1. “I don’t know what to write about!”
Writing Territories + 18 Topics
You’ll need: your journal + a pencil/pen

2. Writing Territories Journal Section
Find the next place you have space in your quarter 1 entries for a full blank page
Title this section as your “Writing Territories”
When I say go, fill the page with as many topics as you can in 5 minutes (list or columns)
Topics = things in your life that….
You have knowledge or experience with, OR
Things that you are interested in

3. Ms. Zero’s Writing Territories (Sample)
My mom
UCLA
“The Bacon Incident”
My dad
UCSB
Google Drive
My sister
Crafts
VHS
My fiancé
Princess Diana’s death
Going for walks
My cat, Merlin
Living in a college dorm
Rollerblading
My pet history
Dancing
The beach
The house I grew up in
Singing
Living in the Ventura area but not growing up in the Ventura area
Music
Drawing
Food
Learning to use a computer
Taking the bus
Reading
England
The 1960s and 1980s
Writing
Shakespeare
The Beatles
Alex’s cancer
Poetry
Space
More funerals than weddings
Southern California (LA and Orange County)
Interested in science but not very good at science classes
My concert history
Playing instruments (guitar, piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, drums)
My high school, Troy
Keeping a journal
Insomnia
Memory boxes
Marching band
Not wearing shoes
Cactus
Tutoring stories
Making my own clothes
Fear of rollercoasters 
Traveling
Learning to drive
Being an introvert
South America
White water rafting
Being half-Albanian
Chile
My math allergy
Being a grandchild of immigrants
Teaching in Chile
Memorable teachers
Coffee and tea
Memorable students
Learning Spanish
History of what I eat for breakfast

4. Share out
Go back through your list and cross out anything that’s doubled and maybe add a couple more if they come to mind
Put a star next to your favorite 10 items
Share your list with your partner(s)
Start with the starred items
Share the rest if you have extra time

5. Classroom Writing Territories
We’ll whip around the room
Everyone shares one item from their list
Use this as an opportunity to add any more that come to mind for your own list but also to appreciate the diversity of writing territories we share

6. Put this on hold… We’ll do some more work with this very soon.
For now, tuck away your journal.

7. 1 Topic = 18 Topics
Attach the handout I’m giving you into your journal