Pass+the+Computer

In the computer lab, put one picture from each of the pages of __The Mysteries of Harris Burdick__ at every computer. If you don't know this book, it is a series of pictures of crazy circumstances which provide a great jumping off point for a story. Explain to the students what you are going to have them do--First, on a Word document put their names on their first line followed by two dashes. Then they are to contribute 3 sentences to begin this story that are descriptive, interesting and move the story forward without giving away too much information. Give the students about 4 minutes to look at the picture, decide what is going on in that picture and write about it. Remind the students that they are to write three sentences, no more, no less. After they have written their contribution, they hit enter 3 times for the next person to begin. . After the appropriate amount of time (it will vary as they have more to read because the stories are longer), rotate. The first person is in charge of pulling the reader in--an interesting introduction. The first 1/4 of your class are in charge of the setting and introducing the problem and the character(s). The next half should tell the story and the last 1/4 should wrap up all the loose ends. The students should finish at their original computer and write the end. This should take two 50 minute class sessions.

Some of them end up to be silly and horrible, but some are super funny and wacky! If you are worried the stories and time will be too long, you can split your class in half or smaller groups so there are fewer rotations.