Teaching Middle School ELA
Welcome to the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast, where we are dedicated to helping English Language Arts teachers create dynamic and engaging lessons for their students, while also managing the day-to-day responsibilities that come with being a Middle School ELA teacher.
As educators ourselves, we understand the challenges of finding a work-life balance that allows us to pursue our passion for teaching while also enjoying our personal lives. That's why each Tuesday, hosts Caitlin Mitchell and Jessica Cannata share practical and innovative solutions for managing your workload and staying inspired in your teaching practice.
Whether you are looking for fresh ideas to inspire your students, strategies for improving your writing instruction, or tips for managing your time more effectively, this podcast is designed to provide you with the tools you need to thrive as a Middle School ELA teacher.
Join us each week for curriculum and lesson ideas, classroom stories, and interviews with fellow educators who are experts in the field. We believe that with the right support and resources, you can create a classroom environment that encourages students to become strong and passionate learners.
If you teach reading and writing to middle schoolers and want to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in ELA education, then this is the podcast for you! Tune in every week and let us help you make a difference in the lives of your students and in your own teaching career.
Teaching Middle School ELA
Episode 297: Back To School Mini-Series| BTS Activities That Are Seriously Better Than Ice Breaker Bingo
On this episode of The Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast, your hosts Caitlin, Jessica, and Megan are outlining a lengthy list of creative activities that go beyond the usual icebreaker first day of school activities. They explore innovative ways to set a positive and interactive class culture from day one, helping you quickly learn about your students' unique interests and personalities.
Tune in to dive into five clever activities to help students connect and build relationships. These activities encourage interaction and offer chances for follow-up conversations, fostering deeper connections between you and your students. Plus, they'll highlight the importance of being sensitive to students' experiences while choosing activities that ensure inclusivity. The entire EB Team wishes you a fantastic back-to-school season and encourages you to continue to create a remarkable year inside your classroom walls!
(For additional Back-To-School activity ideas, check out episodes: 138, 187, 241, 295)
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All right, you guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Today we're talking about back-to-school activities that are seriously better than icebreaker bingo. I feel like that is kind of a mouthful, almost like a what?
Speaker 2:are those things that are hard to say. Yes, tongue twister Could not think of the word. It's funny you say that because when I was putting that out for this, I'm like what else is this called Cause? I agree, it's long and, like you, google it and it's just icebreaker bingo and that's what's out there. So is what it is too funny.
Speaker 1:Um, so we're continuing this conversation about some back to school activities that you can do with your students that are going to benefit both you and your middle schoolers, and so, if you didn't catch last week's episode, we had an interview with our team member, sarah Lang, who is, you know, a part of our customer support team and she also does support for our school partnerships and things along those lines professional development, all of that stuff. She and Megan recorded an episode all about blindfold puzzles. That is last week's episode 296. So definitely make sure that you go catch that if you didn't have a chance to take a listen to that one.
Speaker 3:Yet, megan, was that fun to record with Sarah, it was a blast and I'm telling you I told the team after we recorded like every teacher in America will want to do this activity. I did it in my own classroom Like it's a must listen to, so just go listen to it.
Speaker 1:Take Megan's word for it you sold it. Well, we'll go listen. So to piggyback off of that episode, back-to-school icebreakers are great for middle school students, right? They help everyone feel a part of the group. They ease any first day or even first week nerves and they really make sure that everyone feels included. And these activities set a really positive vibe for the classroom to get students talking, interacting with each other and plus they give you as the teacher a chance to learn more about your students' interests and their personalities. Like immediately you can start to pick up like oh, the student doesn't like speaking in front of others. This student's going to be demanding of other people's attention. You can start to pick up on those little nuances of personality very quickly with some of these activities in that first day of school. But we are begging of you to ditch the icebreaker bingo.
Speaker 1:We are making a case for that in today's episode because we are willing to bet that you have been to one or more PD sessions or maybe you were a student in class where you've had to participate in one of these like get to know you bingos where you had to find a signature for someone who had curly hair, or someone who's been to another country or someone who's enjoyed science. I did this once at like a um, what am I like? A business conference. And when they told us that we were going to do this, I was like, are you freaking, kidding me? Right now I'm like, no, I'm not getting up and walking around and talking to other people.
