End of the Year Reading Project Middle School Ela
I can hardly believe it's nigh the finish of the 2019-2020 school yr. I remember information technology'due south prophylactic to say this has been one of the nearly wild, unexpected, and stressful years ever. Whether you take a few days or a couple weeks left, I wanted to share a few of my favorite mini-units and projects that work well at the end of the twelvemonth. I hope these ideas help you cease the yr stiff with your students!
1. SLIDESHOWS THAT DON'T SUCK
Want to end the yr on a good annotation with a fun, memorable mini-unit? "Slideshows That Don't Suck" is 1 of my favorite projects ever. It's purposeful, engaging, and only apparently FUN. I designed this project when I was tired of cringing at my students' font choices and hearing them read their slides discussion-for-word. I decided to tackle the trouble of tedious, unappealing presentations once and for all with a creative "Slideshows That Don't Suck" mini-unit.
To brand what could have been a pretty straightforward slideshow assignment fun, I gave my students full selection in topics. Well, choice with one tiny stipulation: Their topics had to be weird, random, ridiculous, irksome, or obscure. The weirder, the amend. I wanted students to work hard to bring a ho-hum topic to life. I wanted them to curiously pursue the mundane and make information technology entertaining. My students were thrilled and instantly engaged by this challenge. Their topics included mole rats, milk, shoelaces, rocks, stink bugs, air fresheners, and spam accounts…the listing goes on. Fifty-fifty the educatee who quite literally had completed 0 projects all year successfully delivered a slideshow on chicken wings.
As weird and fun as this project sounds, information technology's really a great way to help students do essential literacy skills. And I hope that you will never take more fun grading their terminal projects and learning more than you ever wanted to know about the earth's well-nigh ridiculous topics! If you want to relieve yourself some time teaching about slideshows, check out my digital-fix mini-unit. It'south complete with a pacing guide, a gallery walk activeness, learning stations, a rubric, and more to make pedagogy this a cakewalk!
2. INTERVIEW CHALLENGE
This speaking, listening, and writing activity is a great manner to go on students meaningfully engaged at the finish of the year. I originally created the interview "challenge" for my journalism students, just then I realized it was too fun and meaningful to not use with my other ELA classes. Students can easily complete this with a peer over the phone/video chatting OR with a family member in their firm.
Here'south how it works: The "claiming" requires students to reverberate upon a memorable moment and briefly share that moment with a partner. And then, the educatee creates a list of questions and interviews their partner in club to write a mini-story. The meliorate the questions, the better the answers, and the ameliorate the stories. Students volition quickly realize that taking the time to craft precise, meaningful questions will be well worth it in the end.
The all-time part of this writing activity is reading through the final stories. I e'er learn then much about my students and what has shaped their lives. For everything you need to teach this challenge from starting time to finish, check out my newly-updated digital resource.
3. RESUME WRITING
In the mood to teach something so practical that you won't accept to reply the question of "When will we e'er utilize this in real life?" Teaching resume writing is just virtually as real-life as you can get, and it makes for the perfect end-of-yr unit of measurement. You'll feel satisfied knowing your students are leaving your class a little more than prepared for the elusive real world.
But learning how to draft a resume and comprehend letter is nearly more than practicing real-life writing or becoming an employable job candidate. It's too almost growing as a human beingness. Writing a resume requires introspection, self-sensation, and reflection. Students will wrestle with the questions of "Who am I?" and "How tin can I represent what I have to offer on a slice of paper?" It's intimidating but incredibly worthwhile and rewarding. Plus, you simply might get a few excited "I got the job!" emails subsequently teaching information technology, and there's nothing meliorate than that!
To learn more, you can read this blog post about how I teach resume writing or bank check out my student-ready resume writing unit. If y'all have the time, you tin can follow upwards resumes with a cover alphabetic character mini-unit or fifty-fifty sneak in some virtual mock interview practice. If your students aren't quite ready for resumes, you can assist them prepare for the existent earth with a career research project. Any of these options will help your students stay focused on the future, fifty-fifty during the chaos of the end of a wild year.
iv. Photograph Journal
If you are searching for a purposeful project that volition engage students without overwhelming them, give them a run a risk to document life during this unprecedented pandemic. A photo journal/essay assignment volition give students the opportunity to capture life in 2020 as they know it. Whether yous assign it with journal writing or as a standalone project, a photo periodical volition help students practice essential skills while they contemplate what it means to live during this new normal. Simply ask students to document their lives, express their emotions, and make sense of the earth around them.
A photograph journal will look different for every student. Peradventure it will be daily self-portraits, snapshots of empty streets, or a drove of the colors of nature. In any case, it will requite students a take chances to pause, reflect, and be present in the world around them. If you assign a photo journal or photo essay, I highly recommend checking out the app Getty Unshuttered. Yous can read more almost it and find other unique photography project ideas Here.
v. Independent READING
Independent reading is a best-practice classic, and information technology just makes sense during distance learning. If you haven't already assigned something like this, it's the perfect action to close out the end of the year. Give students choice in selecting their texts, as well equally choice in the assignments and activities they practice to represent their learning.
If students don't have access to books, encourage them to download the Scribd app, which offers many ebooks and audiobooks. Currently, they are offering a free xxx-day subscription without a credit menu/payment information. This is what I would recommend to students. If you don't mind entering your payment information, you lot can get a free 60-24-hour interval trial with this link. For digital contained reading activities, you can check out my Novel Report for Whatever Novel bundle Hither. (It includes everything from "character Instagram posts" to standards-based writing assessments & rubrics!)
I hope these ideas make your last few days or weeks of school enjoyable, calm, and meaningful. All-time of luck as y'all end the twelvemonth, and have a Fabulous summer break! 🙂
Source: https://writeonwithmissg.com/2020/05/15/5-engaging-ela-projects-for-the-end-of-the-year/
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