Teaching creative writing in schools is not only about teaching writing fiction. No. It will help your students to find new ways of thinking, thinking outside the box, and improving their vocabulary, grammar knowledge, punctuation, empathy, etc.
I’ve gathered 22 engaging writing exercises (the A1 level) that your students will definitely enjoy!
Before we start, I’d like to note that students can do these exercises individually, in pairs, or groups. Also, they can share their stories in pairs, groups, or the whole class. As an option, you may ask students to stick their stories on the walls. Students can walk around the class, reading the stories. As another option, they can give stars to the stories they liked the best.
Table of contents
- Exercise 1 — Almost free writing”
- Exercise 2 — “Write a Summary as if You are…”
- Exercise 3 — “Dream House”
- Exercise 4 — “How to Play a Favorite Game”
- Exercise 5 — “Meeting an Alien “
- Exercise 6 — “A Letter to Celebrity”
- Exercise 7 — “Completing Intriguing Sentences”
- Exercise 8 — “Writing a Real CV”
- Exercise 8.1 — “Writing an Imaginary CV”
- Exercise 9 — “The World in 20 Years”
- Exercise 10 — “A Shopping List for a Famous Person”
- Exercise 11 — “Composing Unusual Advertisements”
- Exercise 12 — “Travelling”
- Exercise 13 — “A Travel Brochure for Your Hometown”
- Exercise 14 — “A Travel Brochure of the Dream City”
- Exercise 15 — “My Perfect Monday”
- Exercise 16 — “Haiku”
- Exercise 17 — “Write the End of the Story”
- Exercise 18 — “Then and Now”
- Exercise 19 — “Daily Routine”
- Exercise 19 — “Safety goes first”
- Exercise 20 — “An Email to a Lost & Found Office”
- Exercise 21 — “An Email of Complaint (to a hotel, restaurant, etc.)”
- Final thoughts:
Exercise 1 — Almost free writing”
Option 1:
Choose a recent topic or a topic that your students already know. Tell your students that they have 60 seconds (set a timer). Ask them to write down as many words or phrases that come to mind.
Option 2:
You set a timer for 1-2 min and ask your students to write as many words and phrases as they know.
Then you name a winner who has written most of the words and phrases.
Exercise 2 — “Write a Summary as if You are…”
Having read a text or a dialogue, ask your students to write a summary of it as if the students who write it are a chair, another insignificant character, or even an object in the story.
For example, you read the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood.” The task is to write a summary of the fairy tale as if a student is the red-hooded cape.
Exercise 3 — “Dream House”
If your current topic is “House or A Place to Live in”, you and your students may enjoy writing a short text about a dream house. In my opinion, this task should be done as homework because your student may create a presentation with pictures. I highly recommend using Canva for creating presentations.
Exercise 4 — “How to Play a Favorite Game”
Ask students to write instructions on how to play their favorite game. You may add that they should write at least 5 tips.
PRO TIP:
You may ask a student to teach the whole group/class how to play that game. I am sure it will be fun and a great speaking activity.
Exercise 5 — “Meeting an Alien “
An alien comes to your town. Ask students to prepare a list of tips on what the alien should and shouldn’t do.
Besides practicing the modal verb “should” you may ask your students to use imperatives. It all depends on what students already know.
PRO TIP:
Instead of giving the alien general tips on what it should and should not do on Earth, you may ask your students to write instructions on a narrower topic. For example, how to behave at a table, cross the street, etc.
Exercise 6 — “A Letter to Celebrity”
Task: write an email or a letter to a favorite celebrity or person.
In this task, your students can practice any topic. For example, describe your students’ hometown.
Have a look at these free and downloadable templates with guidelines for writing formal and informal letters.
Exercise 7 — “Completing Intriguing Sentences”
Complete sentences in 5 (any number) different ways:
- Yesterday I was at and…
- Yesterday I was at but…
- I think I will…
- Sheila opened a door and …
- I was walking my dog when …
Exercise 8 — “Writing a Real CV”
A1 is a good level when our students can practice writing CVs. The task is to write a real CV. Even if you teach teenagers, they can think about their current skills, education, etc.
Exercise 8.1 — “Writing an Imaginary CV”
You may ask your students to compose a CV and pretend to be someone else.
See this article for tips on how to write excellent CVs.
