This Activity's Title:

The Wacky
"Box of Rocks" Assignment

creating unusual food containers that creatively show knowledge of learned facts

This wacky activity was created by Northern Nevada teacher Joni Martindale.

This original summarizing activity was inspired by Barry Lane's awesome book, 51 Wacky We-Search Reports. Barry's fifty-one writing formats in his book teach students how to summarize (not plagiarize) facts from readings or from class notes. The book also encourages humor in the classroom, and using it will help you build a community among your student writers. If you don't own this book, but like the assignment on this page, we strongly recommend you purchase a copy.

Additional Samples Being Sought:

If you have a photo of a sample to share with us, send it to us at webmaster@writingfix.com. If we publish it here, we will send you a free publication from the NNWP's Publication Page.

We are especially interested in seeing food box examples for topics other than rocks and minerals! Help your students find their creative and funny bones.