1. Ask 5 people to choose a number between 1 and 50.Open a dictionary to a random page and choose the word on the page that corresponds to the number between 1 and 50 previously chosen at random by the people in the class.

[Note: This exercise works best if concrete nouns are chosen. However, a certain number of other parts of speech worked into the mix can also produce interesting results.]

2. Write the words that are the agreed-upon prompts at the top of the page. Then free write, using the word prompts in the piece.

• try not to concoct a narrative that simply links the items in a convoluted narrative. Try to write the piece as "straight" as possible.

• don't be shy about using nouns as other parts of speech. You may have to change the forms of the words slightly in order to do this.

• After you have "used" all the words in your piece, see what "groove" or "vein" develops and continue on from there.

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An online dictionary can be used if it is a version searchable by page number. In this case random numbers can be generated by students that will correspond to page numbers.

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Or a random word generator can be used, such as

click here (refresh for new word)