This is a simple activity where each student adds a word to create a group

story. It is designed to be used by language assistants as well as

teachers.

Despite the simplicity it can be really challenging and I would only use it with higher
levels.

Students should be in a circle (if this isnt possible make it clear they know
who they are going to follow on from) The teacher can begin by saying the first word
and each student adds the next word, without repeating what has come beforehand.

Good starting words are Suddenly or Yesterday to force the story into the
past tense. It is great for highlighting word collocations and practising word order. It
also highlights problems students may have with tenses or prepositions for you to
focus on in future classes.

The stories can develop in any number of ways. Some groups may need the
teacher to provide punctuation and decide that the sentence should end and a new
one should begin. The great thing about this activity is that all students have to
concentrate and listen carefully to their colleagues to be able to continue the story
coherently.
Example:

Teacher Yesterday

Student 1 I

Student 2 saw

Student 3 a

Student 4 strange

Student 5 man

Student 6 who

Student 7 was

Student 8 wearing

Student 9 a

Student 10 yellow

Student 11 hat

Teacher Full stop, new sentence

Student 12 He

Student 13 was

Etc. etc.