If you are looking for an engaging ESL creative writing activity that sparks imagination, builds confidence, and strengthens essential writing skills, short video prompts offer a classroom-ready solution. Teachers often need fresh ideas for an ESL writing lesson that fits neatly into one period, and video-based storytelling checks every box. With strong visuals, clear plots, and emotional hooks, these clips inspire students to write summaries, respond creatively, and practice structured English. They also pair beautifully with creative ESL prompts, ESL classroom activities, and ESL writing practice across multiple proficiency levels.
In this guide, you’ll find a complete teaching flow plus a curated list of video prompts that help high-beginner to advanced students write with more accuracy and voice. Whether your goal is narrative writing, interpretive responses, or conditional writing practice, video stories give students something rich to observe, react to, and discuss.
Why This ESL Creative Writing Activity Works
Video prompts condense storytelling into a few powerful minutes. For ESL students, this makes writing more accessible because:
Students can see plot, character, and setting instead of decoding long reading passages.
Visual cues reduce cognitive load, making the ESL writing lesson more comfortable for high beginners.
Meaningful stories motivate student opinions, interpretations, and personal reactions.
Videos support multiple writing skills at once—summary writing, descriptive writing, and critical thinking.
The format encourages accuracy because students must clearly describe events, characters, and motivations.
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ESL Video Prompts Instructions
- Select a short video that fits your class level and writing focus.
- Review essential vocabulary such as plot, character, and setting to prepare students for what they will see.
- Watch the video once without stopping so students can follow the full story.
- Ask students to write a factual first-draft summary describing the plot, the main characters, and the setting in their own words.
- Guide students through a second writing task that requires personal input—this may include interpreting the message, giving an opinion about the ending, or discussing the overall impact of the story.
1. ESL Video Prompts: Room 8 (5:45 minutes)
Room 8 is an excellent video prompt because it sparks thoughtful, even philosophical, questions about choice and the meaning of life. It also challenges students to write with precision, since the story relies on careful observation and attention to detail.
Although the full video runs about seven minutes, the active story lasts roughly 5:45 minutes, with the final portion devoted to credits.
Imagination Series: Room 8 (3 of 5) from Bombay Sapphire on Vimeo.
2. ESL Video Prompts: Blind (4 minutes)
Blind is a Japanese short film (with English subtitles) that delivers a powerful warning, though the message is something students must uncover on their own. The visuals are striking and memorable, so even lower-level learners can follow the plot without difficulty.
It helps to preteach key vocabulary before playing the video and then ask a few quick comprehension questions to build understanding. As students watch, encourage them to notice symbolic details—especially the subtle images of the three monkeys (hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil). These small moments make excellent prompts for discussion and interpretation.
Key Vocabulary
commute, gas mask, radiation, filter, petition
Quick Comprehension Check
– How do the people feel about their situation?
– Why is the young girl looking at the picture?
– What seems to be wrong with the girl?
– Why do the characters remove their masks?
– What might the title “Blind” represent?
blind from YUKIHIRO SHODA on Vimeo.
3. ESL Video Prompts: Howl (6:30 minutes)
Howl is a beautifully crafted black-and-white animation that resonates with learners from upper elementary grades through adults. Although the video is slightly longer than typical prompts, it consistently inspires strong writing, thoughtful interpretations, and rich classroom discussion.
Pre-teach Key Vocabulary
shadow, crawl, chew, growl, lamp post, moonlight, howl
Quick Comprehension Check
– What is your impression of the mother?
– What message or theme do you think the story is trying to convey?
Howl from Natalie Bettelheim on Vimeo.
4. ESL Video Prompts: Decade (1:30 minutes)
Decade is a short film with a simple plot and a message that resonates strongly with university students and adults. It invites viewers to reflect on the purpose of hard work, ambition, and the milestones we chase throughout life.
Before watching, ask students to take notes on the different life stages shown in the video so they can later connect these moments to the film’s message.
a Decade from Treehouse Studio on Vimeo.
5. ESL Video Prompts: Ecirava (1:30 minutes)
Ecirava is a short, visually engaging video that tells a simple story with a clever time-travel twist.
ECIRAVA from Daisuke Kaneko on Vimeo.
Video Prompts
Video prompts give students instant engagement, clear storytelling models, and fast, high-quality writing practice with almost no prep required.