Speaker 2:Well, and it's boring, right, and it's like, what do you really learn? Like, okay, she wears glasses and I wear glasses. Like, oh my gosh, we have so much in common Like it's level, so we're over it. But what you want to do is you want to show your students that, from the get-go, the time they have in your class is going to be unique, it's going to be fun, they're going to be engaged. It's not like maybe, past classes where they've done bingo like that.
Speaker 2:And if you're a part of EB's ELA portal, you know that we structure like all our lessons as into, through and beyond. Right, and I was thinking about this again as I was preparing the notes for this episode that what if you think of your whole school year that way, right as this into, through, beyond framework and those first few days or even weeks of back to school? That's your into part of the year. That's where you really wanna hook your students. You wanna get their attention and make them like I am so excited to go to class each day with this particular teacher and I don't think icebreaker bingo is going to do that, right, it doesn't get the job done.
Speaker 1:I'm instead going to be like oh man, ms Kahnock is my teacher right? We don't want that.
Speaker 2:So over the years we've honestly shared a lot of back to school ideas. So if you're looking for more beyond what we shared today, you can go back and you can listen to episodes 138, 187, 241, 295, and, like Caitlin and Megan said, last week's interview with Sarah. So there's so much good stuff out there. I know like we talked about the Mary Celeste that's one of our teachers' favorites, so like just a bunch of goodies, so go back and listen to those. But the reason that we've spent the last three episodes now talking about back to school activities is because we want you to have a wealth of ideas to choose from. We encourage you to spend more than one just class period, more than one icebreaker activity with your students. So I want you to imagine like you go to a new teaching job in a new school where you might know a few people but the principal's a stranger, there's a lot of unfamiliar colleagues and you sit down for that first faculty meeting. Is that one quick meeting going to make you feel comfortable, confident at your new school with all these new faces? Is that one meeting going to leave you feeling like, prepared, like I've got this, I know all the expectations now for the school year? Probably not right. You need more time to get in your groove to meet these people. Same thing for our students. So multiple icebreaker activities over the first few days of your school year are going to serve the same purpose. They're going to help your students gradually connect with one another. It's going to reduce anxiety, it's going to create a supportive classroom atmosphere and it's a win-win for you. Like Caitlin mentioned this earlier, you're going to get deeper insights into your students' personalities and their needs and it's going to allow you to tailor your teaching strategies. So it's not just you know, busy work, fun that we're doing these first few days. You're doing that with intention and a purpose and it keeps the energy and the excitement up in your class.
Speaker 2:Right, I think about this with my own children. Like, we've been on break for over two months now and we're still going strong. We don't go back to school for a while as we record these episodes. Right, we're in July as we sit here and record them. Do you think they want to go back to school and just get syllabus after syllabus those first few days and play those bingo games? No, like they need to ease back in. They've done nothing for two months. So we want to hook them, get them excited to be back Now, before we dive into these icebreaker activities. I thought it would be fun. I don't know, caitlin and Megan, if you have anything you want to share here, but I thought it'd be fun to share anything our teachers did on the first day of school that maybe got our attention, and I had a funny one to share, if you're up for it a little side story.
Speaker 1:I don't feel like I had teachers like you did, because literally nothing came to mind when I tried to think of you know, a fun first day activity with any of my professors. The only thing I could think of was I had a professor in my master's program at LMU who would always read us a book before school, before class started, but that was every single class period. But literally nothing left a mark. Nothing made me go back and think like, oh, that was such a great activity. All I just have recollections of are the feeling that I have about hating icebreakers and having to do them.
Speaker 2:Got it.
Speaker 1:You know how people you know, like you will never remember what someone said, but you always remember how they made you feel, yes, right. Like that was what came to mind when I was trying to go back through my brain of, like a positive icebreaker experience.
Speaker 2:I get that Well. I feel like, as teachers too, we're in a unique situation where you're like, yep, been there, done that seen that when the teacher brings out the toilet paper. I'm like oh well, I know I'm not grabbing 20 strips. And then I hear 20 things about myself, right, like you just know what's coming. Oh, that's too bad, though I do have one.
