You are a teacher who wants to plan creative, engaging student activities for your students each and every day. Maybe, you spend time each week either coming up with, creating, or searching for these resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Basically, you are spending either too much time or too much money on these student activities. Or maybe both!
Let me tell you something… it does not have to be this way!
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle your student activities
You need to Reduce, Reuse and recycle!
Reduce planning time by reusing and recycling just a handful of student activities.
You need a system, which in this case is a bank of activities that can be repurposed and reused over and over again.
Today, I will be sharing with you 7 student activities that can be reused all year long, I chose these 7 because they…
- Can be used for any ELA unit or theme
- Are engaging for students
- Apply to any type of lesson (research, teaching a new concept, reading, writing, grammar, etc…)
- Are not grade specific
If you value student engagement and are looking for ways to make your students more engaged learners, be sure to check out my FREE guide “7 Secrets to Better Student Engagement in Your ELA Classroom.”
Student group activities
1. Jigsaw activities
I love jigsaws! They allow students to work in different groups to research, collaborate and share ideas. Better yet, they can be used for literally any type of learning in your classroom!
If you are not familiar with Jigsaw activities, they require the teacher to group students into what we call “Home Groups”. Each student in each home group will receive a number. Then, all the students with the same numbers will form what is called the “Expert Groups”. These Expert groups will be responsible for researching or learning a topic or skill.
Once the “Expert Groups” have completed their work, they will return to their “Home Groups” and teach their team members what they learned.
Jigsaw activities are often used to research a new topic that students are learning in class. However, they could also be used to learn a new skill, such as a grammar rule or reading comprehension strategy.
Check out two of my unit plans that include Jigsaw activities!
Student Presentation activities
2. Student Debates
Debates are a crowd pleaser with all students! Students are able to work in teams, research, present, and compete with their peers. What’s great about debates, is that no debate is ever the same, meaning you can reuse this activity multiple times throughout the year!
Debates can be applied to a topic or cause, such as using school uniforms in class, or whether schools should compost. Debating i
Did you know debates could also be used to teach and discuss grammar? Check out this great website, which lists heated Grammr debates. You could get your students to pick a side and make their case!
Interactive Student Games
3. Blockbuster Vocabulary Game
Who doesn’t love a student game activity? Students are always engaged when they get to participate in some healthy competition.
My favourite game to repurpose and reuse in many areas is the game Blockbuster.
Students beg me to play this game all year long! How it works is students are on two teams and they try to win spaces on a board by correctly answering questions, all while blocking the opposing team from doing the same.
Sounds simple, right?
Because it is!
This game is so simple, yet so engaging and versatile!
I even made this game board to use in my own classroom! Be sure to check it out by clicking here!
I have used this game to practice using vocabulary words, , grammar rules. I have even used this game in Math!
Student Movement Activities
You should be trying to involve movement into your teaching as much as possible. You’re sending a non-verbal signal to your students that you will not hand them the answers; they are not only being given the permission, but are encouraged to to literally go and search for them.
4. Read the Room Hunt
To play you must first create flashcards with the skill or competency you want students to find. Once you have printed out your flashcards, tape them all around the room. Give students a recording sheet, and tell them to explore the room to find examples of the competency or skill.
One example of this could be figurative language. Have each flashcard name one type of figurative language (idioms, metaphors, etc…). Set up reading materials around the room. In this example, students would have to find and record the example on their recording sheet.
5. Take a Walking Quiz
This is a great way to review and informally assess students’ understanding.
Begin by creating flashcards with written questions relating to your topic of study. Go around the school before students arrive and tape the notecards to hallways, drinking fountains, doors, and anywhere else you feel you can take students during class.
Provide students with clipboards and paper for recording their answers to the quiz.
Then, during class time, quietly guide your students as they explore the school in hunt of quiz questions. When you arrive at a question, have a volunteer read the question aloud and give all students some time to write their answers on their clipboards. This is a fabulous way to take a routine assessment and make it more fun and physically engaging.
6. Gallery Walk
Gallery Walks are a great way to allow students to prepare, present and share ideas with their peers. Students create or collect images/ objects and display in the classroom. Then, students walk through the class, observing other students’ work. You may choose to have students write down their observations from the various pieces of work on an observation sheet.
Digital Student Learning
7. Podcast response
Podcasts have become an extremely popular tool to use in the classroom. Because of this, there are thousands of podcasts available to use for educational purposes.
Whatever topic you are teaching, you can find a podcast that is relevant. Therefore, this is a great activity to use continuously throughout the year.
Check out my blog post where I go into detail about how to use podcasts in your classroom. The post includes a freebie for your students!
Pssst! Don’t forget to grab your free guidebook “7 Secrets to Better Student Engagement in Your ELA Classroom.”
10 thoughts on “7 Student Activities You Can Recycle and Reuse All Year Long”
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