An Under-Appreciated Planet

Students write from the point of view of the most under-appreciated planet.

Writing Haiku in Primary

Your youngest students will learn to write Japanese Haiku poetry.

Characters’ Faults Can Also Be Strengths

Strength and weakness are often two sides of the same coin. Students will explore how a character’s flaw can be a benefit.

Improving Shakespeare’s Repetition

Let’s help William Shakespeare with his use of repetition.

Getting Specific With St. Patrick’s Day Writing

Let’s take a starting phrase about St. Patrick’s Day and get specific. No, even more specific!

Change A Story’s Genre

What if we rewrote a story’s climax into a totally different genre?

Order, Chaos, and the Holiday Season

Let’s write a holiday song about order and chaos!

Greekymon Studies – Round 3

What might a creature named “Aquacornus Rex” be like?

Mother’s Day Cards

Let’s write the cleverest Mother’s Day cards you’ve ever seen!

A Halloween Costume Gone Wrong

Let’s go roller skating in a Halloween costume! What could possibly go wrong?

What If… Unreliable Water?

What would the consequences be if a town’s tap water became… unreliable?

What If… Long Life?

What would the consequences be if all people lived much, much longer?

What If… No Sleep?

What would the consequences be if no one had to sleep anymore?

New Uses For An Aluminum Can

So, what CAN a CAN be used for other than storing liquids?

Think Like An Author: Hemingway vs Dickens

What if your students rewrote Dickens in the style of Hemingway and vice versa?

Thanksgiving Photo Writing

Starting with an old-timey photo, students will write from a particular item’s point of view.

Writing About Art: Impression, Sunrise

Look closely at Impression, Sunrise. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

Writing in Pilish

Pi can go beyond circles! What if you wrote using the digits of pi as your guide?

Writing About Art: Chōshi in Shimosha

Get your students writing some pretty darn impressive poetry based on Japan’s most famous artist.

Writing About Art: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

Look closely at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. What do you notice? Now turn those details into a poem you didn’t know you could write.

New Uses for a Paperclip

So what are some new ways to use a paperclip?

Ultimate (or Inception) Tic Tac Toe

What if each square on a Tic-Tac-Toe board had another Tic-Tac-Toe board inside of it?

A Lunar Survival Mission

A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?

SCAMPER: Scaffolding Creativity

Asking students to “think creatively” won’t get you far. They won’t know how to start, they’ll get stuck with simple ideas, or they’ll just go completely wild. SCAMPER is a tool for scaffolding the process of creativity.

Writing Seuss Style Poetry

Sure, Dr. Seuss wrote for young students, but can older students analyze his writing and learn to mimic his style? THEN, they can produce Seuss-style poetry about any topic: Ancient China, the electromagnetic spectrum, Pride and Prejudice, and (yes) fraction division!

Improving Presentations 2: Planning The Outline

After watching some great presenters, let’s outline your presentation!

Create A Civilization: The River

The Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Seine, the Thames, and now… your river!

“Its Big Day” – A Children’s Story About Its and It’s

Let’s spice up a typically dull lesson about the difference between “its” and “it’s” by asking students to write a children’s story about the adventures of a critter named It.

Greekymon

Rather than just memorizing word parts, students will use those word parts to create four possible products.

Writing Clear Directions

Can you write directions so clear that a group of kids can put a toy together with no illustrations?