TWO WRITING TASKS
I FIND TWO WRITING TASKS SUITABLE FOR YOUNGER LEARNERS.
1. WHAT DOES THE DICE SAY?
For this activity, we will need three dice, one with pictures of invented characters,
another with places and the last one with situations or actions. We will try to make these
characters, places and actions attractive to children, so that they let their imagination run
wild.
If we don’t have a dice we can also write on pieces of paper the characters, places and
situations, divide them into three small bags and ask each student to take a paper from
each of these.
After that, each of the students will have to roll the three dice (or take the three pieces of
paper) and, from the three images or words that have come out, he/she will have to write
a short story in 15 minutes and, after it, they will read their own stories to the rest of
their classmates.
The story could also be written in pairs and at the end of the class we could do a vote to
see which has been the favorite story.
- Example of characters: two headed monsters, the brave princess, the loving bear,
the elephant of a thousand colors…
- Example of places: the dark forest, my neighbor’s house, the cinema, the
schoolyard, a haunted house, another planet…
- Examples of situations: lost his memory, was very afraid, must solve the
mystery, ate a whole packet of cookies, finds a secret door…
What is the aim of the task?
The aim of the task is to work the writing skills in a funny way and fostering students'
imagination.
Lorena Vidal Salvador
Is it an individual or a collaborative task?
It can be used as an individual or a collaborative task. If it is a collaborative one
students would probably enjoy it more.
How controlled (focus on accuracy) or free (focus on fluency, creativity) is
the task?
It will be an activity focused on children using their imagination and not very guided by
teachers, but the structure of the text and the vocabulary used will also be taken into
account.
How authentic is the task?
It's an activity that students can really like and that many teachers can do.
Who is the writing addressed to? / Who is going to read the writing?
The creators of the story will read it to the rest of their classmates.
What is the genre of the writing?
The genre is a narrative writing.
What is the language level necessary for the writing task?
The activity can be carried out with children between the age of 8 and 12, with the
normal level that they usually have.
What might be a suitable pre-writing and a post-writing activity related to
the task?
As a pre-writing activity, an explanation could be given of the parts of a text
(introduction, knot and outcome) so that they use it when writing their stories. In
addition, a vote could be held as a post-writing activity to choose a favorite story.
Lorena Vidal Salvador
2. INVENTED WORDS
For this activity, the teacher will write on the board three invented words, from which
students, in pairs or small groups, must give meaning to each of these words and then
create a short story in which the three of them appear.
After this, they will have to make a mini dictionary with the meaning of each of these
words. When they have finished, every group will read their story to the rest of the
class, and they should try to guess the meaning they gave to each word.
We can also do a vote to see which has been the favorite story.
Examples invented words: housow, compight, droperwar.
What is the aim of the task?
The aim of the task is to work the writing skills in a fun way and fostering students'
imagination.
Is it an individual or a collaborative task?
It is a collaborative task.
How controlled (focus on accuracy) or free (focus on fluency, creativity) is
the task?
It will be an activity focused on children using their imagination and not very guided by
teachers, but the structure of the text and the vocabulary used will also be taken into
account.
How authentic is the task?
It's an activity that students can really like and that many teachers can do.
Who is the writing addressed to? / Who is going to read the writing?
Lorena Vidal Salvador
The creators of the story will read it to the rest of their classmates.
What is the genre of the writing?
The genre is a narrative writing.
What is the language level necessary for the writing task?
The activity can be carried out with children between the age of 8 and 12, with the
normal level that they usually have.
What might be a suitable pre-writing and a post-writing activity related to
the task?
As a pre-writing activity, an explanation could be given of the parts of a text
(introduction, knot and outcome) so that they use it when writing their stories. In
addition, a vote could be held as a post-writing activity to choose a favorite story. We
can also propose new meanings for the given words, or invent new ones.
Lorena Vidal Salvador
