How many times a day do you think you hear the words, “But I don’t have anything to write about!” Probably a hundred, right? Let us help with that. Use this brainstorming map with your students and have them store it away in their writing folders. Then, next time they are writing a narrative text and need an idea, they can simply pull out this map and choose a memory to elaborate on!

Way to Use This Brainstorming Template in Your Classroom:

• Print a copy of the resource for each student in your classroom, and have your students fill out the entire template in one sitting. Students will write a word they associate with each color. Then, they will write a memory associated with each word. For example, a student might associate a strawberry with the color red, and their memory associated with strawberries is the time they went to pick strawberries at a farm with their family. This can be done as a writing center activity or as part of a lesson.
• Use this template as a warm-up exercise over a series of 5 days. Each day before beginning your writing lesson, have your students complete two colors. At the end of the week, they will have the entire brainstorming map filled in and ready to store in their writing folder until they need something to write about.
• Use this template as part of your lesson on brainstorming. Simply project the template on your dry-erase board and use it to discuss brainstorming maps and how to use them. Fill in the template together as a class before giving them a copy to complete independently.

Use the drop-down menu to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version.

This resource was created by Jennifer Hall, a teacher in North Carolina and a Teach Starter Collaborator.