Inviting students to look, explore, and think, this booklet offers practical ways for teachers to use museums--in particular, the artworks, artifacts, collections, and other materials they contain--as a basis for secondary students' writing. If taking students on field trips is not feasible, educators can adapt most of the activities in the booklet for use in the classroom. The key concepts in the booklet are based on the tenet that writing is a skill students can develop through practice, trial, and error. The teacher's role in the activities in the booklet is to guide students through writing, emphasizing process in addition to product. The booklet presents five major activities--Telling a Painting's Story; Conversing with an Object; Explaining How Things Work; Telling Your Story; Creating a Classroom Museum; and Beyond the Museum--as well as advice on how educators can design their own activities. A 15-item annotated list of additional resources is attached. (RS)