1. JOURNAL PROMPTS
FIRST QUARTER

2. Prompt #1
Write about your first week of school at Altadena.

3. Prompt #2
In your opinion, what is the most important subject in school?

4. Prompt #3
What would you do if you could travel into the past?

5. Prompt #4
Who do you think has it better—boys or girls?

6. Prompt #5
Choose a person or event you would like to honor. Write a paragraph to convince members of Congress to accept your choice.

7. Prompt #6
Your principal wants to invite a celebrity speaker to your school. Think about the celebrity you would choose to have speak. Write a color-coded paragraph to persuade your principal to invite this person.

8. Prompt #7
Would you rather have power, wealth, or fame?

9. Prompt #8
If you could become invisible for a day, what would you do?

10. Prompt #9
A wealthy donor plans to build a new facility that will benefit young people in your area. It could be a swimming pool, theater, skateboard park, art school, or any other facility that would provide young people with constructive ways to spend their time. The donor is not sure what kind of facility would be most useful. Write a color-coded paragraph in which you identify the type of facility you would like to have built, and persuade the donor that it is the best choice. Be sure to support your argument with convincing reasons and relevant evidence. Highlight the paragraph with the correct colors.

11. Prompt #10
If you could take someone from the past, who is deceased, to the present, whom would you choose, and what would you show them? What do you think his/her reactions would be? (You will also use this person for prompts 11 and 12.)

12. Prompt #11
What questions do you anticipate from your time traveler? What do you think would be the positives and negatives of life today from his or her perspective?

13. Prompt #12
How would you explain something that is now in use each day and/or commonplace to your time traveler?

14. Prompt #13
What is the most important invention or discovery?