Any teachers out there looking for a very cool back to school writing assignment?
I did this last year with my 8th graders - and they LOVED it! Okay... not all of them loved it.
It pushed a lot of 13/14 year olds way out of their comfort zone - but that is GOOD! 
Scott, Nick and I were driving home from looking at colleges last summer... and with a
little help from Johnny Cash... this *fun* idea popped into my head. It became a group
project when Scott started singing the first stanza - and I had to quickly write it down:

Well the last day of school in the middle of June (a)
And I didn’t know what I was gonna be doin’ (a)
But I knew I wanted the summer to be the best there ever was (b)
So I set my sights on some adventurous fun (c)
I lathered up with sunscreen and headed out in the sun (c)
And soon was doing just what a young kid does (b)

The kids had to then write about their adventurous summer - using a specific rhyming pattern,
and then they had to get up and sing it/say it/rap it to their classmates to the music of
​"One Piece at a Time" by Johnny Cash.  Check it out! It was extremely entertaining!