Pre-Intermediate Level >> Reading And Writing Materials >> Students use question prompts to write one sentence each of a story. Good writing practice without being dull.
Written Chain Story
Pre-Intermediate
This gives good writing practice and is a lot of fun to boot.
The teacher begins to tell a simple story and makes it clear when he wants students to ask him/her extra questions.
For example:
Teacher: A man was out walking one day...(looks around class to elicit question)
Student A: Where was he walking?
Teacher: Near the sea. Another question.
Student B: What did the man look like?
Teacher: Very tall with blond hair. He wasn't happy about the weather...etc, etc.
All the time, the teacher is writing the questions the students are asking up on the blackboard. When there are a list of about 10 to 15 questions, give out a sheet of paper to every student and tell them they are going to write a new mystery story - using the list of questions as prompts.
So every student, at the top of their sheet of paper will first write a story-like sentence based on the first question.
e.g.: Where was he walking? > One day a man was walking in the mountains.
When they have finished this first sentence, they have to fold the top of the page over and hand the sheet of paper to the next student. The whole process is then repeated for the second question and so forth.
At the end, a class of, for example, 11 students will have produced eleven different stories. The fun comes, of course, going over all these different versions.
As a follow up, each student can take one version and write it up fully for a homework assignment.
