1. Escape Rooms or Challenges
Escape rooms or collaborative challenges offer an engaging way for students to practice targeted ELA skills. Working in groups, students actively apply collaboration and problem-solving skills as they solve puzzles, unlocking clues to help them “escape” the challenge!
What I love most about escape rooms is their versatility. You can use them to target all kinds of ELA skills! For example, this type of challenge is an excellent way to reinforce students’ understanding of figurative language, grammar, or vocabulary. Escape rooms also work really well as an end-of-novel review, or even as a quick, standalone activity to support students with a specific skill.
In this FREE figurative language escape challenge, students must color-code a passage that includes figurative language using a key code. Then, they must count up the examples of each to determine which key they need to escape.
2. Four Corners
If you’re looking for a quick ELA game to brighten up a class discussion or debate, try out Four Corners! In this no-prep activity, each “corner” of the room represents a response to a visual prompt. Students consider which of the “four corners” best describes their opinion, and move to the corresponding location in the classroom. Once they have made their choice, students should be prepared to defend their thinking - and then play again!
Four Corners incorporates plenty of movement - ideal for a busy class! This high-energy game also helps middle school students build essential ELA skills in a fun and low-pressure way. As they play, they will practice providing evidence to support a claim and explore different perspectives. I find Four Corners works especially well as a back-to-school icebreaker, or to give the class a chance to reconnect after a break or holiday.
To add a creative spin on this engaging ELA game, try splitting your class in half and introducing a funny debate topic! These 40 outside-the-box discussion prompts (Is a hot dog a sandwich?) have been designed with quick class debates in mind!
3. Word Puzzles
If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to “fill up” a few awkward minutes at the end of class (especially if you’ve wrapped up your main lesson, but don’t want to start something new), word puzzles can be the perfect solution. Having some clever word puzzles up your sleeve can give students something purposeful to focus on - without creating extra work for you! This style of puzzle provides students with a fun, accessible way to support problem-solving, critical thinking, vocabulary, or spelling skills.
Brain teasers encourage students to play with language and think outside the box. They can also help students - including English language learners - learn more about common phrases and idioms. For example:
- Display the word HOT below the word COLLAR ("Hot under the Collar")
- Show the word ON, followed by THOUGHT THOUGHT ("On second thought")
- Repeat the word AID three times in a row, with the first word circles ("First aid")
I like to keep a collection of word puzzles on hand - that way, I have quick and easy bell-ringers, early finisher activities, enrichment tasks, or brain breaks ready to go when I need them!
4. Sorting Games
Organizing topics, ideas, and examples into categories can help students deepen their understanding of all kinds of ELA skills. Sorting games encourage collaborative discussion and help students recognize patterns and apply their learning.
I like to incorporate sorting games as a hands-on way to reinforce key concepts or to review essential skills before adding a new step. For example, if your students recently learned about different types of figurative language, a figurative language sorting game can provide a quick, visual way for you to check their understanding.
To do this, I like to begin by providing groups of students with an envelope. Inside are a number of cards, each featuring an example sentence that contains figurative language. Once they have read each example, students then categorize it by figurative language type - simile, metaphor, oxymoron, hyperbole, personification, and so on.
This approach can also add a fun twist to spelling, grammar, and reading and writing lessons. Sorting games are an effective way to help students identify active and passive voice, literary genres, parts of speech, and sentence types (including fragments and run-ons)!
5. Reading Mysteries
Reading mysteries are extremely fun and also offer a unique and collaborative way to boost reading skills! Working in groups, students examine a “case file” of evidence - working together to solve a fictional case by piecing “clues” together. Reading mysteries encourage close reading and provide a low-pressure way for students to practice essential ELA skills, such as making inferences.
Each reading mystery begins with a creative backstory that sets the stage for the mystery. For example, when Mrs. Henry discovers that Gerome, her beloved garden gnome, is missing, students must comb through a collection of evidence - including a newspaper article, an airplane ticket, a list of medical appointments, emails, and social media posts - to determine who stole him! You can try this one out for FREE by clicking here.
I hope this list gives you some fresh ideas about games you can try with your middle school ELA class! If you’re looking for more creative and engaging activities to share with your students, check out these other posts and activities:
Games & Challenges for Secondary English Classes by Room 213
Book Tasting Escape Room Activity by The Classroom Sparrow
Game Board Activity for Any Story or Novel by Tracee Orman
ELA Test Prep Nonfiction Reading Escape Room by The Daring English Teacher
