The Sparkly Notebook

Mastering the ELA Standards in Middle School

Back to School

3 Things Students Need from Their ELA Teacher Every Single Day

In this blog post, we will go through 3 things students need from their teachers from the perspective of middle school ELA.

Middle schoolers may not say it out loud (or at all), but they need a lot from us as teachers, especially in the ELA classroom.

Some days, it feels like you’re being asked to wear ten different hats, teacher, mentor, referee, coach, event planner, and that’s not even including your actual job of teaching reading, writing, and communication skills.

But at the heart of all the chaos, there are a few core things students need from you every single day. If you can focus on these, you’ll build strong relationships, support academic growth, and help students feel seen and successful, even on the hardest days.

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3 Things Students Need from Middle School ELA Teachers

Here’s what your students need most from you in middle school ELA.

1 | Structure and Predictability

Middle schoolers may act like they want freedom and flexibility, but what they really need is consistency. They thrive when they know what to expect.

That means:

  • Clear routines (What’s the warm-up? How do I turn in work?)
  • Consistent expectations (What’s acceptable in group work? How do we participate in discussions?)
  • A steady presence (You don’t need to be the “fun” teacher, but you do need to be reliable.)

Start the year by teaching your routines and reinforcing them daily. Need a place to begin? Check out our post on Goals for the First Two Weeks of Middle School ELA. It’s all about setting the tone early.

New Teacher Series: Goals for the First Two Weeks of Middle School ELA

2 | Engaging and Purposeful Content

ELA can feel boring if students don’t see the point, but it doesn’t have to be. When your lessons have a clear purpose and a little spark, students will respond.

That doesn’t mean you need games and glitter every day. 

It means:

  • Use high-interest texts and topics
  • Give students authentic reasons to read and write
  • Vary your approach (paired passages, digital sorts, creative writing, etc.)

Our Standards-Based Units help keep things focused while still allowing for creativity and connection. They’re designed to target essential skills without overwhelming you or your students.

6th Grade Standard Bundle
6th Grade ELA Bundle
7th Grade Standards-Based Learning Bundle (Every ELA Standard)
7th Grade Bundle
8th Grade Standards-Based Learning Bundle (Every ELA Standard)
8th Grade Bundle

3 | Encouragement, Honesty, and Feedback

Students are looking for signs that they’re on the right track, especially in subjects like reading and writing, where there isn’t always a clear-cut answer.

They need encouragement, yes—but they also need honesty. They can tell when we’re sugarcoating things, and they’ll trust you more if your feedback is both kind and real.

Make sure you’re offering:

  • Specific praise (“You really backed up your claim well here.”)
  • Constructive direction (“Let’s work on adding more text evidence to support your point.”)
  • Honest reflection (“This part is a little confusing, can you tell me more about what you meant here?”)

You don’t have to grade everything, but you do need to give consistent, meaningful feedback. A sticky note. A quick conference. A margin note. It goes a long way.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be everything to everyone, and you don’t need to have the perfect lesson every day.

But when you focus on structure, engaging content, student voice, honest feedback, and a steady presence, you’re meeting your students where they are and giving them what they need most.

And the best part? You’re building a classroom where learning feels safe, meaningful, and maybe even a little bit fun.

You’ve got this.

Grab FREE Middle School ELA Standard Breakdowns Below!

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New Teacher Checklist for the First Week of School (Middle School ELA Edition)

Take a deep breath and work through this new teacher checklist, specifically designed for new middle school ELA teachers.

The first week of school is full of energy, nerves, and a million things to juggle, especially if you’re new to teaching middle school ELA.

You’re learning names, setting up your classroom, trying to remember where the staff bathroom is, and figuring out how to keep 20+ tweens focused while still being your friendly, approachable self.

Deep breath. You don’t have to do everything. You just need to focus on the right things.

Here’s your first-week new teacher checklist designed just for middle school ELA teachers. We’ve also included some helpful resources to make it a little easier.

