Articles by Brian Tolentino

Write a 100-Word Story Inspired by a Song!

January 15, 2025 Comments are Disabled

I’m excited to share this creative writing task with you—it was a huge hit with my students! They absolutely loved it. Here’s how it works: Choose three songs, and have your students write a creative story inspired by each one. It’s a fantastic way to spark their imagination and connect storytelling with music. I plan to create a video for this activity soon, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you in the meantime. […]

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Classroom Activity: 20 Minutes of FOCUSED SILENCE!

January 12, 2025 Comments are Disabled

Each of my classes includes at least 20 minutes of “focused silence.” To help students understand the purpose of this practice, I provide them with a detailed explanation. It also includes a writing response, allowing them to reflect and develop their own strategies for making the most of “focused silence.” This is one of my many reflective writing prompts from my MODERN MASTERY series. Worksheet More writing activities here: Donate here:

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Struggling to Focus? Create Your Plan for Success in School!

January 11, 2025 Comments are Disabled

Students need to learn how to focus. They need to understand the importance of focus. They need to see then purpose of building the habit of focus. They need to connect how focus is going to help them achieve their dreams. Here is a writing task on focus. I’ve also included an exit ticket that can be used at the end of any lesson. The goal of the exit ticket is simple: repeat, repeat and […]

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Envision the Future of Social Media

January 4, 2025 Comments are Disabled

Here’s the situation: Your company wants to break into the social media industry and needs an innovative thinker to create the next big platform. They believe you have the vision to develop something groundbreaking. Your task: Predict the next trend in social media and design a platform to capitalize on it. For example, TikTok revolutionized short-form vertical videos. What’s next? Your mission is to write a 100- to 150-word proposal describing your vision for the next social media […]

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