This fabulous On-Demand Writing lesson is a favorite of my students year to year. Here is how you play:
Step 1: Draw a monster or imaginative creature. (We do this right before Halloween, so that is usually the theme that comes to mind.)
Step 2: Write a vivid description of your monster, organizing into paragraphs its different features and background scene.
Step 3: Trade descriptions with a partner, and without communicating, attempt to draw the other monster strictly from the descriptive writing.
This game always results in some good laughs, as students learn the importance of including EVERY detail, and what happens when something important is left out. This game is played in one class period, so students must work quickly, edit their work, and pace themselves. Students then vote the following week on which monsters are practically twins! Winners get blog honors, and here they are!
Sasha's Monster (5th grade)
To start my monster, you should draw four water bottle-cap sized circles that are vertical. The higher circle overlaps the one below by a little bit.
The top circle has one medium eye exactly in the middle with one black pupil in the middle of the eye. Below the eye there is a smiling red mouth that is slightly open. On top, there is a blue bow which is medium sized. The top circle is aqua green.
The second circle (the one below it) is cerulean and has six violet polka dots in it. The dots are small. Out of this circle there is an arm out of each side. It is only a stick! The arm on your right is holding an orange flower with four petals, a yellow middle, and a green stem (no leaves.)
The circle underneath has five horizontal stripes in a pattern: aqua, green, cerulean.
The last ball is violet. Out of this ball, two medium feet with a little line on the end come out.
Under these feet there is a medium magenta heart and above the cerulean bow on top there is a medium yellow heart!
After the second ball, but before the third one, on each side there are two little hearts that are salmon.
Sasha wrote so clearly, describing each little ball on this creature, that her partner Claire (4th grade) drew the twin!
Evelyn's Monster (3rd grade)
My monster's body is a circle with pink fur and dark green polka-dots. It has seven eyes: one on each wing, one on each shoe, and three on its face. My monster has two arms that are pink. It also has legs that are pink. It also has a triangle shaped hat with a puff ball on the top that is pink. Its face has three noses. Its legs are pink, and the shoes are orange. There are two yellow wings. There are three mountains behind my creature. The one in the middle and the one on the right both have ice on the top. The one on the left side does not have any ice, but it also has a stream flowing down to the pond. It has a gray moon on the left side. My creature also has two big pumpkins and two small ones. They go small, big, small, big.
This was Evelyn's first time every playing this game! She wrote so clearly, that her very experienced partner Daniella (5th grade) drew this:
Ruby's Monster (5th grade)
First, you have to turn your paper so that it's vertical. Then, we will start on the face.
Make a medium-sized circle. Then, in the middle of it, draw an eyeball with a magenta pupil. Then on the cheeks of this monster, there are three whiskers on each side. Make sure the whiskers are light silver. Then lightly color the face red. On top of its head, it has three lines. The left one and the right one are slanted, facing the sides of the page, but the one in the middle should stand still. By the way, the lines are black. There is no mouth or nose.
Now moving on to the body. The body is about four times larger than the head. It is also a circle. My monster is like a snowman with two circles. Then, in this circle, draw a swirly whirly, like a lollipop! Make sure it's dark blue. Now color the rest turquoise. Now make two little circles for hands. Make the hands slightly bigger than the holes on this paper. Make them sky blue. Now make five green ovals for feet on the bottom of the body.
Last thing is the background. The monster is on a white path, and on the side is green grass.
Can you draw my monster?
Ruby is an experienced pro at this game! So is her partner Talya (5th grade). Look at how close these two monsters are!
Congratulations to our Winners!
