As a teacher, I’m always looking for fun back to school ideas for high school English students. I know that many of them weren’t quite ready to let go of summer. I want to help them make that back-to-school transition not so much of a bummer. 🙂
Also, I always find myself having just as many nervous butterflies in year 9 as I did in year 1! The ONLY thing that helps me feel more at ease is having a solid plan for the first week. I’ve come to learn that back-to-school ideas for high school English do NOT have to be complicated or difficult. It’s really all about building relationships, creating routines, and building confidence in the skills they have.
As I head back to school in just a few short weeks, I’ve tried to plan out my first week with students. Check out these 5 fun back-to-school activities for high school English!
1. Build on what they already know!
When I get new students, I always like to see what skills they have mastered, and what skills may need a little more support. Pre-assessments and pre-tests can be overwhelming for students, so I like to break apart the standards and do a fun review activity each day. During the reviews, I let students work in small groups or with partners. We have active discussions and work through the tasks together. This way, I get a better idea of what they already know, and where they need some extra help. I’ve also noticed that explicitly reviewing concepts at the BEGINNING of the year not only builds their confidence, but it also helps students produce more quality work throughout the semester.
I have recently made this Literary Analysis Review Workbook to help my students navigate all of the reading literature standards for high school! In about 5-10 minutes per day, we cover one RL standard. I also project a “cheat sheet” with reminders/information about each standard and skill as they work. I love to see their a-ha moments when they realize they really do know how to demonstrate their knowledge of each standard. This is also a resource I come back to at the end of the semester for test prep or even as a post-assessment!
P.S. If you’re looking for more fun ways to teach and review literary analysis, check out how I use short films to do this here!
2. Create Routines and Incorporate Student Choice
As a way to assess my students’ knowledge on understanding and writing about informational text, I like to introduce a weekly routine to them on the very first week of school. Using an article of the week with secondary students can benefit them in SO many ways. I use these templates with my students to get them to read about current events which help them understand allusions/literary analysis, too! These are also great for breaking down standards, practicing writing, seeing skills come alive, and more!
I love that giving students an article of the week assignment puts them in the driver’s seat of their own education. It gives them a choice in what they’re reading, but I get to see their interests/thoughts/ideas in their writing. Giving them a standard, and having them choose an article to analyze which meets that standard is such a nice way to start learning about the individuals in our classrooms, but also seeing where they may need a little extra support. You can check out how I choose articles, grade student responses, and encourage community building with my article of the week activities here!
3. Use Personality Tests
The Enneagram is such an interesting, relevant topic and a great way to do an all about me activity. I love to have my students do a personality test so that I can find out more about them and they can learn about themselves! Currently, the Enneagram Personality Test has been flooding Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok! Why not have students learn while employing some modern, engaging material to keep them focused!?
If you’ve been scrolling through Instagram lately, you’ve probably seen some of those beautifully illustrated graphics which display the “staples” of each enneagram type. After my students take a quiz to find out their enneagram number, I ask them to create an infographic based on how their personality fits their type! I have found that this activity brings students together, gets them talking, and helps them to become more reflective thinkers! I use this lesson to walk them through the process.
4. Create About Me Infographics
I am all about building relationships from the first day of school. We know that great relationships with our students are the backbone of an inviting classroom environment. Any time that I can learn about my students while still helping them build skills, I am ALLLLLL about it.
Infographics are the newest trend in education, so why not introduce your students to this kind of project? I have them read a short, original article on what an infographic is, view several examples, and create their own “All About Me/Get to Know You” infographic! My students love getting to learn the ins and outs of Google Slides (don’t be like me and assume they already know how to navigate Google Slides – YIKES!) and create an infographic about themselves in a digital format. We get to learn about each other, and they get to learn both tech and ELA skills!
5. Teach them to be “gritty!”
If there’s one thing this last year has taught me, it is the importance of building resilience. This year, one of my key back-to-school activities for high school English will be teaching students about resilience. Social-emotional learning is a crucial component of teaching our students. Sometimes, we have to explicitly teach our students how to overcome hardships and build resiliency.
I like to use this packet to not only teach students what it means to be resilient, but to also push them to put their ELA skills to work in reading comprehension, building vocabulary, and writing. I give them an article about what it means to be resilient, then show them examples of real people who have shown extraordinary resilience. Then, they practice reacting with resilience to hypothetical situations and practice writing with a choice prompt. It’s a great way to get my students thinking and practicing building grit in their own lives!
