Edmodo as a Creative Writing Space

It's almost back to school and that means back to Edmodo! My students and I have used this platform for quite some time now. Because I don't teach a core subject, my main goal is to ignite creativity among my students, especially when it comes to their writing. So far this is what my students have enjoyed the most from our time on Edmodo.

Creative Writing Activities 

1. Caption This!- For this activity, I provide a picture for my students to describe and challenge them not to use obvious descriptions. I like to follow @fascinatingpics and @earthpix to find stunning images of our world.

2. 6-Word Stories/Collaborative Stories - Another variation for the image sources above is having students write 6 word stories to describe a picture. These can also turn into a collaborative writing activity if you provide a story starter and have each student write a sentence or two to continue the story.

3. Title Talk- I'm always amused when I run into title talks on Twitter. These are hilarious remakes or substitutions of movie titles, which can also apply to book titles. Of course, my students know that all titles must be school and age appropriate. This is a great substitution activity, especially if your students are familiar with the SCAMPER model.

4. Friday Funny- On Fridays, I like to post a comic or funny joke that relates to what is happening that week. For example, if we are predicted to have a "snow day", I post some winter comics. Or if we have a class inside joke, I post a cartoon or comic that relates to that theme. This seems to build a sense of community among my students and gets the discussion going. This year, I will encourage my students to create puns for the week to model after one of the "punniest" people we know, Carl Azuz from @CNNStudentNews.

5. Journal Writing with a Twist- I recently bought the book, Unjournaling and have found several prompts that I would like for my students to share on Edmodo. I haven't decided whether I will preselect the prompts or have students self-select the ones they are interested in.

Next Steps 

Now I am brainstorming some activities to build vocabulary and to continue to develop writing in novel ways. As you can see, I like to keep my activities short and simple so that my students can complete these with minimal guidance. At the same time, I want to keep them open-ended as to not stifle creativity. Do you have other activities that you are willing to share?