond "because it tastes good" into reasons like nutrition, energy, or cost.

Indoor Recess vs. Outdoor Recess

4/25

Which is better: indoor recess or outdoor recess? Pick one side and explain why you think it is better. Give at least two reasons and try to make your reader agree with you.

Forces a binary choice that eliminates wishy-washy "both are good" responses.

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Pro tip: Have students draw a quick T-chart before writing to organize their reasons on each side, then pick the stronger side.

The Best Season

5/25

What is the best season of the year? Write about why your favorite season is better than the other three. Include reasons about weather, activities, holidays, and how the season makes you feel.

Teaches the skill of comparing your choice against alternatives, not just praising it in isolation.

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Pro tip: Model the difference between "summer is great because of swimming" and "summer is better than winter because you can play outside without heavy coats."

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Upper Elementary (Grades 4-5)

5 prompts

Should Students Grade Their Teachers?

6/25

Do you think students should be allowed to grade their teachers at the end of the year? Write an opinion essay explaining your position. Consider fairness, whether students would be honest, and whether it would actually help teachers improve.

Flips the power dynamic students are used to, creating engagement while practicing multi-perspective reasoning.

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Pro tip: This prompt works well for teaching the "acknowledge and counter" move — what would teachers say about this idea?

Screen Time Limits

7/25

Should parents set strict screen time limits for kids, or should kids decide for themselves how much screen time they get? Write your opinion with at least three reasons. Think about health, learning, responsibility, and trust.

Brings a real household debate into academic writing, ensuring students write with genuine conviction.

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Pro tip: Have students track their own screen time for one day before writing. Real data makes for stronger arguments.

Uniforms or Free Dress?

8/25

Should your school require uniforms or allow students to wear whatever they want? Take a clear position and support it with reasons about fairness, self-expression, bullying, cost, and school spirit.

Teaches students to juggle multiple argument threads within a single essay.

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Pro tip: Challenge students to find at least one strong point on the opposite side and explain why their reasons still win.

Should Zoos Exist?

9/25

Do you believe zoos are good for animals, or should they be closed? Write an opinion piece considering animal welfare, conservation, education, and entertainment. Support your position with specific examples.

Introduces ethical reasoning and the tension between competing goods (conservation vs. freedom).

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Pro tip: Bring in a specific zoo or animal example. "Polar bears in San Diego Zoo" is more persuasive than "animals in zoos."

The Most Important School Subject

10/25

What is the most important subject taught in school? Choose one and argue why it matters more than the others. Think about how this subject helps people in real life, in their future jobs, and in understanding the world.

Develops the skill of ranking and prioritizing — essential to strong opinion writing.

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Pro tip: Push past "math is important because you need it for jobs" into specific scenarios where the subject changes outcomes.

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

5 prompts

Social Media Age Requirements

11/25

The minimum age for most social media platforms is 13, but many younger kids use them. Should the age requirement be raised, lowered, or enforced more strictly? Write an argument supporting your position, addressing mental health, cyberbullying, digital literacy, and parental responsibility.

Tackles a topic every middle schooler cares about while requiring them to engage with multiple stakeholder perspectives.

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Pro tip: Stronger essays will separate "what I want" from "what the evidence supports." Teach students to notice when they're doing each.

Should AI Write Student Essays?

12/25

Some students use AI tools like ChatGPT to write their essays. Should schools allow this, ban it completely, or find a middle ground? Write your opinion with clear reasoning about learning, fairness, creativity, and the future of work.

Forces students to think critically about a tool they may already be using, building metacognitive awareness.

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Pro tip: The strongest responses will define what "learning" means before arguing whether AI helps or hurts it.

Participation Trophies

13/25

Should every kid on a sports team get a trophy, or should trophies only go to winners? Write a persuasive opinion piece addressing what trophies are supposed to represent, whether participation awards help or harm motivation, and what message each approach sends.

Explores the deeper question beneath a surface debate: what do we reward, and why?

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Pro tip: Ask students to define "success" before writing. Their definition will shape their entire argument.

Year-Round School

14/25

Should schools switch to a year-round calendar with shorter, more frequent breaks instead of one long summer vacation? Argue your position using evidence about learning loss, student burnout, family schedules, and how other countries handle school calendars.