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New Teacher Checklist for that First Week of School (Middle School ELA)

1 | Set Clear Expectations (Without Lecturing)

Middle school students need structure. They will absolutely test the waters to figure out what’s allowed and what’s not.

But a “syllabus day” is not the best way to establish those expectations. 

Let’s be honest, that first day of school can be REALLY BORING for most students because in every class, they do the same thing. Go over the syllabus, review the expectations, show them around the classroom, and maybe do a name game or some get-to-know you type of activity.

This may be helpful for YOU (the teacher), but it is super boring for the students. 

But instead of spending the first day reading your syllabus out loud (cue the glazed eyes), focus on introducing just the most important expectations and routines—then reinforce them as they come up. After that, do something subject specific that will allow you and the students to interact, but not be just another generic “get-to-know you” activity.

Our Back to School Digital Escape Room is a fun, interactive way to review ELA skills, observe student interactions, and generally interact with students (while practicing using their names).

Back to School Digital Escape Room
Back to School Escape Room

Pro Tip: Rather than going over all the things on day 1. Make a calendar, and go over one thing each day. This will allow you to review what you went over the days before, and then add things a little bit at a time. You’ll build a culture of respect without losing students’ attention on day one.

Sign Up for a FREE plot structure digital escape room!

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 


 

2 | Start Building Your Community

You don’t need a million icebreakers—but students do need to feel safe and seen.

Middle schoolers will get to know you and each other organically through routines, structure, and clear communication. Let relationship-building happen naturally by being clear, kind, and steady.

Want a few fun academic-based community activities? Check out our blog post: 5 Back to School Activities for Middle School ELA

5 fun back to school activities to start the year
Blog Post (5 fun back-to-school activities to start the year)

3 | Gather Formative Data (but don’t grade anything yet)

The next section of this new teacher checklist is all about assessment, but it’s not about grading!

Yes, you’ll need to know where your students are academically, especially in reading and writing, but that doesn’t mean giving a giant diagnostic test on day two.

Instead, try low-stakes ways to gather formative data:

  • A short writing prompt: “What should your ELA teacher know about you?”
  • A reading passage and a few comprehension questions
  • A quick ELA brain dump (what they remember from last year)

Use our high-interest Paired Passages or our Figurative Language Digital Sort to ease students into content and collect valuable insight into their current skills.

Figurative Language Sorting Activity
Figurative Language Sort Activity

4 | Begin Light Instruction to Set the Tone

You want students to know that your class matters, and that it’s a place for real learning, even during week one.

Start small with:

Our Standards-Based Units for Grades 6–8 are a great place to start planning your content. You don’t have to cover everything right away, but having a plan for how you’ll get to each standard helps relieve a lot of that first-year stress.

Check out the unit bundle for your grade level:

6th Grade Standard Bundle
6th Grade ELA Bundle
7th Grade Standards-Based Learning Bundle (Every ELA Standard)
7th Grade Bundle
8th Grade Standards-Based Learning Bundle (Every ELA Standard)
8th Grade Bundle

5 | Get Your Sub Plans and “Just in Case” Materials Ready

It may sound early, but having your emergency sub plans and a few backup activities ready now can be a lifesaver. In this blog post, we outline an easy way to create a few emergency sub plans specifically for middle school ELA, ensuring that even when you’re away, your students will continue to learn.

Check out our post on How to Prepare for the Unexpected in Middle School ELA for more survival tips and resources.

New Teacher Series: How to Prepare for the Unexpected in Middle School ELA

6 | Breathe and Give Yourself Grace

The first week won’t go perfectly. You’ll forget things. You’ll make changes on the fly. You’ll go home tired.

That’s normal.

Middle school ELA is full of moving parts, but it’s also full of creativity, connection, and opportunity. If you can stay focused on clear expectations, relationship-building, and simple routines, you’re setting yourself, and your students, up for a successful year.

