I’ve got a weakness for buying postcards, but I’ve turned it into a fun classroom tool. It’s easy to pick up cheap and unique postcards in thrift stores, boutiques, and of course, while traveling. If you can build up a small collection, they make a really fun vocabulary tool. You can invite students to contribute too.

Simply lay out your collection across the front of the room each week and let students choose a new postcard. Then give them a fairly general prompt to write on, using their vocabulary words, inspired by the postcard. For example, “Write the story of a conversation that just took place in the scene you’re looking at. Try to include lots of descriptive details about the characters speaking, as well as all your vocabulary words.”