Teaches students to use comparative evidence (other countries, historical data) rather than just personal preference.

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Pro tip: Point students toward the concept of "summer slide" — real research they can reference to strengthen their argument.

Banning Books from School Libraries

15/25

Some parents and school boards want to remove certain books from school libraries because of their content. Should any books be banned from school libraries, or should students have access to all books? Write your opinion considering free speech, age-appropriateness, parental rights, and the purpose of education.

Introduces First Amendment reasoning and the tension between protection and intellectual freedom.

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Pro tip: Use a specific, real book-banning case to anchor the argument in reality rather than abstraction.

High School

5 prompts

College Degree: Necessity or Overrated?

16/25

Is a four-year college degree still necessary for a successful career, or has it become overrated and overpriced? Argue your position using evidence about earnings data, student debt, alternative paths (trades, certifications, entrepreneurship), and how employers are changing their hiring requirements.

Forces students to confront a decision they're actively facing with both data and personal reflection.

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Pro tip: The best essays will define "success" explicitly rather than defaulting to salary alone.

Should Voting Age Be Lowered to 16?

17/25

Several countries allow 16-year-olds to vote. Should the US lower its voting age from 18 to 16? Write an argument addressing civic maturity, taxation without representation, voter turnout, and whether age determines readiness for democratic participation.

Engages students in a democratic debate that directly concerns them, combining ethics, politics, and data.

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Pro tip: Encourage students to compare brain development arguments with historical parallels — 18-year-olds faced the same objections when the voting age was lowered from 21.

Privacy vs. Security in the Digital Age

18/25

Should governments have the right to monitor citizens' digital communications to prevent terrorism and crime, or does this violate fundamental privacy rights? Take a clear position and address encryption, surveillance programs, the Fourth Amendment, and where the line should be drawn.

Develops constitutional reasoning and the skill of navigating genuine ethical dilemmas without easy answers.

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Pro tip: Push beyond "I have nothing to hide." The strongest arguments address why privacy matters even for people who aren't doing anything wrong.

Cancel Culture: Accountability or Mob Justice?

19/25

Is "cancel culture" a form of necessary social accountability, or has it become a destructive form of mob justice? Write an opinion essay addressing due process, the power of social media, the difference between consequences and punishment, and whether public shaming changes behavior.

Teaches nuanced argumentation where the strongest position isn't fully on either extreme.

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Pro tip: Ask students to find a specific case where they think cancellation was justified and one where it wasn't. The contrast sharpens the argument.

Should Athletes Be Political?

20/25

When professional athletes use their platform to make political statements — kneeling during the anthem, wearing protest messages, boycotting events — are they using their influence responsibly, or should they "stick to sports"? Argue your position addressing free speech, role model responsibility, and the history of athlete activism.

Combines sports, politics, and history into a topic that generates genuine debate among high school students.

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Pro tip: Historical context (Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, Billie Jean King) makes the argument immediately stronger than citing only current examples.

Adults & General Audiences

5 prompts

Remote Work Should Be the Default

21/25

Write an opinion piece arguing that remote work should be the default for any job that can be done from a computer, with in-office work requiring justification rather than the other way around. Address productivity data, commute costs, work-life balance, collaboration, and the commercial real estate lobby's influence on return-to-office mandates.

Practices building a case against an established default using data and systemic analysis.

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Pro tip: Anticipate the "collaboration suffers" counterargument and address it head-on with specific evidence rather than dismissing it.

Tipping Culture Is Broken

22/25

Write an opinion piece about whether America's tipping culture should be replaced with higher base wages. Address the history of tipping (including its racist origins), the psychology of guilt-based payment, the unpredictability for workers, and what countries without tipping culture do differently.

Teaches the skill of using historical context and international comparison to strengthen a controversial opinion.

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Pro tip: The strongest opinion pieces don't just argue for a change — they propose a specific alternative and defend its feasibility.

Social Media Is Not Free

23/25

Write an opinion piece arguing that social media platforms marketed as "free" actually extract enormous costs from users — in attention, mental health, personal data, and democratic discourse. Take a clear position on what should change: regulation, paid alternatives, digital literacy education, or something else entirely.