Speaker 3:I don't remember it super well and the reason it even came back into my memory is the teacher crossed the hall for me when I taught eighth grade to actually use this activity. But I remember I think it was one of my science teachers had a student's activity where we were putting together like a PB and J sandwich, but it was like you've probably done this. It was like the instructions were like very vague and so it was supposed to teach us that, like when we're trying to explain something, you have to be super thorough because you might end up with peanut butter on a desk or something. And I can't remember how it exactly goes, but that stuck with me. I did that with my students.
Speaker 2:That was one of my lessons with my fourth graders back in the day. What came to me and this isn't an icebreaker activity, but it's like my most memorable first day of school story and I thought it'd be funny it was my very first day of college, at LMU. I walked into my first class. So I'm like you know, 18 years old, and I sit down and I'm nervous and everything. And there's a guy in front of me and like two other kids there, and the guy turns around and he's like, did you do the summer reading? I was like, yeah, did you? And he's like, no, I didn't read it. And he looks around. He's like asking the other guys and like we're all starting to talk.
Speaker 2:And we're like Caitlin, where you had to read like a common book. I don't think so. We definitely had to, Um, anyway. So like, students trickle in and we're all talking about it now and all of a sudden that guy gets up and he's our teacher, 22 years old, he's a grad student, and I was just like, oh my God, Like that's the kind of you know class I'm going to be in, where he's joking and tricking us into talking to him. Like, did we do the assignment? But it stuck with me in the sense that, like it was outside the box, it was creative and his class truly ended up being one of my favorites and this from you know. Like I said, a 22 year old teacher and he was one of my best experiences in college because of how he taught. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:What class was it? It was like a it was an intro to fiction or like a writing class, so it was definitely like an ELA class. That was right up my alley. But it was good, so good, in fact, that my college roommate I went and told her about it and she's like I'm switching classes. And she came and joined that class.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Oh my gosh, I wish. Do you remember who the professor was?
Speaker 2:Well, he wasn't even a professor. His name was Ben Risto. I wonder what he's up to now. He was like from the Midwest and he came to LA for grad school.
Speaker 1:That is so funny. I didn't have him as a professor but, I was a communications major too, so I didn't take it Um right yeah.
Speaker 3:I love it. That's a funny story. But back to the activities we want to share with you all today to get you back to school. So the first one we like to call line up, and some of you might have done this before, but we're going to get to know a little bit about their classmates, which is a great thing. So basically, each day for the first week of school, you're going to have your students line up in a particular order and we're going to share some ideas with you. It's definitely easy to do this at the end of the period when you're actually wanting them to line up to leave your classroom right.
Speaker 3:So here are five ways you can get your students to line up. The first one is have them line up in order of when their birthday occurs. So the first part of the line would be those January, february birthdays, and then the end of the line would be right, november, december birthdays. And this one is especially fun if you challenge students to do it silently and then you maybe offer a small prize if they can do it without talking and in under a certain amount of time too. So if they catch on really quickly, they'll figure out that like holding up fingers and signaling like what month they were born, like maybe number two for February or whatever, and then holding up 10 fingers if they are born on the 10th, that kind of thing, and then they can do it without talking to each other. So that's a fun one. Next way they could line up is in alphabetical order by their middle name. Now, in this version students probably need to talk because I don't think most of them probably know each other's middle names. So once they think they are in the correct order, then you can have each person share aloud their middle name one more time, just so that the class can hear. And if students are comfortable, then you could ask them follow-up questions, maybe some details about why their parents chose that middle name, that kind of thing. You could also challenge your students to do this in under a certain amount of time if you want. And then some classes really, of course, thrive on that competitive nature. So especially if you have that competition, that sometimes helps make it more fun.
Speaker 3:Next idea is to have them line up in order from having fewest siblings to most siblings. So this is kind of the same thing as that middle name topic. You can have your students share more if you want, maybe what grade levels those siblings are in that kind of thing. But there's some options for you. Next idea would be lining up in order based on favorite meal of the day. So the front of the line should be for breakfast, middle of the line are those that take lunch. So the front of the line should be for breakfast, middle of the line are those that pick lunch and the end of the line would be those students that like dinner the best.