Final Thoughts

You don’t need to be a superhero the first week. You just need to be prepared enough to keep the chaos manageable and flexible enough to adjust when things go off script, because they will most definitely go off script, as that is just the life of teaching. We are hoping this new teacher checklist will be helpful as you work your way through your first couple weeks!

We’re cheering you on every step of the way. And if you need support, check out our full collection of standards-aligned middle school ELA resources in The Sparkly Notebook TPT Store.

You’ve got this, new teacher friend!

Connecting with Your Students 101: Building Relationships That Matter

Connecting with your students has to be a purposeful focus as you aim to create an environment of mutual respect.

Let’s face it—school isn’t always at the top of every student’s list of favorite places to be. But as a teacher, you have the power to shift their perspective by building personal connections that make them feel valued and understood.

When students know you care about them as individuals, and you’re able to deliver content in a way that is meaningful to them, they’re far more likely to engage with the material and invest in their learning.

Here are some simple ways to connect with your students and make your classroom a space they look forward to being in:

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1 | Step Into Their World

One of the easiest ways to show you care is by taking an interest in the things your students enjoy. If they can’t stop talking about a new book series, read it, and use it to spark conversations. It doesn’t have to be educational; it just has to be real.

If they play sports or participate in extracurricular activities, attend an event or ask how their last performance or game went. Take an interest in them outside of school, and they are more likely to take an interest in you within it.

2 | Pick Topics They Care About

Students are much more likely to get into school when lessons feel relevant to their lives.

  • Use high-interest paired passages on topics students are excited about. The Sparkly Notebook offers paired passages on a variety of engaging themes that help students connect with the material while meeting academic standards.
  • Adjust your examples to include their hobbies, favorite celebrities, or even memes they’re into. Even these kinds of seemingly inconsequential changes make learning feel personal and fun.
  • When the holidays roll around, don’t pretend they don’t exist—find some fun, educational activities for your students to do to “celebrate.” For example, try The Sparkly Notebook’s digital escape rooms! These themed activities not only make learning exciting but also reinforce key skills like figurative language and reading comprehension in a way that feels like play.
6th-7th Grade Paired Passage Bundle
Paired Passage Bundle (6th-7th Grade)
8th-9th Grade Paired Passage Bundle
Paired Passage Bundle (8th-9th Grade)
Digital Escape Room Bundle
Escape Room Bundle

Sign Up for a FREE plot structure digital escape room!

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

3 | Have Meaningful Conversations

Take time to listen to your students and create opportunities for them to share in a meaningful way.

Whether it’s an informal chat about their weekend or a deeper discussion sparked by a paired passage, these moments show students that their thoughts and opinions matter. Building this kind of dialogue fosters ongoing mutual respect.

4 | Be Real with Them

Students connect best with teachers who are authentic. Share your own experiences, tell funny (and appropriate!) stories, and let them see that you’re human, too.

When you’re genuine, it encourages students to open up and helps build a positive, collaborative classroom culture.

Important: Don’t confuse being real and kind with being soft on students. You should still have firm, fair expectations, but when that is combined with an honest real-ness, students are often happy to rise to your expectations.

Where Should You Start?

Start small—whether it’s reading the same books they’re reading, using engaging resources like paired passages and escape rooms, or simply listening to what’s important to them. Those little efforts add up and can make a big difference in how students feel about school—and about learning with you.

Want a fun activity to do with students as you get ready for New Year’s? Read about how to do some goal-setting with your students HERE. Goal setting is just another way that you can show students that you’re interested in what they’re interested in and want to help them get where they want to go!

Checklists for Planning Your Middle School ELA Curriculum This School Year

Check out these checklists for planning your middle school ELA curriculum this school year!

Planning for your classes can be really difficult as there are so many different standards to focus on. 

One key resource we like to use, whether we are working with new or seasoned teachers, is checklists.

The Value of a Checklist

Checklists give us a clearly defined list of things to think about. 

Although some people like a checklist for checking off tasks that get done, I am all about freeing up some headspace.

Checklists help to declutter the brain and bring focus to the tasks we need to get done.

