Activity
Ongoing engagement

Tiny Tales

Laura Gibbs

Laura Gibbs

Encourage short, focused storytelling, easy to share with others, writing stories in 100 words (or fewer), or 6 words or 2 sentences, etc.

Share:

ACTIVITY PURPOSE

Encourage short, focused storytelling, easy to share with others, writing stories in 100 words (or fewer), or 6 words or 2 sentences, etc.

USEFUL FOR

  • Improving writing skills and encouraging creative expression and confidence; the brevity makes it easier for students to read each others’ stories.
  • It will also help students focus their message and understand the value of quality over quantity.
  • It will help students in future endeavours that have word count limits. It will also reduce the amount of reading professors need to do!

PREPARATION

  • Prepare a prompt for students to write their stories for.
  • Explain the value of word limits and learning to work with exact word limits.
  • Make sure students know how to use MS Word or Google docs word counter, or use a word counter extension in the browser (or learning how to use Control-Shift-C to count words in highlighted text if using GoogleDoc, etc.).

INSTRUCTIONS

View sample teaching materials developed by Laura Gibbs about producing 100-word stories below:

DURATION

Variable, but the idea is that shorter writing takes less time to write, to revise, to read, to comment on, etc. – more time/space for more stories.

ADAPTATIONS AND EXAMPLES

  • Laura’s students share their stories in their blogs, but they can also be shared in a GoogleDoc, Padlet, etc. (example from Jessica Knott: Uplift and Shine in Exactly 55).
  • As you can see, Laura uses 100-word stories; Jessica uses 55-word. These are things to be written asynchronously and shared with others. You can also do individual 6-word or 10-word (or random length by picking from a deck of cards) stories. Or you can do group storytelling where everyone’s contribution to the story is a certain length and build on each other live or in a Google doc. The shorter stories can be done synchronously or asynchronously.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

  • Writing space: Google Docs is a great writing environment for sharing and feedback, especially with the handy word counter built in that lets you highlight a chunk of text and get a word count for just that amount. Most word processors do the same.
  • Sharing space: can also be Google docs or something else like Padlet, etc., and if you want to publish it can be on a Google site, blog, Pressbooks, etc.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Watch Video

ABOUT

  • Educator prep: None
  • Student prep: None
  • Synchronous, Asynchronous
  • Shared online space
  • Duration: Variable

This activity is one of a series of activities from Equity Unbound, focused on equitable online community building. 

Find out more

Do you have an activity that you would like to suggest?

Do you have feedback or suggestions?

More activities

Learning path

Community Building

Curated Activities

Guidance and help

Curated Activities

Reflective Activities

Curated Activities

Ongoing engagement

Curated Activities

Liberating Structures

Curated Activities

Setting the tone activities

Curated Activities

Introductory activities

Activity

Sailboat Retrospective for Reflection

Activity

Live, Love, Learn and Leave a Legacy

Activity

Roses, Thorns, and Buds 

Activity

Decolonising Academic Writing through Spoken Word Poetry

Activity

Origin Stories

Activity

Learning to Love

Activity

Getting at Metaphor

Activity

Checking in with GIF, Emoji or Meme

Activity

Personalised Conversation Cards

Curated Activities

Warm up activities

Activity

Alternative Approaches to Grading

Activity

Guess The Topic Mingle

Activity

Ikigai: Help Students Find Their Purpose

Activity

Something Behind You

Activity

Auditory Affect

Activity

Creativity Booster: 16 Squares

Activity

Creativity Booster: An Ode to the Other Hand

Activity

Creativity Booster: 5 Senses

Activity

Creativity Booster: Yes, Let’s!

Activity

Ice Cream / Broccoli: Reflection on Enjoyment and Value

Activity

Create a Fake Photo Group Assignment

Activity

What We Don’t Know About Each Other

Activity

Share Music and Create a Class Playlist

Activity

Would You Rather?

Activity

Creating Escape Room Experience For Students

Activity

I Wish My Students / Teacher Knew

Activity

Using Metaphors to Express Thoughts

Activity

Using Dominoes in Teaching

Activity

Desert Island Songs

Activity

The Shape of You

Activity

Words From Your Names

Activity

What Can You Do With A…?

Top Tips

Tips For Increasing Engagement In Discussions

Activity

Choose a Plant

Activity

Which Picture Best?

Activity

Imaginary Buffet (or Potluck)

Activity

PowerPoint Karaoke

Activity

Office Hour Scheduling via Google Calendar

Activity

Cognitive / Exam Wrappers for Metacognition

Activity

Self-Assessment Tool for Social Justice in Teaching

Activity

Language Portrait

Activity

Lost in Translation

Activity

Wheel of Life for Student Self-Help

Activity

Thick Greetings

Activity

Estimate Workload

Activity

Simple Metacognitive Activities

Activity

Tiny Demons / Drawing Monsters

Activity

Start / Stop / Continue

Activity

Survey Students Early in the Semester: Pre-Course Survey

Activity

Pass the Paper

Activity

Gratitude Journal

Activity

15% solutions

Activity

Two-Minute Paper

Checklist / tool

Trauma-Aware Teaching Checklist

Resource

Loglines

Activity

Appreciative Interviews

Activity

Pop-up Psychogeography Journey Journal

Guide

Choosing the Right Community Building Activity: Safety Tips

Activity

While We Wait

Activity

What Kind of Animal are You?

Activity

Two by Three by Bradford

Activity

Troika Consulting – Adaptation for Class Community Building

Activity

TRIZ

Video discussion

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy & How is Your Heart?

Activity

Tour of Where You Are

Activity

Third Places for Ongoing Community Building

Activity

Theatre of the Oppressed: Opposites

Activity

Theatre of the Oppressed: Image Theatre

Activity

Teaching Ethics with Theatre of the Oppressed and Liberating Structures 

Activity

Surrealist Free Drawing Introductions

Activity

Studio Visits

Activity

Structured Dialogues

Activity

Share an Object From Home

Activity

Room 101

Activity

Purpose to Practice

Activity

Pass the Ball & How Do You Make Rice?

Activity

Meditation

Activity

Wild Tea / Mad Tea Party

Activity

Introductions: Story of Your Name

Activity

Human Scavenger Hunt

Activity

Four Ideas for Checking In

Activity

Daily Creates

Activity

Critical Uncertainties

Activity

Conversation Cafe

Activity

Collaborative Storytelling

Activity

Collaborative Literature Review Matrix

Activity

Authentic Open Letter/Video Addressing Students

Activity

Asynchronous & Synchronous Introductions

Activity

9 Whys of Liberating Structures

Activity

Spiral Journal

Activity

Annotate the Syllabus