Writing - chain - synonyms

http://www.visual-idioms.com/

Ask each student to write a short story (up to 120 words) using as many idioms as possible (you can set the number of idioms they should include in the story). It doesn't matter if the story is true or fictional. For example: 
 

• Yesterday, out of the blue, a black car arrived at our house. I thought it was my aunt and I was on cloud nine because she's fun and she always gets me some wonderful clothes for peanuts. But when the door opened I could hardly frame my words to say hello. I knew I was in the soup and I thought Katie, bar the door..

 
Then the students swap their stories and rewrite them, using different expressions with synonymous meaning. For example:
 

• Yesterday, suddenly, a black car arrived at our house. I thought it was my aunt and I was very happy because she's fun and she always gets me some wonderful clothes for nothing. But when the door opened I could hardly speak to say hello. I knew I was in trouble and I thought oh dear.....

Then they send this version (without the first version) to the third person who again rewrites the story using different expressions. The original author then looks at all the three versions. It will be very interesting to compare them, especially the first and the third version.