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Activity: Guided Writing: Unlocking
the Door
to Your Dream House
Gather keys of different sizes, shapes,
and ages, one for each student in the class. If possible,
include old brass skeleton keys, broken keys, tiny keys
to diaries and suitcases, and modern brass and stainless
steel keys.
1. Lay the keys on a desk or table. Make
sure you have enough for all the students in the class.
2. Let each student come up and select
a key.
3. Have students return to their desks
or tables.
4. As students hold their keys, explain
that the keys will help them to imagine and to write about
the house of their dreams. Ask them to close their eyes
and relax. Have them take a few deep breaths. They will
not be writing at this point, only imagining.
5. Tell students they are standing in
front of the house that this key will unlock. What does
the front of the house look like? What color is it? How
many stories does it have?
6. Ask students to imagine the front door
that their key will open. What does the door look like?
7. Ask them to imagine putting the key
in the lock and turning it. Does the door unlock easily?
Ask them to open the door.
8. Ask them to describe the room they
see behind the door. What does it look like? Are there windows?
Is there furniture? What color are the walls?
9. Ask them to sit in the room for a moment.
What does it feel like? Do they hear anything? Can they
smell anything?
10. Ask them to look out of a window in
that room. What do they see?
11. When they are ready to leave that
room, ask them to move on to another room of the house.
Which room is this? What does it look like? How does it
feel to be in the room?
12. Ask them to open their eyes and begin
writing, using the images they have just generated. Give
them about 12 minutes. If there is enough interest, take
them back to the guided imagery to imagine as much about
the rest of the house as they would like, and write some
more.
13. Ask students to discuss what it feels
like to do this activity. Did they like it?
14. Have students share their drafts by
reading aloud, if they want to. This should be entirely
voluntary.
15. To carry this through as a writing
activity, the teacher can give feedback on each draft with
suggestions for revision, and students can revise their
drafts.
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