Post author, Meggen Lyon

This is an activity that I pulled from the Writers in the Schools Houston camp handbook.
 I liked it for its relative simplicity of process, as I’ve been trying to work on better scaffolding for the more hesitant writers in the class. 

Start by drawing an inch, discuss objects, insects, etc. that are about that size.
View everyday things and places (your chair, the lawn outside, etc.) from the perspective of an ant.  (Many students astutely pointed out that most ants are smaller than an inch.) 
Read Silverstein’s poem, & think about what it would be like to wake up in the morning and discover you’re only one inch tall
Write about this situation, starting with Silverstein’s first line.  (Many chose to revise the line in order to write in first person.)

This one worked well for me because the more avid writers were able to take off and fly with it on their own, while I worked with the kids who struggle with beginning.  

About 5 students shared their poems who hadn’t shared before.  Two of them included “credits” at the end of their poems, to recognize their collaboration with each other.  It was cute.