Most kids take great pride in their schoolwork, especially if they know their work will be on display. This fun writing and art exercise will get your students' creativity going and help improve fundamental writing skills and techniques. 

This activity works best in pairs or groups of three and can be adjusted to meet any grade level. It can be completed whether you are in a traditional classroom, homeschool, or schooling virtually. Ultimately students will create a fun bound book or all their writing and a peer-drawn illustration to go with it.

What To Do:
  1. Start by pairing students up or putting them in groups of three. Inform students that everyone will be writing and drawing but they'll start by drawing. They can draw virtually anything, but it should be a scene of some kind – showing a people or animals doing something or a scenic picture.
  2. Then put a few lines of dialogue or your favorite opening lines from some of your favorite books on the board in front of the class. 
  3. Students will choose one of the opening lines or lines of dialogue, then exchange drawings with their partner or in their group of three. These are the prompts for their story. 
  4. Using their neighbor's picture and the opening line they chose, students will write a story that compliments the picture and somehow incorporates their favorite line. The opening line can appear anywhere in their tale. It does not have to open the story.
  5. The length of the story can vary to fit your schedule. You can have students write only one paragraph or for very little students, you could have them tell their stories orally. The requirements you place on writing can vary with the age and grade of your students. Older students can be expected to use dialogue, have several characters, and understand the basics of plot and conflict. 
  6. When they are done writing their stories, they can present them to the class along with their partners' drawing.  
  7. Print the stories and attach them to the drawings to create a class storybook/magazine. If you have access to a simple book binding machine, bind all the stories and drawings together and distribute to each student. Otherwise, you can make one class book for display binding them with a hole punch and string. 

Kids love to see their names in print. We love this assignment because it's great practice for essential writing skills but also recognizes more artistic students. This creative writing assignment is highly versatile and fun to share.

Let us know if your students enjoyed it in the comments. 

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