Materials: a deck or two of playing cards, paper and pens
Description: Before class, I write a list on the board of all the playing cards in a normal deck of cards. Each card value is assigned an adjective or a noun (usually I give the number cards adjectives and the face cards nouns). Then we go through the list together to make sure they know what all the words mean. Here’s a sample list:
2 – scary, 3 – funny, 4 – silly, 5 – amazing, 6 – terrible, 7 – painful, 8 – happy, 9 – sad, 10 – lucky, J – green shoes, Q – a sofa, K – a rabbit, A – a chocolate cake
I explain that we are going to use the cards to write a story. Each student is given, say, four cards. Their four cards determine what will happen in their story. So someone might have a five, a two, a ten and a king. So in their story, something amazing has to happen, something scary has to happen, something lucky has to happen, and there has to be something about a rabbit.
It’s easy to focus this assignment to work on past simple tense, or even future simple tense (making predictions). For more advanced classes, you can let them tell whatever kind of story they want. For less advanced classes, it’s a good idea to give them a subject, like “Bob Goes to the Park,” or “Mrs. Spencer’s Winter Vacation.” On a side note, letting students write about you can provide for some hilarious reading later. Apparently, over my winter holiday, I got my legs cut off, gave birth to two or three children, was given several pairs of new green shoes as a Christmas present, and was turned into a vampire.
-Abeth S.
Filed under: Level: Advanced, Level: Intermediate, Skills: Writing
