These Chicago writing prompts will help students think more deeply and creatively about their Chicago experience. Encourage your students to journal their expectations before the trip departs, to write down their observations as it happens, and to process all that they experienced after they return home.
Chicago Writing Prompts: Before the Trip
- Chicago can flood the senses. What do you think the city will sound like? Smell like? Feel like?
- If you could be on the set of one movie or TV show filmed in Chicago, which show would it be and why?
- What are you looking forward to most about your trip to Chicago?
- What do you hope to get out of yourChicagoexperience?
Chicago Writing Prompts: During the Trip
- What does Chicago sound like? Smell like? Look like? Feel like?
- What did you notice first about the city? Why is that?
- How do you feel when you are in the city? Excited? Overwhelmed? Alive? Nervous?
- What adjectives would you use to describe the city?
- What ordinary moments are part of a day for someone living/working in Chicago? How are they the same or different from someone living in your hometown?
Chicago Writing Prompts: After the Trip
- What memorable experiences did you have in Chicago?
- How has your experience in Chicago changed your perspective on the world?
- Could you picture yourself living in Chicago? Why or why not?
- What career would you pursue if you lived in Chicago?
- What advice would you give to someone visiting Chicago for the first time?
- If you had a column in the The Chicago Tribune, what would you write about?
