It’s tough to get eighth graders to settle down for Language Arts right after lunch, but one thing that’s been successful for me is the use of visual writing prompts. Here’s how it works:
Before students come in from the lunch room I project an interesting image on the screen, like this:
They enter the classroom, sit down, and begin a free write based on the image.
I usually have them write for ten to fifteen minutes with a goal of producing one full handwritten page. As they write I circulate around the room making sure everyone is on task, and I hand out their writing folders.
As with a typical free-write, they are to keep their pen moving constantly, and if they get stuck they are to write the last word they wrote over and over until they get unblocked.
After ten or fifteen minutes, I signal that the free write is over. On the front of their folder they number the free write and label it.
The class is currently in the middle of a Digital Writing Workshop in which they blog each day on Kidblog.org. Their full page of writing acts as a “ticket” which they exchange for getting a laptop out from the mobile cart. Since starting this in the middle of November, students have written almost thirty pages of free writes.
The main purpose of the free write is to get students writing fluently and to bypass their inner critic. The activity has two advantageous side effects: first, it helps to create a quiet, calm environment just after the busyness of lunch; second, it gives students lots of material to work with when trying to find something to blog about.
It’s pretty easy to find images to use–I usually just type “visual writing prompt” into Google’s image search–but there are a few websites that produce visual prompts regularly:
Often, while students are writing, I will play instrumental music in the background as another way to stimulate creativity. For instance, when I used the picture of the shark in the forest I played the theme from Jaws.
If you use visual prompts or would like to know more, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Here are some of the students’ favorites so far:
