FIVE Fun Writing Activities for Back to School
The beginning of the school year is such a crucial time to hook students into writing. It is also a crucial time to get them “warmed up” after the summer break. Writing not only facilitates the process of establishing effective writing habits in the classroom, but it also begins the process of developing a writing community that will become a valuable tool during writing workshop throughout the school year.
To get you started with writing from DAY ONE, here are FIVE fun and interactive writing activities for the back to school season to get your students going!
Rambling Autobiography
A rambling autobiography is an autobiography that literally rambles. It is a stream-of-consciousness / automatic writing assignment in which the writer begins an autobiography with his/her birth date and then writes about any and all life events that pop into the writer’s mind. Students are to keep writing until time is called. This is what makes the process “automatic writing", or “free writing.” You can decide if you’d like for students to write for 3, 5, or even 10 minutes— but no matter what, students are to keep writing for the required time.
After students have written their rambling autobiographies, they can share them with a partner or small group. This kind of assignment helps to generate ideas quickly and to begin the process of building a writing community within the classroom. It also allows students to share memories from their lives that were meaningful, fun, or life-changing.
If you would like a FREE RESOURCE to use for this activity, please click here and subscribe to the blog over at BespokeClassroom.com. There, you will find 50+ FREE resources in the Freebie Library to print and use with your classes!
Mystery Book Reports
For this activity, students are to write a description of a book they have read but leave out the author and title. They will then get into groups to see if anyone can guess the titles of the books based on the miniature book report. As an alternative, you can have students fold up their slips of paper and place them into a container (like a cookie jar or basket) and then draw out random ones to read for the whole class to guess. This activity can get students thinking about both reading and writing from the beginning of the school year while also having fun interacting with one another and trying to guess book titles.
Recipe for Success
For this recipe, students will think back to a time when they were successful, and they will assess what it took for them to be successful. Was there a certain strategy that worked for them? Was there a specific character trait that helped them to reach a goal? After reflecting back upon this moment of success, students will create their own, unique “Recipe for Success” with their own personal ingredients. They can keep this recipe with them throughout the school year as a motivator to help them push through the challenging times. When I have students in-person, I like for them to keep their recipes inside their writing folders so that they can reference them throughout the school year.
My Life Store
Students really tend to enjoy this activity. The essence of creating a “Life Store” is to invent a store that represents the essence of who you are. Everything about the store should be representative of the student’s values, beliefs, interests, and life experiences. Here are some questions to consider when creating a life store:
What would your store be called?
What would your store sell?
Where would your store be located?
What kind of customers would visit your store?
Students can brainstorm a list of ideas for their life stores and then sketch a picture of them as well as write paragraphs that explain how the life store connects to the student’s identity.
If you would like a FREE RESOURCE to use for this activity, please click here and subscribe to the blog over at BespokeClassroom.com. There, you will find 50+ FREE resources in the Freebie Library to print and use with your classes!
Sell me This Pen
“Sell me this pen” has become a cliche saying for people who are in sales to practice their persuasive skills. However, we can use this same concept in ELA to have students practice their persuasive writing and speaking skills. For this activity, students are to get into groups and write short 2-3 minute speeches that “sell” a pen to the class. After drafting their speeches, one member from the group delivers the speech to the class, and the class then votes on the “best,” or most persuasive, speech. This is a fun activity for students to practice their rhetorical skills as well as begin the process of establishing a writing community in the classroom.
What other fun writing activities do you like to use at the beginning of the year to hook your students? Please share in the comments below!
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About the Author
Meredith is the founder and creator of TeachWriting.org and Bespoke ELA. She has taught high school English for 10+ years in Dallas, Chicago, and New York City and holds a M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University. She has always had a connection to the written word-- through songwriting, screenplay writing, and essay writing-- and she enjoys the process of teaching students how to express their ideas. Meredith enjoys life with her sweet daughter and Yorkie.