Amy -- This Is Free!

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Home : 2003 : July : 24

Amy -- This Is Free!
By Jen

Hi Amy! Here is something I did with my kids last year. It sounds a lot like what you previously posted, but I didn't see that post, so I'm not sure! Anyway, if this idea is what you already had in mind, my apologies!

I
started by sitting with my class and asking for their help in making some lists. First I wanted a list of characters -- they could be anything! Specific people, general types of people, etc. My kids came up with a huge list of characters from an angry octopus to Michael Jordan to Spongebob! Next, we made a list together of settings. Again, they came up with lots of fun places, such as,

"in my ear" or "Florida" or their all-time favorite, "in the bathroom." Last, we made a list of problems that might happen. They said things such as "it rains red juice" or "instead of air we lived in the water."

After we made the lists, I thanked the kids, but I didn't tell them what I was going to do with the lists. Later, I wrote each character, setting and problem on a strip of colored paper. (I color coordinated the character, setting and problem). Then I put each strip into 3 jars. One for character, setting and problem. Then later, the kids had to randomly pull 1 strip from each jar and that was the starting place for some crazy stories!

The best thing was, the kids were the ones who came up with everything. They had a blast. Afterwards, the jars stayed out for a center. I hope this helps somewhat!