Checklists are also good for referring back to throughout the year and editing as needed. 

For example, once your state testing days are set, you may find yourself going back to the checklist to make sure your timeline will still work and that students have had the time to learn all the standards and review them before state testing begins.

Checkout this blog post about using these checklists to make sure students are prepared for standardized tests!

Preparing students for standardized tests with

Standards-Based Checklists for ELA Teachers

Standards-based checklists, like the ones we use, list the standards, suggest key terms to focus on regarding each standard, and provide space to write about how/where the standard is being taught, reviewed, and assessed throughout the year. 

The first tab of the checklists lets you look at the standards in terms of which quarter of the year you’re working on them. The second tab gives you space to consider when they are being taught and to put in dates or months for when they will be spiraled back into the curriculum.

Finally, the third tab lays out the standard next to the same standard from the previous grade level. So, if you’re looking at the 6th grade standards, then on this final tab, you’ll be able to see the 5th and 6th grade standards side-by-side.

When you use these checklists to plan your curriculum this year, you not only get a chance to make a plan but also some headspace back, as you will have a clear picture of what needs to be taught and how it compares to the grade level that came before it.

Available Checklist for ELA Teachers

We have a bunch of standards checklists available to help you save an enormous amount of time finding, typing out, and organizing all the standards yourself. Just click on the links below to see the details of what each checklist has to offer!

K-5 ELA Common Core Standards Checklist Bundle

K-5th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist Bundle

K-12 Standards Breakdown and Checklists Bundle – Common Core

Common Core Bundle (Checklists)

5th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist

5th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist

6th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist

Preparing Middle School Students for standardized tests: 6th grade standards checklist
6th Grade Checklist

7th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist

Preparing Middle School Students for Standardized Tests: (7th Grade Standards Checklist)
7th Grade Checklist

8th Grade ELA Common Core Checklist

8th Grade Standards Checklist
8th Grade Checklist

As you begin planning your middle school ELA curriculum this year, you may find it helpful to check out all of our additional Sparkly Notebook Checklists Here!  We have several different versions and grade levels to make your planning process easier!

Grab FREE Middle School ELA Standard Breakdowns Below!

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Set Middle School Students Up for Success with Classroom Procedures

You take steps toward creating a positive learning environment when you set middle school students up for success with classroom procedures.

Starting the school year off right with students is all about setting high expectations and instilling good classroom procedures to help everything run more smoothly.

Many teachers dive right into content at the beginning of the year without any regard for setting up the classroom procedures that will be the backbone of the expectations and environment we build within our classroom for the rest of the year.

Setting expectations for what students do when they come into the room, how they ask to use the restroom, or even how to approach the teacher about missing work will make working with the students much easier as the year moves on.

Classroom Procedures to Focus on in Middle School ELA

Here are some of the main classroom procedures we believe are most important to setting up a strong learning environment in middle school. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and for some of these things, the school may have a policy in place, but you should always address it explicitly in your class as well.

  • What are students expected to bring to class?
  • What happens if students do not bring all of their supplies to class?
  • Where are classroom supplies?
  • When are the supplies allowed to be used?
  • How are groups decided?
  • How are seating charts created?
  • How do students ask to use the restroom?
  • What happens when phones are seen? Heard? Used?
  • How and when is technology used in the classroom?
  • What will happen if students come to the room unprepared?
  • How should the student approach the teacher when they know they will be absent or tardy?
  • How should students approach the teacher if they have an emergency or unexpected absence?
  • How should students approach the teacher if they did not complete an assignment by the due date?
  • How and when will a teacher allow students to leave the classroom during instruction?
  • How should a student report to the teacher if a group member is not fulfilling their role in the group?
  • How should students approach the teacher if they have concerns about the content they are learning in the class?

One of the things that separates good classroom management from bad classroom management is having good classroom procedures in place and practicing them regularly. Being willing to go over classroom procedures, practice them, test on them, and expect them to be followed EVERY DAY creates a consistency that students learn to expect from you as a teacher and in your classroom environment.