Speaker 3:And this one is pretty quick and easy and just allows for some follow-up questions like you know, what did you have for breakfast this morning? Or what's your favorite lunch in the cafeteria? If you could pick one meal you had to eat for dinner for an entire month, what would it be? Those kinds of things to get to learn a little bit more about your students. And then the last idea for lining up would be in order of favorite season. You could start with the winter people at the front of the line which I would be there.
Speaker 3:I love my cold weather.
Speaker 3:Then spring would be next to summer and then fall. And again, if you want to do, you know, kind of give them time restraints on this, that would be super fun, and maybe have them do it without talking. They can kind of figure out different ways to do that. And then you could think about how students could convey their favorite season without talking right. So maybe they're rubbing their hands together or like acting like they're drinking hot cocoa if they're winter people, that kind of thing. And then some simple follow-up questions. For this one would be you know what is your favorite activity to do in the winter, or is there a particular place you like to visit in the summer, or maybe what's one thing you don't like about your favorite season, for instance?
Speaker 1:So those are all fun ideas for having them line up A couple of things that I just want to note about that with the middle names, not every student is going to have a middle name, so you might want to just make sure that all your students, based on your class roster, have middle names, um, cause you never know, like, what conversation could arise as a result of that, and one of the things that I thought about, too, with Will. So they did this for my son, who's going to be seven in August, who's a very the river runs deep with him. He's very sensitive, um, and they had him line up by height for baseball pictures and he's the youngest on his team. He's with a bunch of first graders, he's in kindergarten and he is one of the shorter ones on the team and it like very upset him that like you know height and look, I understand like we got to build resilient kids and all that stuff. But just something to take into consideration too, like just thinking about, like making sure that we're picking things that aren't, um, ostracizing a kid or making a kid feel bad about themselves, and also, like I love the winter, spring, summer thing, and one of the other things that this sparked for me, jessica, was actually a get to know you activity that was meant to teach us something. That wasn't a get to know you activity, but let me let me explain because I think it's really cool.
Speaker 1:So I'm in a business group and they had the one of the women who works with special needs students had us do this activity to show us how we are connected to each other, um, in a really cool way that you could totally do with your students as well, which this aims to do in the same capacity, which made me think of this. So, basically, she had us pick three things that were unique about ourselves. Um, like you know, I like to work out, I like to be hot and you know, whatever LA is my favorite place or something, whatever. Three things that you came up with that were more like generic stuff. And then you would say one of your things and, as you stepped forward, other people from the circle who aligned with your statement would step forward as well.
Speaker 1:So like, if I said I like working out, I would step forward and then, like, six other people would, and so instantly, I have a contact, or like a connection with these six other people that I maybe not would have known if I didn't do this. So, like this does the same exact thing. Like I might not have known that, megan, you love winter and I hate it, so I'm never going to talk to you about the now. Do you know what I mean? I know it's a silly example, but I just think it's neat in terms of not just like them doing something fun or you getting to know your students. Like this is also showing them commonalities that they have with classmates that they can build a conversation around too. So I think that's cool.
Speaker 2:I'm just thinking what you're saying, Caitlin, because it makes total sense. Like, as a teacher, I think it's important. Call that out to your students, right? They might not make that connection Like, oh wow, we do have that in common. We could talk about that with each other. Sometimes I think that they see it as surface level. But if you really are intentional with this is why we're doing it now. Hey, now you have someone you can talk to at lunch or whatever. It just makes it a little clearer, Yep.
Speaker 1:Yep, go ahead, go ahead. Sorry, I was just gonna say that's what the gal said at the end of the activity. She said now I want you to pick one of the people who stepped forward at the same time as you on one of those topics and go have a conversation with them afterwards about that thing I'm just gonna say it would be a great way of you know how some kids like think they don't like to like work with other kids.
Speaker 3:Yes, but if you do this and you start to see the commonalities you have in a classroom, it makes group work and collaboration a lot easier too.
