1. Have students pair up.

2. Ask each student to write two one-page stories. The first story is about an early childhood memory, and the second is about a day on public transportation.

3. Ask the students to cut each story into separate lines and place the lines in one pile, then shuffle them.

4. Each person in the pair takes half of the pile, then pieces them together into a complete story.

Adapted from the WritersCorps publication “Jump Write In!“

WritersCorps teachers often honor the work and memory of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. by asking students to write poems about the principles of civil rights and freedom. The subject matter is rich with possibilities. Here is an opportunity for teachers to talk not only about Martin Luther King Jr. on the day honoring him every January, but also about the civil rights movement, race relations, the qualities of a leader, heroes, and so on.

1. Bring in photographs from the days of segregation, such as of a water fountain with a “whites only” sign.

2. Ask students to imagine living in a world with that kind of overt racism and then write about how times have changed or not changed since Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.

Adapted from the WritersCorps publication “Jump Write In!“

1. Because editing a poem can feel threatening to students, former WritersCorps teacher Chad Sweeney suggests starting with an editing activity that everyone does together. Instead of choosing a student’s poem, Chad brings in a drab piece of writing that he has written for the occasion. The group works together to find more interesting words and line breaks.

2. Share “The Rain Genie”– an intentionally weak piece by Herman Waxflatter, Chad’s alter ego — and ask students to write a second draft of the poem by giving it more interesting words (word switch) and by choosing where to break the line (line breaks). Feel free to write your own flat piece to use as an example.

The Rain Genie, by Herman Waxflatter
People go down the sidewalk. Birds fly over. Cars go on the street. Rain falls on the street. Wind blows people’s hair. So people go under a roof. I see an old man talking to a kid. He says, “I’m cold, please help me.” The kid says, “What can I do?” So the man says, just smile, that’s enough.” Rain falls harder, and wind blows. The kid smiles as big as he can. The old man is a genie in disguise, so he becomes a wind and blows away. The kid has magical good luck all this life.

Adapted from the WritersCorps publication “Jump Write In!”

1. Ask students to write down three words for each of the various categories that you create (for example: foreign places, textures, sounds, colors, and foods.)

2. Students choose their ten favorite words and write each word on a three-by-five-inch index card. Place the cards together in a word deck.

3. Pass out five cards to each student, and ask students to write a ten-line poem incorporating their five words.

From the WritersCorps publication “Jump Write In!”