Fun Back to School ELA Activities for Middle School
It's July! Are you itching to get back in the classroom or are you dreading the end of your summer vacation? No matter how you're feeling about going back to school, I hope these fun ELA activities will give you some inspiration and encouragment. Read on to learn about some of my favorite activities for the first week of school.
1. Grab dice and "roll a story"
This fun template guides students through the process of brainstorming a creative short story. Students will roll a dice. Depending on the numbers they roll, they will be given a series of prompts in the following categories.
- Character (Example: a gym teacher)
- Time (Example: 8:05 am)
- Place (Example: the music classroom)
- Problem (Example: Miss Johnson's class hamster escaped the cage)
I recommend setting a timer for about 15 minutes for students to write independently. Once they've finished, you can ask for a few students to read their stories out loud to the class. (Offering a small reward such as a chocolate bar is a fun incentive to get more hands in the air!) This fun, low-stakes activity is a great way to assess students' writing skills at the start of the year, build classroom community, and help students get back in the writing groove.
2. Design "about me" comics and create a class gallery
Your students will love using colored pencils or crayons to decorate this 1-page comic template. They will illustrate friends and family members who are important to them, write captions that summarize important moments, create conversations from their memories in the speech bubbles, and sketch colorful backgrounds that capture the places they've lived in.
Once students finish making their comics, you can pin them up on a classroom bulletin board or tape them on a hallway wall. Throughout the week, students can use their break time to read through their peers' comics and learn more about each other.
3. Write music soundtracks that describe students' lives
Have you ever heard a song that just feels like you? This "soundtrack of my life" writing template provides the perfect opportunity for students to share about important moments in their lives and imagine how they might turn their journeys into a movie. The 8.5 x 11 printable pdf includes space for students to select songs for the opening credits and three scenes. After picking their songs, students will write about the season of their life that connects with the music.
One way to extend this activity is to create a class playlist on Spotify with any school appropriate songs students wrote about. You can print out a QR code with the Spotify playlist link, laminate it, and tape it on the classroom door for students to scan. This is a fun way to build a sense of community.
4. Reflect on summer vacation with back-to-school writing prompts
As your students return from summer vacation, this two-page pdf with writing prompts will guide them through reflecting on their time off of school and imagining what the upcoming semester might look like. They'll write about:
- three words that describe their break
- what they saw throughout the vacation
- one fun thing they did with their free time
- one boring aspect of the vacation
- things they missed about school while they were gone
- an opportunity to share their honest feelings about returning to school
- their hopes for the rest of the semester
They'll also take time to illustrate one summer vacation memory on the back of the printable. This activity will give you many insights into how your students are feeling as they jump back into school.
5. Predict the future
Celebrate going back to school with this predictions writing activity. Students will write about their anticipated favorite classes, ways in which they expect to change, things they feel nervous about, activities and clubs they hope to participate in, etc. It's a great way for teachers to get to know their students better and launch the school year!
6. Make a vision board
Your students will love illustrating and writing about their goals and dreams with this printable vision board activity. They'll be guided through a series of back-to-school prompts, such as, "By the end of this year, how do you hope you’ll change emotionally and socially?" Then, they'll write, illustrate, or provide photos of their responses.
If your school requests that you provide some type of activity with an SEL (social and emotional learning) focus, these writing prompts can help you learn more about students and how to support them throughout the school year.
7. Set independent reading goals for the school year
Help your students set individual reading goals with this printable chart. Students will write about how many books they want to read, how many minutes they plan to read a week, what new genres they want to explore, etc. Whenever they finish a book, they can color in one of the books in the illustration. These reading goal charts can be publicly displayed in the classroom or glued in students' ELA notebooks for privacy.
If you have some type of reward system in your ELA classroom, consider offering incentives for students who meet their reading goals.
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