This page is a work in progress. It is intended to be a resource for sparking writing, for myself, my students, or fellow educators. Throughout the years of participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge, I have come across gems of writing structures and ideas. As I have time I’ll update this list. I will also include hyperlinks wherever possible in order to have anchor texts. Thank you to all who have inadvertently inspired me and helped build this resource.
Complimenting Writers (Source: Ethical ELA)
Poetry
Etheree – a poem of ten lines. Each line has the number of syllables in the line’s number.
Diamanté
Golden Shovel – This is where you take a golden line from a book or speech, sift it, and use each golden word from the quote as the ending word in each line of your own poem.
Poem from the perspective of a letter of the alphabet, Eg. d
An Abcedarian Poem – each line starts with a different letter of the alphabet It could be just a word or a phrase.
Skinny Poem – 11 lines (9 only one word) 2nd, 6th, & 10th line must be the same; the last line must repeat the words from the first opening line, but can be rearranged
Ekphrastic – a vivid description about a work of art
Open Tab Similar to book spine poetry, use the tabs of a browser to inform your poem
Found – create a poem incorporating the words of another poem
Book Spine – stack books: the titles on spines creates the poem. As an added challenge have a theme for your poem. e.g. seasons
Wordle Poem: Criteria – only 5 letter words, play with punctuation, no more than 5 words per line (title can break this rule), says something Method – Discuss and brainstorm 5 letter words. Sort them into groups: nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs.
4 x 4: write 4 stanza with each line having exactly 4 syllables
Fibonacci: 6 lines, follows Fibonacci sequence – decide if you are counting syllables or words
Thing to Do “A things to do poem begins with a list of things that the chosen animal can do. Think about how to personify these things, make them like actions that people can do. Begin each line with an action word.”
Alliteration – words start with the same sounds
“Take a metaphor or idiom and reverse it or twist it up in any which way you choose. Then write from the “sense” the new phrase makes. It may be total nonsense. It may provide a ‘feeling’ or strike a memory chord or a fantasy chord with you.”
Pile – “So, what if, instead of thinking about solving our whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.” Create lines of increasing lengths to visually look like a pile.
Structures
Rose, Thorn, and Bud – a positive, a negative, and a potential
Six Word Memoir – capture an experience in only 6 words
Happy Story in Three Words
Life Equation e.g. “2 years – Diet Coke + 1 healthier person”
A to Z this is me template
Describe a point in time using the five senses: sounds-smells-tastes-looks-feels like e.g. Early morning Sunday sounds like . . .
Hello There – I am, keep, wish I could, love, dance, sing, think, really, need, should, can , like, make, always
If Someone Walked Into My Home At This Moment They’d see . . . but wouldn’t know . . .
- Choose a starter.
- Write rapidly for ten minutes.
- Change nothing.
- Lower you standards. (This is hard to do when you are writing publicly!)
- Let your own thinking guide you, not the prompt.
ABC’s of (select a topic, write a word or phrase pertaining it for each letter of the alphabet)
Sandbox Fiction Writing – write a fictional paragraph, not a story, about a photo
I Can’t Be the Only One Who – write a list of your unique likes/interests
Snap Appreciation – a collection of photos with captions of what you appreciate about them
Rambling Autobiography: adaptation to focus on a specific section of life, e.g. university. Write in point form instead of a paragraph
Currently: the weather, what I am thinking about, what I am thankful for, what I am reading, around the house, from the kitchen, favourite quote, what I am watching/listening to, favourite photo of the week, random thought
5,4,3,2,1: 5 things that made me smile, 4 words to describe my week, 3 plans for the weekend, 2 things I learned this week, 1 goal for the week ahead
Senses 5-4-3-2-1: 5 see, 4 hear, 3 feel, 2 smell, 1 taste
5 Facts About me
Four Somethings: something loved, read, treasured, ahead
Slice in One Sentence – It is usually one sentence to get all ideas in.
A Day in Six Lines: start each sentence with same day . (“Friday is a way station, weekend in sight and so much to do.”)
4 x 4 – write about 4 things which are all within 4 feet of you; variation write about 4 sounds you hear within 4 feet
Ode to a Book Character – Start with brief description of character (e.g. “Olivia is my favourite pig.”) Then continue with a list of their attributes (e.g. “She’s sassy. She’s clever . . .)
TBAs – Truth, Beauties and Appreciations
X Looks Like . . . Use sensory rich language
3 Reflections – visit 3 slices and your thoughts/feelings/connections that arise after reading them. Don’t forget to link back to them!
A Few of My Favourite Things – written in stanzas with pacing that matches the song in the Sound of Music
4 Things in 4 Corners of Your Classroom
Lists
Gratitude
My Cultural Top Ten Must Haves
10 Things About Today – can be random things that occurred during your day or what you did
In This Moment – what you are noticing, sensing, or experiencing at this moment
The Best Colours – explain what is the best colour . e.g. The best yellow is the rays of the sun because they warm my aching bones, The best green is the boughs of trees lining a forest path . . .
Today I (Today I + verb)
Last Night I (similar to the Today I format)
It Is My Opinion . . .
Good Things in Life
7 on Sunday – choose a topic & list favourites from that category (e.g. Twitter accounts, pet peeves, books, places . . .)
Perspectives
Wordsmithing 