Fun Friday Activities for Middle School ELA

Find ways to engage students with more fun Friday activities!

After a long week of lessons, quizzes, and more than a few “Is this for a grade?” questions, it’s nice to have something different to look forward to on Fridays.

One thing that I’ve found to be helpful when working with middle school students is to give them something to look forward to. Fun Friday activities can be a way of doing that while getting them to work on some ELA skills at the same time.

Fun Friday activities are the perfect way to review skills, build classroom community, and give students a chance to engage in ELA skills in a more relaxed, creative way.

Not sure where to start? 

5 Fun Friday Activities to Try in Middle School ELA

Here are some teacher-tested ideas to make your Fun Friday Activities the highlight of the week.

1 | Digital Escape Rooms

Nothing perks up middle schoolers like a good challenge. Digital Escape Rooms combine collaboration, critical thinking, and skill practice all in one engaging activity.

Whether you’re reviewing figurative language, text structures, or grammar, escape rooms get students moving, discussing, and applying what they’ve learned without feeling like just another worksheet.

We have a variety of themed digital escape rooms in the store that you can use with very little to no prep! Check them out here!

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Sign Up for a FREE plot structure digital escape room!

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2 | Book Talks and Speed Dating

Let your students show off a little bit!

This Friday, ask your students to bring their current book, prepare a quick pitch (Who would like this book? Why?), and share it with classmates.

I love book talks as a way of building a culture of readers in the classroom. The kids get to talk about what they are reading, what they like about it, and what they think other people will like (or not) about the book.

Now, not all students are going to be into giving book talks, so sometimes having more than one student present or lead a discussion on a book can be helpful to get less-enthusiastic students to open up a little. Hopefully, as the year goes on, all students will get clear on the expectations and excitement that is talking about what they’re reading.

Optional: 

Want to shake it up? Add in some Book Speed Dating:

• Set up desks in pairs.
• Give each student 1–2 minutes to “pitch” their book before rotating.

3 | Creative Writing Challenges

Fridays are the perfect day for low-pressure writing. Give students a fun prompt or challenge:

• Write a story that starts with, “This wasn’t supposed to happen…”
• Create an alternate ending to a story you’ve read in class.
• Write-and-Pass stories with students adding on to the stories of others. Think “telephone,” but writing a story rather than passing a message.

4 | Paired Passage Debates

If you’d like something more academic but still interactive, try using paired passages to spark debate.

Choose two short texts with differing viewpoints. After reading, have students:

• Annotate evidence for each side.
• Work in teams to prepare arguments.
• Hold a friendly debate or Socratic Seminar.

This reinforces reading comprehension and argument skills in a fresh way.

We have a bunch of paired passage topics to choose from spanning from 4th to 9th grade. Read more about the many different topics in the blog post: 32 Paired Passages to Use in Middle School ELA.

5 | Figurative Language or Grammar Games

Wrap up your week by reviewing standards in a hands-on way. This is a great time to put together a simple Figurative Language BINGO game or quiz game style activity. You can also do relay races where student have to race across the room to turn in their answers, or take kids outside for a scavenger hunt. 

Focus on the standard you’re currently working on, or use parts of speech, figurative language, or grammar-related activities as these are always good go-to topics in middle school ELA.

Final Thoughts

Fun Friday activities don’t mean “free time.” With a little planning, you can create engaging, standards-based activities that still feel like a treat after a long week.

If you’re ready to stock up on resources that make Fun Friday easier, explore our collection of standards-aligned ELA materials to keep things fresh and meaningful all year long.

• 6th Grade Standards-Aligned Unit Bundle
• 7th Grade Standards-Aligned Unit Bundle
• 8th Grade Standards-Aligned Unit Bundle

You’ve earned a little Friday joy, too.