A prompt I’ve used is to have my students find something to describe for each of five consecutive days. I suggest they take a walk to find the things to describe, but they don’t have to. The subject can be as fleeting as a shadow, as small as an ant on the sidewalk, as big as a building, as familiar seeming as an item on their desk. The point is for them to find one thing to focus on. The average length is a paragraph. At the end of the week, I have them consider their choices– Why did they choose those things? What do their choices reveal about them? Has their approach to describing changed in the course of the week? What does that change, or lack of it, reveal?
Alternatively, I stretch this prompt to five weeks, one day a week, and in-class sharing (anonymously) with no commenting each week. This approach works differently, as the scope, depth, and context change with the extended time frame