DIY Nanofictionary -- Online version

This is a lesson I started a long time ago and (obviously) never finished. It's all about using a crazy storytelling card game to spur more original and flexible thinking in your students, and to encourage reluctant writers by giving them a place to start. I mothballed it, but now that we are embarking on a new era of online learning for students across the nation, I thought maybe it might be a decent idea to throw this out there, adapted for online. Since this is a DIY version, you don't actually need to buy the game, though I wholeheartedly endorse buying several sets to play with your class when all this is over. 

Nanofictionary is a game from the marvelous Looney Labs.*  They came out with a reboot of it a few years ago. I loved the wildness of the old game, but I think the new version has its advantages. If nothing else, it prevents the frustration of playing the entire darn game and never finding a setting. The essence of the game is storytelling. You do, sort of, play for points, but really you play to create marvelous miniature stories through your own imagination and forced association.

During the game, players collect one card each for a Setting, a Problem, and a Resolution. For extra points (and fun) they may collect as many Characters as they like. For a list of all of them, check here. My favorites are "The dangerous objects factory," "The superhero with unhelpful powers**" "A terrible accident involving food," and, of course "Duct tape saved the day again!"

Using just those four you have all the basic elements of a story. And this is where the lesson comes in. We can't really play this game with our students right now. But we can use it to teach writing!
To use my favorite cards as an example: Strange superhero George decided one day to take a tour of the dangerous objects factory when suddenly a component of one of the machines began to malfunction. In a misguided attempt to help, George sprang into action, using his power of shooting pasta out of his fingertips.  "Pasta Power!" he cried, and began covering the malfunctioning machine with strands of fettuccine, which were conveyed down the line, gumming up all the works, and jamming the POWER switch. Thinking quickly, a repair tech whipped out a roll of silver tape, used it to scrape off the sticky strands and tape the switch into the OFF position, shutting down the line. Duct tape saved the day again!

Now, I'll grant you it's not the best of stories, and it definitely needs more elaboration and the addition of details, extra characters and some plot development. Storytellers *should* add these things in, but keep the four cards as the primary, and most important elements. 

It's a terrific tool for encouraging kids who say "there's nothing to write about." In the past, I've used these in the classroom for kids to perform short, impromptu skits. They were hilarious. But you could just as easily convert them into goofy short stories. The forced association, ironically, requires kids to be more flexible and imaginative in their thinking, to get ideas that wouldn't normally belong together to belong together. 

Actually conducting this lesson I would do AFTER teaching about the structure of stories. Students need to have a solid understanding of how exposition, rising action, climax and resolution work in a story. I'd also set a variety of parameters, depending on the age of your students. I've taught this with 4th and 5th graders, but it could work for multiple grade levels. And I would provide the kids with a few story samples, preferably using randomly chosen elements that are not available to the students, to reduce copying. 

So here's the lesson:
Step One
Brainstorm Settings, Characters, Problems and Resolutions with students. They can submit them via a Google form or a shared document, a Canvas Conversation or whatever tool you'd like. You can also choose to use the list direct from Looney Labs. It's a good list. (And definitely do not use "spaz." I have no idea what they were thinking.)

Step Two
Randomly assign one of each category to your students, but if you want, you can allow them to also choose extra characters or another setting to go along with it. The more they have to associate, the more challenging it becomes. I've always allowed students to add in other minor characters and places if need be.

Step Three
Write! Students should craft and submit their stories. You or they choose the platform. I love the idea of graphic nanofictionary novels, epic poems, or radio plays. They don't have to be just a written story. 

Step Four
Share! I don't know yet what tools will exist for sharing. But the more public a forum, the better. Got Kidblog? Put them there! Got a class webpage? Share there! What ideas do you have?

We're all in this together, folks. I hope someone tries this and tells me what happened! (or better yet, share with me the link to the stories!)

Peace.


*If you've never played games from Looney Labs, they're worth your time. Fluxx is a bit too random for me, but Chrononauts is fun and could be an interesting way to come up with story ideas, too. Plus there's the added bonus of maybe learning some history while you play.

**BBC made an entire series out of this concept, called "Misfits." It's not suitable for children, but it is quite interesting and worth watching.