List of Wonderful Essay Topics for 6th Graders

Ah, middle school - the age where we start to move the skills we teach young children from sentence diagramming and writing paragraphs to writing full-blown essays. This is where the skill of middle schoolers starts to be tested in earnest. Many children write their first full, coherent essays at this age, so developing writing skills is important. Now, at this age, it is the writing itself that is more the focus and intention that the critical thinking skills themselves, though both are vital for later success. However, in many cases, these are early essays, and simple topics can be used- a student must be able to master a starting topic before trying to write something super specific that requires lots of research.

Therefore, a good set of topics for sixth graders is to look for things that actually affect them and their everyday lives. For example, school uniforms is a topic that comes up a lot, children can think about their thoughts on it; it's a simple enough topic to handle, and it can also lead into somewhat more complex topics such as individuality and expression thereof. Children can also talk about such things as how the school should handle bullying, thoughts on popularity or popularity contests, and anything that has to do with the cultural landscape of a middle school. Should people be forced to attend PE? Should students in PE be graded on how well they perform or how well they try? What about standardized tests, should the school day start earlier or later, what other kinds of things. These are all great ways for middle schoolers to be invested in and care about their essays.

Other topics maybe of interest, either academic subjects or things that matter to the community at large. Of course, certain very sensitive topics, such as religion or many political issues are both far removed from a sixth graders life and difficult to talk about. Imagine how well a paper on abortion would go over- probably not a good topic to suggest to a student not already passionate about one side of the issue. Instead, try topics in biology- why an animal behaves a certain why, how do birds do sound calls for example, why is ecology and the water cycle important. These are great topics for young students to talk about. In addition, local issues are great things to talk about, such as events by local libraries and similar things like that.