Topic: Writing/Speaking
Level: Intermediate +
Materials needed: Paper and pen
Groups: Individual
Members per group: n/a
Instructions:
This activity focuses on story writing but can be done verbally as well.
This activity has a few variations.
One- Give a piece of paper to every student. Each student is supposed to write a story. Let the students write about whatever they want or set a theme.
Give the students a few minutes to start their stories. After a few minutes, tell the students to give their piece of paper to the student next to them, either to the right or left. Now, the student needs to continue their classmates’ story. Pass the story papers around the room a few times. Depending on how long you want the story to be, how many times it will get passed, tell the last student to write an ending. The last student will read the story they are holding.
Two- For this version, I would put the students into groups of 4-8 students. The first student will start by writing the first word, the second student will write the second word and so on. Set a time limit. This activity is a fast paced story writing race. The students shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about what the next word should be. Once the time limit is up, have the groups read their stories. When doing this version, the story needs to have correct grammatical and structural flow. The story needs to flow without error. This will need to be monitored by the teacher.
Three- This version is a little more creative. This version should have 3-4 parts; end, 1-2 body, and beginning. Have all the students start by writing the ending of the story at the bottom of the page. Set a time limit. Next, have the students pass their story to the student next to them. Have that student continue the story by writing the body of the story in the middle of the page. (This step can be separated into 2 body sections). The last student will write the beginning of the story at the top of the page. Have the last student read the story.
Let the class decide who made the best story.
Finding teacher resources for ESL lesson plans and educational games can be time consuming. Let us know if you will use this ESL activity.
Got a question about this classroom activity? Suggestion? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.
