Teaching Symbolism In A Middle School Creative Writing Workshop

The Simplest Props Can Help Spark Your Students' Creativity.

When running a creative writing workshop for middle school students, it is always a good idea to have some quick, fun, low-prep activities that get the students excited about writing. One of my favorite activities is the symbolism grab bag. This activity teaches students about symbolism while encouraging them to incorporate symbolism into their own original stories. All you need are some paper bags and whatever random items you might have lying around. This activity always gets my students writing, and I’ll share how I teach it step-by step.

Preparation

This lesson requires very little preparation. If you have paper sandwich bags at home, you are halfway there. Before class, get a stack of brown paper bags. You will need one for each student in your class. Then, gather as many small, random items as you can find, and place one item in each bag. The items can be anything that you don’t mind your students touching. In the past, I’ve used items such as a yo-yo, a toy car, a birthday candle, a flashlight, a silk scarf, a figurine, a thimble, a brooch, a paintbrush, a pair of reading glasses, and even a fishing reel. You can use anything you have on hand as long as you have one grab bag for each student. 

If you don’t have enough paper bags, another option is to put all of the items into one large bag instead. This takes away some of the air of mystery, but the lessons will be pretty much the same.

Warm Up

To introduce the topic of symbolism, project a picture of your country’s flag on the board, and ask the students what that flag represents. You can follow this up by projecting other images like a heart or a dove. Explain that these are all symbols, objects that represent a larger idea.

Explain that narrative writing often contains symbols. Symbols can be people, locations, colors, or objects. You can even give some common examples of symbolism in stories. For instance, you could explain that the path in Little Red Riding Hood symbolizes safety while the woods symbolizes the unknown.

Grab Bag Activity

Once the students know what symbolism is, they are ready for the grab bag activity. Have the students come up one at a time and choose a grab bag. Once everyone has a bag, tell them that they will have twenty minutes to write a story or scene where the item in their bag plays a meaningful part. Give them two minutes to open their bags, examine their items, and brainstorm ideas for their stories and decide what their items might represent. Then, start the twenty minute timer and let the writing commence.

When the timer goes off, have the students stop writing and give them time to share. Most students won’t be able to write a story in twenty minutes, and that’s okay. Have the students share what they have written so far and talk about where they plan on taking the rest of the story. It’s always fun to hear the stories the students come up with and the symbolic meaning they give to commonplace objects.

Final Thoughts

If your students are in a writing slump, try shaking things up with engaging activities like this symbolism grab bag lesson. It might be just what the students need to reignite their love of writing.

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