A note from the HubICL curation team: This activity can be adapted for K-12 contexts. See Links.

A note from Dr. Bonnie Zare: Several questions (the one about addressing an object and the post-art museum questions) are taken from the sources listed in this tool. The other questions I came up with myself over the years while leading students around India on a 3-week course. During this course, the students gather (nearly daily, often before or at dinner) and follow a different guided writing exercise or two together for 20-40 minutes. At first I had them read sections they chose aloud to share with one another and get to know each other better. However, I soon discovered sometimes the sharing hampered their writing freely and honestly. After that, for the most part, I asked them to talk about what they wrote more informally (rather than reading aloud) and it was optional. At the middle and end of the course, I collect them. The grade is a "you did it" or effort grade, not a gatekeeper/quality control grade. I prefer using this exercise on a study abroad trip to telling students to keep a journal, no matter what the journal instructions are, because students perceive it to be less of a burden. They do not have to discipline themselves to write, save time to write, scramble if they procrastinated or feel unsure of what the prompt is.