Speaker 1:Totally, yeah, we both like sports. I had no idea that you were into soccer too, or whatever it is. Yeah, yes, very cool. So very easy Icebreaker right Literally no prep on your part, and it's still going to allow you and your students to learn more about each other, for them to build connections, all of that stuff and, like, by all means, you can totally jump in and play with them too, like they're going to get to know you also, and I think that's fun, that we get to know, like these nuances of personality and the things that make people who they are, and that's how we build connection with each other. And, quite frankly, at the end of the day, connection is what makes us happy, it's what builds community in our classrooms and all of that good stuff, um, okay. So the next icebreaker activity while not a specific like get to know you activity, it still encourages students to collaborate and refine their small group skills while introducing them to a key component of your ELA class for the year and this is my favorite this is using evidence to support their reasoning. You know we love evidence at EB. That's what EB stands for is evidence-based, like. It's a big part of what we do here.
Speaker 1:So this activity is called Friendly Face Off and it is one of those super entertaining activities. It's going to show your students creativity, their argumentative skills. It's also going to give you a glimpse into your students' comfort and confidence levels when it comes to creating claims, coming up with evidence justifying their reasoning. Are these students super argumentative? Do these students not feel confident in supporting their position or whatever it might be? So here's how it works. You're gonna split your class into two different groups and you will assign a lighthearted, lighthearted key, lighthearted debate topic. Don't assign something that is like intense and gonna get people all up in arms about certain things, or you can but choose your battles. So assign lighthearted debate topics. Students in two different groups. You're going to give students around five to six minutes to come up with an argument. You can either assign students to be for or against this debate topic, as well as their reasoning, their evidence and justification to support their position or their claim. Once students have their talking points and they have their talking points jotted down you're going to allow them to share with the whole class and then you can choose the winning team based on the strongest argument and evidence.
Speaker 1:You'll continue with another round of friendly face-off using another fun topic. So if you teach seventh or eighth graders, you can elevate the activity by adding in a counterclaim if they're familiar with that, right. If they're not, obviously don't do that yet. And after each side presents their evidence and reasoning, you can allow a bonus two minutes for each side to respond with a strong counterclaim and evidence to support that counterclaim before you make the final decision. So it's just a fun activity.
Speaker 1:Get students talking, get students finding evidence. They're actually supporting their reasoning. So it's a critical thinking activity. And I think it's cool too that we are going to assign them what their position has to be, because that challenges them and forces them outside the box, right. So some friendly debate topics that you could use for this activity. You can also ask chat GPT for some of these as well, but this will give you an idea of, like, the level of lightheartedness that we're talking about. So one is a hot dog is a sandwich, versus a hot dog is not a sandwich A hot dog is not a sandwich.
Speaker 1:It's not a sandwich, agreed Clearly, but like who defines a sandwich and how is a sandwich to fight?
Speaker 2:I mean it is meat between bread, so I I don't know.
Speaker 1:Okay, number two is pineapple should not be a pizza topping versus. Pineapple is a great pizza topping. How do you guys feel?
Speaker 2:I like it. I'm not opposed. I'm not going to order it, but if it's on there I'll eat it. You'll eat it, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm not into it. That's enough for me.
Speaker 2:Number three summer is the best season versus winter is the best season.
Speaker 1:I'm going to go rogue and say fall, but that's okay, I hate fall with every ounce of my soul.
Speaker 1:I actually think I hate fall more than I hate winter because fall means well, cause fall means that winter is coming. But once the winter is here, then spring is around the corner. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, like as soon as, like, oh, I just I hate all this like doomsday for you much. Yes, it very much impacts my life. Okay, number four the best superpower is being able to fly versus the best superpower is invisibility.
Speaker 3:I fly, fly. Oh, I'm going. Invisibility 100%. Am I nosy? I don't know.
Speaker 1:I like it Okay. Number five which is better traveling back in time versus traveling into the future? Back in time all day, every 100%.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, I had a thing for a minute, but yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:The future. I don't know, this is like a very yes it's. I feel like this is a very um, malevolent look at the universe and the world, but I feel like the future is not great and I feel like I'd rather go back to the past, when times were a little bit. I have a lot of people I want to talk to in the past.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you have the perspective now, like I was like, oh my God, when my kids were little, just get this day over with. And now I'm like, oh, to hold them as a baby, totally.
