As you work with your students, there are a number of ways you can guide them and help them successfully complete the tasks and achieve the learning objectives.
Set a positive tone: This is how you can get your students to submit their work.
Encourage connections to real-life interests: As we could see in the case of the My Hometown activity, students are motivated when they can see connections to their lives, their interests, beliefs, and values. The more you encourage connections to real-life interests, the more "real" the assignment will feel and the more "buy-in" you'll get from your students. They will intellectually and emotionally invest in the activity.
Provide examples and models: It is always good to be able to provide examples and models; however, there is a danger in this. If you're too explicit, chances are that you'll end up having a lot of copies of your model, rather than free-thinking ideas and creative self-expression. So, provide some examples...