How to use this resource!
This activity is a way to engage every student in the room. Many students don’t always feel like they have the freedom to drive the direction of their writing and ideas. Give students the freedom and allow them to grow into who they will become.
How It Works:
Provide students with a picture (can be historical, artistic, or abstract).
Give students a set amount of time to complete the activity. Timelines can vary depending on your classroom needs—ranging anywhere from 12 minutes to 40 minutes.
Tips for Engagement:
Framing matters: remind students this is their story, their voice, and their chance to create.
Encourage them to revise and strengthen their drafts before submitting.
Making it Authentic:
I ask another teacher or staff member in the school to serve as a judge. They receive only the stories and the original picture. Once the results are in, I give prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
Why It Works:
Every student is actively involved.
The competition element provides incentive and excitement.
It builds confidence, showing students their ideas matter and are worth sharing.
This assignment has been an incredible tool for engagement, creativity, and growth!
Zoey has never enjoyed learning about space. She thinks planets are just far-away balls of rock, stars are boring dots in the sky, and astronauts eat weird food. But one day, something unexpected happens that forces her to see space in a whole new way.
Write a story describing what changes Zoey’s mind about space.
You may include details such as:
A surprising field trip
A visit from a real astronaut
A strange dream or discovery
A new friend who loves space
An event that makes her curious instead of annoyed
Be sure to include:
✓ Zoey’s original feelings about space
✓ The event or moment that changes everything
✓ How her opinion is different by the end
Mr. Kuhn had been collecting LEGO bricks since he was three years old, but one night while building another masterpiece, something strange happened—his fingers started turning yellow and blocky! Within moments, he had completely transformed into a LEGO man, clicking and clacking as he moved across his desk. When he looked around, his entire classroom had turned into a LEGO world filled with tiny plastic students waving at him. Unsure if this was a dream or the start of a new career as “Mr. Kuhn, the Master Builder,” he decided to make the best of it. Now, imagine you were one of his LEGO students—what hilarious chaos or creative adventure might happen next in LEGO Middle School?
