Would you like a great cooperative writing activity that can engage and motivate your students to think and create? Try a write-around.
To conduct a write-around, organize your students into groups of four or five and arrange them either around a table or with their chairs in a circle. Provide an opening line, which all students write on their papers.
Examples of opening lines:
Tired and hungry, the lost dog stood in front of the broken-down cabin.
He/she stepped over the body and walked to where she/he stood in the doorway.
“We’ve waited an hour,” he/she said, “so I don’t think the school bus is coming today.”
She/he awoke to the sound of a shutter banging against her/his window, but the house had no shutters!
The family gathered around the table became silent when the clock struck twelve.
He/she crept closer to the sound of the whimpering.
The airplane flew lower and lower, with no airport in sight.
After students have written the opening line, give them a prescribed time (2-5 minutes) to continue the story. When the time is up, students pass their papers clockwise to the next student, who reads the paper and continues the story for the prescribed time. Continue this process until the papers return to the original writers, who have a chance to complete the story.
Invite students to share their completed stories.
What’s so good about this activity? Lots.
- Students have the opportunity to be a part of several writing pieces.
- Effective writers model first-hand.
- Students get practice writing various stages of a story.
- Great reading and writing connection.
So give it a try. Have fun with it. Ask students to reflect on the experience. What did they like about it? What would make it better?
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