Develops the skill of reframing a common assumption ("it's free") as the foundation for a larger argument.

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Pro tip: Quantify the hidden costs wherever possible. "The average user spends X hours per year" hits harder than abstract claims about attention.

Hustle Culture Is a Scam

24/25

Write an opinion essay arguing for or against the statement: "Hustle culture and the glorification of overwork primarily benefits employers and investors, not the workers who sacrifice their health and relationships." Use evidence about productivity research, burnout statistics, wealth inequality, and who actually profits from the "grind" narrative.

Challenges writers to examine a widely-promoted cultural narrative with data rather than just feelings.

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Pro tip: The best approach isn't "hard work is bad" but a nuanced argument about who defines what counts as "hard work" and who profits from that definition.

Everyone Should Learn to Code (Or Not)

25/25

The "learn to code" advice has been given to everyone from laid-off journalists to struggling artists. Write an opinion piece either defending coding literacy as a modern essential skill or arguing that this advice is overhyped and ignores the realities of the job market, AI automation, and the diversity of human talents.

Practices the skill of challenging conventional wisdom with specificity and nuance.

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Pro tip: Consider the timing: does AI-generated code change this argument? The best opinion pieces acknowledge when the ground is shifting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Opinion writing asks the writer to state a personal position on a topic and support it with reasons and evidence. Persuasive writing goes a step further by actively trying to change the reader's mind or move them to action. In practice, especially at the elementary and middle school level, the two overlap significantly. The Common Core State Standards distinguish them by grade band: opinion writing is the term used in grades K-5, while "argument writing" (a more rigorous form of persuasion requiring evidence and logical reasoning) is introduced in grades 6-12. For practical purposes, strong opinion writing includes a clear claim, supporting reasons, evidence or examples, acknowledgment of counterarguments, and a conclusion that reinforces the position. The key skill across all levels is learning to distinguish between a feeling ("I don't like it") and a supported opinion ("I believe X because of Y and Z").

Start with the distinction between a reason and evidence. A reason explains why you hold your opinion ("school uniforms reduce bullying"). Evidence supports that reason with specifics ("a 2023 study at Long Beach Unified found a 50% decrease in reported bullying after uniform adoption"). Teach students to stack their arguments: opinion > reason > evidence > explanation of why it matters. The OREO method works well for younger students: Opinion, Reason, Example, Opinion restated. For older students, introduce the Toulmin model: Claim, Evidence, Warrant (the logical bridge connecting evidence to claim). Practice with low-stakes topics first — whether pizza is better than tacos — so students learn the structure without the cognitive load of complex content. Then gradually increase topic complexity. The consistent thread is: every opinion needs to answer "why?" at least twice.

The best opinion writing prompts share several characteristics. First, they present a genuinely debatable topic — there must be reasonable positions on multiple sides, otherwise it's not an opinion, it's a fact. Second, they connect to the writer's experience or interests so they write with authentic conviction. Third, they are specific enough to prevent vague, unfocused responses but open enough to allow genuine argument. Fourth, the strongest prompts hint at complexity — they nudge the writer toward considering counterarguments, tradeoffs, or stakeholder perspectives. Avoid prompts that have a clearly "correct" answer (everyone will argue the same side), prompts that are too broad ("is technology good?"), and prompts that require specialized knowledge the writer doesn't have. The sweet spot is a topic the writer has opinions about but hasn't fully examined yet.

AI tools are excellent for several stages of opinion writing practice. Before writing, AI can generate debate topics tailored to a specific grade level or interest area, and it can present arguments on both sides of an issue to help writers understand the full landscape before choosing a position. During writing, AI can serve as a devil's advocate — paste your draft and ask the AI to argue the opposite position, which forces you to strengthen your counterargument responses. After writing, AI can evaluate your argument structure, identify logical fallacies, point out unsupported claims, and suggest stronger evidence. AI is also useful for generating differentiated versions of the same prompt at different complexity levels. The key principle: use AI to strengthen your thinking process, not to generate the opinion itself. An opinion written by AI isn't opinion writing practice — it's reading practice.

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