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Grade: Middle
Subject: Reading/Writing
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"Showtime at the Apollo"I named this writing activity from the popular T.V. show contest in which aspirting singers and talent acts compete at the world famous Apollo in NY.
On the board put up a topic that you choose (ie. "OH NO....My House is on fire! I must grab my_________!"). The students are to start their first sentence using this line, and then complete writing the short story--usually about a page in length. They are to use 10 of that week's vocabulary words, or however many you decide to use. I usually give them about 25-30 minutes to write their stories. After the time is up, any students who want to participate in Apollo comes up and read his/her story in front of the class. After all participants have read their stories, all of them have to come and stand in front of the room. Then I play KiKi Shepard (the woman who puts her hand over each contestant's head while the audience claps for who they think was the best one. NO BOOING ALLOWED!) I play like I'm KiKi and the students in the audience clap for whoever they think had the best story. The person with the most claps win the competition. Usually I have a little prize for the winner (pencil, edible treat, sticker).Other Info:
*Everyone must write a story whether they are participating or not. Sometimes I make everybody read.
*It is best to give the students a topic to write on.
*Most of the time the competition is based on who had the funniest story. The kids seem to enjoy that more.
*You can incorportate anything that you are learning at that time into the assignment. (ie. cirle all adjectives)
*You can vary the length (paragraph instead of a page)
*You can do it with poetry, myths, or any genre of literature
*Make the topics corny--have fun with it!
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