(30 minutes)

OBJECTIVE
Students work collaboratively to write well-developed stories.

MATERIALS
Lined paper; writing utensils

• Break your class up into groups of three or four.
• Write these five words on the board:
  -  Election
  -  Vote
  -  President
  -  Campaign
  -  Ballot

• Inform your students that they will be working with their groups to write a story collaboratively.
• Tell the groups that their stories must be at least two paragraphs long and that all students in each group must take part in creating the story.
• Encourage your students to listen to and support their fellow group members as they work.
• Inform each group that they need to make sure that their story has all essential elements:
  -  A setting
  -  Characters
  -  A problem
  -  Events
  -  A resolution
• Have the groups choose four of the five words on the board to incorporate into their story.
• Encourage your students to write creatively with strong action words and descriptive language.
• Give the groups a specified amount of time to work together on their stories.
• At the conclusion of the activity, have your class come back together and the groups share their stories out loud.

• Was it difficult to work together on this assignment with your classmates? If yes, what made it challenging?
• Was it easy to incorporate the words on the board into your story? Why or why not? 
• Do you think working in groups made your story better than it would have been if you were working alone? If yes, explain why.
• What did you learn from this activity?

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