Jody Brooks, a Creative Writing professor at GSU, introduced me to a game called “Fish Tank of Rage.” I brought it into my 11th grade Language Arts class, and it was a smashing success. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a concrete noun on a notecard and give one to each group. All nouns should be different for each group. Ex: tree, house, ship, garden, church, sewer, island
2. Write an abstract noun on another notecard and give one to each group. Each abstract should be different for each group. Ex: love, ignorance, sorrow, joy, doubt, impatience, greed
3. Tell the students not to share with other groups what their cards say.
4. Explain to the students the object of the game: Describe the concrete in a way that implies the abstract. For example: “A fish tank is something that is filled to the brim until it cannot withstand another drop. The pressure keeps building and building until it eventually overflows and drowns everything in its path.” Make a strong enough description so that the students make the connection that this description implies rage.
5. Tell students that they can divulge what their concrete is, but the class has to guess what the abstract is. This can be a healthy competition where students can get points if they create a description well enough to where the class can guess it.

Here are two student work samples (one of the groups did 2 because they were determined to make the class guess it!):

**I received permission from all students to share their work.**