Suggest an impossible situation, such as the discovery of Atlantis or an alien colony on Jupiter, as a creative writing idea for the students. Let the students, as a group, determine how the situation came to be and who was responsible. Encourage the students to choose a list of characters for the story. Ask the students to participate in a group discussion to determine the basic story. Assign a word count of 300 to 400 words that allows each student to write an ending to the class story.
Science fiction stories abound that describe the future, from flying cars to living on other planets. Focus your students on the reality of the generations to come by going over the advancements in technology over the past 20 years. Ask questions that encourage critical thinking skills, such as "How can scientists use the microchips being produced?" or "What is the importance of the Internet in 30 years?". Provide a list of topics, such as medicine, government and technology, for the students to choose from when writing a story about their 50th birthday.
Set up four boxes or bags, each one labeled with the word "Character," "Time Period," "Situation" or "Setting." Have students print a character, time period, situation or setting on index cards and place the cards in the appropriate container. Suggest characters such as a teacher, employer or grandparent. The setting can be a school sporting event, a pep rally or other social event. Suggest situations such as a personal conflict, making new friends or a death. Mix up the cards and have the students draw one card from each of the bags. Assign the creative writing project based on the cards each student chose.
Take a picture or allow the students to choose a picture from a book or magazine. If you allow the students to choose the picture, suggest that the picture be an action photo. After the students choose the picture, explain the assignment. The students must pretend the picture was taken on the last family vacation. The creative writing assignment is the story behind the picture, such as who took the picture and where it was taken. To make the story more interesting, have the students explain why the picture was taken.