Mystery, Writing, and Gift Giving in 7th Grade ELA!

Mrs. Hutchinson’s 7th-grade ELA class recently brought descriptive writing to life with a creative and engaging mystery gift exchange, and it was a huge success!

Each student brought in a small item from home to use as a gift. The only rule? Nothing could be bought. Once the items were collected, students wrote a detailed descriptive paragraph about their gift without revealing what it actually was. Their goal was to paint such a clear picture with words that a reader could visualize the object purely from the description.

Afterward, all the gifts and their matching paragraphs were placed on the back table. Mrs. Hutchinson’s Teacher’s Assistant, Naveah, added each student’s name to a digital wheel and spun it to determine the order. One by one, students came up to select a mystery paragraph and its corresponding gift without knowing what the item really was.

Once every student had a gift, the fun truly began. Each student read aloud the descriptive paragraph that matched the item they picked. Starting with the first reader, students had the option to keep their gift or “steal” someone else’s based solely on how appealing the description sounded. To keep things fair, no gift could be stolen more than three times.

The classroom was filled with laughter, curiosity, and excitement as students tried to guess what each description represented and decided whether a different gift might be even better. The creativity and effort students put into their writing were impressive, and it was clear they were fully invested in the process.

Activities like this are so important because they transform learning from something students do into something students experience. Descriptive writing requires students to think critically about word choice, detail, and clarity. By attaching the writing to a fun, interactive activity, students were motivated to elaborate, revise, and truly focus on how their words would be interpreted by others. At the same time, they practiced speaking, listening, and decision-making skills in a collaborative environment.

This mystery gift exchange was a perfect example of how hands-on, engaging lessons help students build strong literacy skills while having a great time. Learning doesn’t always have to look traditional to be effective, and Mrs. Hutchinson’s class proved just how powerful creative instruction can be.

Mystery Gift Exchange '25

Reading the descriptive paragraphs.