One of the hardest parts of writing a story is coming up with the ideas for it. Collaboration can help your first graders think of more expansive characters and plots than they might on their own, and it compels them to work as a team, taking the best ideas from each student and putting them together into one story. Give groups of two to four students a big piece of paper or poster board, and ask them to write down some ideas for a story inside different circles. Once they have a few ideas, tell them to try to connect the circles to create a single story. Have them take turns writing the story down, and have them read it to the rest of the class.
Open a lined notebook to a blank sheet. Ask your first graders to sit in a circle. Pass the notebook to your left, and ask the first student to write a sentence. Have that student pass the notebook again, and have the next student add a new sentence, continuing off of the last one. Have each student continue to add a sentence and pass the notebook around the circle. When it reaches you again, read the story out loud.
Divide your first graders into pairs. Tell one student from each group to write the first part of a sentence, then have the other student finish it. You could also say the first part of the sentence yourself, then have each student write down an ending and call on students to share their answers. Give the students a little direction by asking them to create sentences that contain a certain word, a certain number of words or a certain type of word, such as a plural noun or a past tense verb.
Tell your first graders that they are going to be investigative journalists. Ask them to go home and talk to a family member about a modern or historical event. You can assign them a specific event, or you can let them ask their parents about something that is very memorable to them. You could also ask them to report on less important events, such as an event that made them particularly happy or something exciting they did over the weekend. After they have collected all the information, ask them to write a simple, brief report and share their findings with the class. You could even set up a camera and pretend that they are reporting from a news studio.