Procedure
Before giving the students the title (or first line) of the story, play a game of word association.
- The teacher gives one word and the student on the left must say the first word s/he can think of which is associated with it.
- Then the student on her/his left says the first word which s/he can think of which is associated with the previous word.
- This can be repeated around the class a few times.
- The teacher writes all the words on the board as they appear.
- Eventually you should have 20 or 30 words on the board, the latter ones bearing no relation to the original.
- Here is a typical collection: tree, forest, countryside, city, buildings, offices, work, leisure, holidays, beach, sun, moon, night, dark, black, reggae, music, piano, jazz, etc.
- The teacher then gives the students the first line of the story using some of the vocabulary on the board (e.g., I'll never forget the night I went to my first reggae club while I was on holiday in a strange city.
- The students (individually or in pairs) continue the story, drawing on the vocabulary on the board for ideas.
Brian Fowlis, Spain
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