Writing stories is an exciting and creative activity and yet students often seem resistant to undertaking this task. I think it is important to break the task down into small stages so students don’t get discouraged, and place emphasis on the creative part.
Preparation
This is the last line of our story;
‘They walked away sadly, promising never to return again’
Before class, think up several examples of who ‘they’ could be and from where they are walking. For example;
They: students Where: the last day of their language course in the UK
They: aliens Where: the Earth
They: football team Where: after a match
They: teenagers Where: a concert by their favourite band
They: friends Where: a party at another friend’s house
Procedure
- Giving the task purpose (this stage could be done in the students’ own language)
- Ask students what the purpose of writing a story is. Answer: to entertain
- Ask them for ways a writer can do this Possible answers: comedy, suspense, mystery, a twist, romance, a moral
- Brainstorming for ideas/ creating the plot of the story (I) As a class.
- Write the title of our story on the board. Ask students to think silently who ‘they’ might be and where they are leaving.
- If they find this difficult you could give them one of your ideas. Eg. They: students Where: the last day of their language course in another country
- Choose one of their suggestions and ask questions to get students developing the idea: Eg. Where did they go? Why were they so sad when they left? What things went wrong? Why will they never return?
- The aim is to get lots of different suggestions for each question to get students being as creative as possible.
- Brainstorming for ideas/ creating the plot of the story (II) In groups, with direction.
- Divide students into groups of 4 or 5.
- Each group chooses a different ‘they’ and ‘where’, either from earlier student suggestions or your ideas.
- Give them five minutes to come up with a story based on these. Encourage the groups to follow the same procedure as in step 2 and come up with lots of different stories before choosing their favourite.
- The aim is creativity and a chance for students to use their imaginations. The time limit is important to keep the activity moving.
- Whole class feedback
- Ask students to share their favourite stories with the class.
- Before this activity begins, tell them that they will need to choose which one of the other stories they like best and why - this will give students a good reason for listening.
- Extension
Take students back to the title you started with and discuss how many ideas came out of just one line. Of course, you could now ask them to write the story either in class or as homework, however, I would suggest leaving this activity at this point as the aim is to exercise students’ creative side. During the task the students will have had to use a wide range of vocabulary and I think this is challenge enough for any class.
Stuart Wiffin, Teacher, France
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Comments
I agree that it is important to stress the creative element in writing in order to enable students to enjoy it. Far too frequently, writing is taught along the product model, in which students are given a sample text, told to underline key phrases and then asked to write a similar text with constant reference to the original model. This, of course, is not writing but regurgitation, and it is little wonder that students often groan at the mere mention of a writing task.
However, by using a process model outlined above that focuses on learners’ imagination, we can engage them from the outset and give them a sense of ownership of the text, and this sense of engagement will lead to greater learning, as well as making the lesson more enjoyable for both teacher and students.
I also applaud the integration of speaking and listening skills work into the ‘writing’ lesson, as this is something that is often missing from writing activities in many classrooms. While writing is ultimately a solitary activity, it also offers many opportunities in the ELT classroom for the discussion of ideas.
This article leaves me wanting to know more. What would Mr Wiffin recommend after the ideas have been selected? Should students be asked to write several successive drafts in class? Should they be encouraged to evaluate each others work? Should the teacher monitor the written work in the role of ‘error policemen’, or restrict himself to feedback on content?
I look forward to the second instalment!
Thanks for your kind comments. This activity is designed more for encouraging creativity rather than looking at the writing process but I agree that peer evaluation is an extremely useful tool; maybe an activity on this would also be interesting to other readers?
Thanks for sharing such a nice lesson plan which you can modify according to the level of your learners. But this one particularly will work for age groups 8-10 and 11-13. I have been doing a similar activity with adoloscent and adult learners and it has been always appreciated.
I teach English in a high school in Indonesia. I find it hard to teach writing as I sometimes cannot think of the suitable ways and procedures to make writing an easy task for my students. Now I think I can make use of your lesson plan in my class. It's quite simple and helpful. Thanks a lot.