As part of our project on the environment, my year sevens have various new words to learn. They vary from the words boil and plant, to recycle, laundry and earth. Not the most scintillating in the world and so today, in an attempt to liven things up, I told them to write a story using as many of the words as possible. The results were simply amazing. Some had monstrous plants conquering the recycling king whilst others involved a man who married his washing machine. I have a degree in Creative Writing and I was outdone by the kings and castles and fairytales, the epic events that occured in these stories. When they had finished writing, playing on the competitive nature of the class, I told them to vote for the best story, which made them all listen to each other as well. Of course they loved it, and even the kids who don't usually contribute had their hands up.

Today in my class, even recycling became exciting. It seems that the creativity of twelve year olds beats the wildest of adult imaginations. And when I tested them on the words in the second lesson, most of them got 100. It may be a slow way of teaching, but I think when it comes to learning new words, creative ways are certainly the most efficient.