Speaker 1:Yes, a hundred percent yes. And then, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The classic, ageold question. I'm just doing my dance for you guys.
Speaker 2:Those are fun. Okay, the final back to school activity is meant to be pure fun and it's really great to use as a quick and easy brain break because it gets your students moving a little bit. It really doesn't require much thinking, like really at all, and sometimes games like these are totally necessary the first week of school when students are finding it difficult to transition back into so much structure after a long vacation. Right, like it's still hot out If your school doesn't have air conditioning, like any school I worked at, like you're kind of miserable in the classroom, so your students might just need that break. You might need the break. So consider using this game at back to school time or later on in the school year whenever you have like a few extra minutes during class time when there's just not enough time to start a new lesson. So this activity is called follow the leader and it's another activity that requires zero prep. You're going to ask for a volunteer to leave the classroom and while they're gone you're going to choose one of the remaining students to be the leader. Then have all your students stand in a circle and have the leader choose a movement that the rest of the class must copy. So the leader might touch their nose or raise their left hand in the air or turn in a quick circle, touch their shoulders, whatever they choose, and then every few seconds the leader will change that movement and the rest of the circle will follow. So you might want to have the class like practice, that a little bit like you know, a few 10 seconds, whatever, to get the hang of it. Then ask the student who went out to the hallway to come back in and stand in the middle of the circle, and that student's job is to watch their classmates closely and see if they can figure out who the leader is, and when they think they have identified the leader, pause the game and give them two guesses and you can play as many rounds as you want, or that you have time for, and just like that first icebreaker activity that Megan talked about, this one's fun for you to join in as well. Right, maybe you're the leader one time and they can't figure it out, or you're just, you know, one of the participants, and I want to point out that you know, yes, at EB we're all about delivering engaging and rigorous ELA lessons to increase student outcomes, right? And you might be wondering well, like, how does a game like that fit into that mission? But the truth is, when the majority of your class time is really, it's truly highly academic and you set high expectations.
Speaker 2:When you can incorporate fun games at the beginning of your year, it really does help in a bunch of ways. First, it gets buy-in from your students. Right, you're showing them that you're all about balance, you're going to have fun and you're going to do hard things, and that balance helps build a really positive classroom culture. And it makes your students more willing to participate and engage in your lessons. I mean, use it as bribery, right? If you have a really hard lesson, you could say guys, we can do this 15 minutes, we're going to power through, we're going to, you know, work on justification, but then we'll play follow the leader or whatever game you have in mind, and it just can motivate them a little bit more. And it also helps foster stronger relationships among students and between your students and you, which, of course, creates a supportive, a collaborative environment, and I'm guessing that that's something that you want to create for your classroom, especially at the start of the year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I love these activities too because, at least for you know a lot of our students who are nervous coming back to school. They have a hard time maybe making friends or getting back into just like the structure and the cadence. These activities are going to help reduce anxiety For a lot of our students. It's going to help build confidence. They're going to start to see like, oh, I have such and such in common with so-and-so or whatever it might be, and this I'm always big on is it's going to help them improve their communication skills, especially that one that I shared about the debates and like picking sides and all of that stuff and that is so essential, not only for effective learning, but just being an effective communicator as a human being is such a great life skill to be able to give to our students. So when you start with fun, students are more likely to feel comfortable, they're more likely to get motivated, they're ready to tackle those rigorous academic challenges. And basically, incorporating fun games isn't about just having a good time right, it's about laying the foundation for a successful and productive school year.
Speaker 1:So, as we wrap up our mini series about back to school activities, everyone at Team EB is wishing you a happy start to the school year. Hope it's a fantastic year for you guys those of you who've already joined us inside of our portal hopefully you've been planned for a couple of weeks already and you're just ready to get back to school and just absolutely go have a remarkable year with your kids. I think at the end of the day, you know it is all about what you get to choose to create in your life, um, and you do have control over that aspect of being a classroom teacher. So thank you guys so much for being here on the podcast and we'll see you guys next week. Have a great week, everybody Bye, everyone Bye.