Exercise 9 — “The World in 20 Years”
Talk about the future.
What the world or your town will be like 20 years from now?
I know that those exercises are too popular. But most writers ask to write about the world in 100 years. To keep it more real and predictable, your students can talk about the future that will be in 20 years.
Exercise 10 — “A Shopping List for a Famous Person”
If you find writing a shopping list boring, you may ask your students to write a shopping list for a famous person. Encourage them to look the prices up during the lesson.
Exercise 11 — “Composing Unusual Advertisements”
Students should choose any object near them and write an ad. One of the goals is to convince readers to buy the described object.
Exercise 12 — “Travelling”
Option 1:
When you have a topic “Travelling” it is a good idea to write a short text about a city/town/village. Encourage your students to include prices. For example, when they write about hotels where people should stay, they should include prices. I recommend using https://booking.com/
Option 2:
If you have your text for the reading part, you may ask your students to add more information. For example, famous attractions, nightlife, etc.
Option 3:
In case you have old coursebooks, and there is outdated information, keep it the same. Instead, set it as a writing task for your students.
The structure I recommend:
- Title
- Intro
- Accommodation
- Places to visit
- Eating out
- Shopping
- Nightlife
- Conclusion
Exercise 13 — “A Travel Brochure for Your Hometown”
Compose a travel brochure for your hometown. I think that this task is better for a homework presentation with pictures.
Exercise 14 — “A Travel Brochure of the Dream City”
The same applies to the travel brochure of the dream city, town, etc.
Exercise 15 — “My Perfect Monday”
“My Perfect Monday” — is one of my and my students’ favorite activities.
Exercise 16 — “Haiku”
First of all, make sure that your students know how to count syllables.
The structure:
- the first line is five syllables
- the second line is seven syllables
- the third line is five syllables
Example:
Lily:
out of the water . . .
out of itself.
—Nick Virgilio
If you would like to read more about writing haikus, I recommend reading this article.
Exercise 17 — “Write the End of the Story”
Besides writing skills, this exercise is good for revising regular and irregular verbs in Past Simple, adverbs, and prepositions.
Task:
Fill in the text with prepositions and write the end of the story. Instead of prepositions, you can omit any other words. For example, verbs or adjectives.
“Amy was at home. She was alone. Suddenly, she heard noises downstairs. Amy switched on the lights and went downstairs. Nobody was there. Nervously, she checked the front door. It was closed but one window was open. Amy looked out of the window nervously. She screamed loudly because of what she saw outside.”
Exercise 18 — “Then and Now”
Look at the picture. [or show your students another picture]
- What can you see in the picture?
- Imagine what the city was 100 years ago, etc.
Fill in the chart below. It will help with the structure of the text.
| Then | Now | |
| Houses | ||
| Food | ||
| Travel | ||
| Entertainment |
Then, write a short story.
Exercise 19 — “Daily Routine”
Students may choose any person they would like to write about.
They can brainstorm ideas, using words that they already know.
Students may write down their ideas in the chart below.
Then, individually, in pairs, or in small groups they can write a short story about the daily routine of a person they had chosen.
| Name | |
| Job | |
| In the morning | |
| In the afternoon | |
| In the evening | |
| Free time |
Exercise 19 — “Safety goes first”
You got a letter from your friend whose house was robbed.
Write a letter giving your advice on what your friend should do to not be robbed again.
Before writing, the whole class may brainstorm ideas with the main focus on the vocabulary they already know.
For example,
- lock the doors and windows
- keep money in a bank
- leave the lights on
- ask neighbors to collect your newspapers/leaflets from your mail
- take pictures with barcodes of your valuables, etc.
PRO TIP:
Remind your students to use linking words and phrases:
- also
- in addition
- but
- however
- I think
- in my opinion
- it is a good idea
- I highly recommend you, etc.
Exercise 20 — “An Email to a Lost & Found Office”
Download the structure and the plan that I recommend using. Moreover, I have added an example from my student.
Exercise 21 — “An Email of Complaint (to a hotel, restaurant, etc.)”
Download the structure and the plan that I recommend using. Moreover, I have added an example from my student.
Final thoughts:
Which exercises will you try with your students?
If you liked this blog post, I encourage you to share it with your colleagues and write “thanks” in the comments below.
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