Require the students to devise a story from a random choice of words. Get them to write down spontaneous words on small pieces of paper and put them into a hat. The words should relate to an interesting character type, emotion or physical action. When the hat is full of words, students pick out six words and create an imaginative story from them.
Rather than relying on imagination alone, visuals can be helpful in descriptive writing. Give a child a photograph and have him describe the scene in detail. Ask him to write a descriptive paragraph of what he sees, incorporating the use of similes and metaphors to heighten the imagery. Have him read the description to the class so other children can visualize the scene.
Focus on the line rhythm within poetry, rather than on rhyming words. Give a student the first line to start her poem. She can choose to follow the same word rhythm throughout the poem; or she can choose to change the word rhythm in the second line. For instance, her first line can contain eight words while her second line can just contain one word. Instruct her not to make ending words rhyme. This task will introduce her to exploring rhythmic patterns in poetry, in preparation for eventually being taught meter.
Get children to think about non-fiction writing from an objective perspective. A child will always prefer to write about a topic he likes, rather than a subject he dislikes. Ask your student what subject he would hate to write about and why, and then ask him to write a report about it without bias, so that he can approach his hated topic in an objective way. This type of writing exercise will help teach him to detach himself from his personal views on the subject.