Our Centers for Ethics:

Weekly writing prompt

---

September 13 - 19, 2009 Farm Animal Awareness Chickens, pigs, turkeys, cows, and other farm animals make up more than 95% of the animals in the U.S. that people come in contact with. They provide us with meat, eggs, and milk. Unfortunately, many of these animals suffer inhumane treatment, including force feeding and confinement that restricts free movement. Encourage students to evaluate animal rights from a new perspective with these writing prompts. Learn more at the Humane Society here.

Write or discuss it! Foundations for Life gives teachers an easy way to improve students' critical thinking and composition skills. Each of these weekly prompts comes with a maxim illuminating an ethical issue. Students can analyze it and apply it to current events and their own lives, through discussion or writing. Each prompt also references at least one of the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. As a result, students can easily tie the author’s words to community values. Suggestions for using the prompts:

• Read the biographies in the Teacher’s Resource.
• Present the maxim to the students.
• Briefly discuss:
  •   What did the author mean?
  •   Can you think of ways the statement applies to something in your life?
• Point out the Pillar related to the maxim.
• Present the writing prompt to the students and have them answer these questions in their draft book or other format.

---

Elementary level

"A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that."
– Charlotte, in Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

Focus Pillar: Trustworthiness
A local farmer asks you to help take care of one of her animals. She explains that farmers care for each animal in a different way, and now one is relying on you.

Make a list of animals that live on a farm. Choose one animal from your list to care for and imagine a conversation in which the animal tells you what it needs to be clean, healthy and happy. Write a story about this conversation in which you demonstrate onomatopoeia, or words used to imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to such as “moo” or “oink.”

Read your story to the class and act out the animal noises you included.

Extension Activity: Through class discussion, have students relate their animal encounters to the theme of friendship in Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.

Secondary level

"Saying is one thing, and doing is another."
– Michel de Montaigne, French writer, inventor of the essay (1533-1592)

Focus Pillar: Caring
While you are enjoying a turkey sandwich at lunch, your friend tells you he decided to become a vegan – someone who chooses not to consume or use animal products - to protect animals from slaughter. He describes atrocious farm conditions that confine animals to cages and deprive them of a full lifespan. You feel guilty and consider adopting the same lifestyle, but you have heard vegan diets often lack vitamins necessary for a good diet. What do you do?

Practice what you will say to your friend at lunch tomorrow by writing a persuasive essay supporting your views on the issue. Consider the pros and cons of vegan lifestyles before writing your essay, and then include:

• A thesis statement summarizing your point of view
• Logical arguments and evidence to support your argument
• Conclusion restating what you want your friend to do or believe

Extension Activity: In small groups, have students consider animal rights in relation to the theme of oppression in Animal Farm by George Orwell.

« Back to weekly writing prompt archive