Last week when I was in New York I managed to send my students a writing assignment. I’ve done this before from China. It is not hard to do, but it’s fun for the students and anything that motivates them to write … I’m for that!
I was waiting for a train and took this photo of the tracks running to the horizon. Then I posted it on our class blog with a short prompt to write about:
“You are about to board a train. Where would you like these tracks to take you? Think of a place you’d like to go and tell the story getting there on the train!”
In this case I was fairly minimalist in my prompt, but you could say more, or even have more than one photo. Simple but effective and fun.
Now to have them take photos (or pick a photo) to turn into a story idea (kind of a reverse version).
Learning is messy!
I really like this idea for a journal entry. I liked that you gave your students a visual picture to respond too! I also like that you gave them a direction to go with the journal entry, but it was broad. The students could pick anywhere they wanted to go and tell that story. Very creative with the prompt and the use of the picture! I think it will encourage your students to be creative as well.
I think this is so creative! I like the idea of using your own life experiences and brining them into the classroom to see how they relate to your students. I am also impressed by your photography and I think that this bould be highly appreciated by the class.