Using Common Resources

In addition to setting up specific classroom procedures, having consistent practices such as expected bell ringer activities or exit slips also help with classroom management because students know exactly what they are expected to do as they come into the classroom or leave the classroom each day.

In this post, we talk about using Paired Passages as bell ringers or exit tickets, and we have enough paired passages available to use this strategy for the entire semester!

Benefits of playing sports paired passages
Paired Passages – Sports
High-Interest Paired Passages: Cell Phones
Paired Passages – Cell Phones
Easy Middle School ELA Activities for the Weeks Surrounding Spring Break (Video Game Paired Passages)
Paired Passages – Video Games

What additional classroom procedures do you go over with students? Do you have any special tips or tricks? We’d love to hear them!

Have a great day!

Grab FREE Middle School ELA Standard Breakdowns Below!

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Which grade level are you most interested in?

Fun and Easy Back-to-School Ideas for Middle School

Let’s start planning for the new year with these fun and easy back-to-school ideas for middle school ELA.

Middle school is an interesting beast when it comes to back-to-school time. First of all, you have a lot of new students. Unlike elementary teachers with the same 20 or 30 students for the whole year, a middle school teacher may have 100-200 new students.

As we plan for all of these students, we want to have activities ready to go that are easy to set up and don’t require students to transition too much between activities.

I love digital escape rooms for precisely this reason. 

Digital Escape Rooms

Digital escape rooms require no prep; students can work on it alone or with assigned groups or partners making them some of the perfect back-to-school ideas for middle school ela.

Even better, these digital escape rooms are focused on reading skills and, therefore, also work as a formative assessment!

Digital escape rooms are fun and cooperative, and they are also a challenge. Still, if you’re looking for a good individual activity for students to do at the beginning of the school year, you may want to consider spending some time with paired passages.

Make sure you have just the escape room you need by reading this blog post to learn how to pick the best educational escape rooms for middle school ELA!

Sign Up for a FREE plot structure digital escape room!

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 

Paired Passages

The many ways you can use paired passages are why I like these for back-to-school time.

Check out this post for 5 NEW ways to use paired passages!

Paired passages can be used to start discussions, as the basis of a writing prompt or opinion-based writing assignment, or they can be used as an activity for students to work on while you take attendance and work in small groups with other students.

Suppose you are learning the names of 100+ students. In that case, you may like the extra time to speak one-on-one or in small groups, and these paired passage sets and their corresponding questions will keep your other students focused and working on their reading skills so that you can have some of these one-on-one or small group conversations.

Paired passages are also some of those all-powerful assessment-based activities that you can use to measure where your students are at on specific skills!

Click here to see all the high-interest paired passages in The Sparkly Notebook store!

Book Read Aloud

I love love love a good book read aloud at the beginning of the year. Pick one of your classroom texts and get started reading a little bit of it aloud each day for the first couple weeks of school. If you choose the right book, your students will enjoy hearing the story.

I like to read the text and narration and assign students (or ask for volunteers)  to read the character dialogue.

This book read-aloud gives us a solid start to the year. For some of your students, this may be the first chapter book that they’ve ever actually read all the way through. Setting expectations for reading and showing students that reading can be fun is important!

Doing a book read-aloud also gives every person in the class a story or book they can refer back to when giving examples or talking about other reading or writing skills. By simply reading one book out loud at the beginning of the year, you are creating a common base on which you can build the rest of the year.

As you plan for the fall, hopefully, you’ll find some fun and easy, standards-based activities to engage your students and get everyone started on the right foot! 

Here’s to learning all those names as soon as possible!

5 Things to Consider When Using Paired Passages in Middle School ELA

Often people think paired passages can only be used exactly as they’re sold, but we’re here to tell you that there are a whole bunch of ways you can be using paired passages in middle school.

Today we are going through 5 things to consider when using paired passages in middle school ELA. We hope this list will give you some ideas for different ways to use paired passages but also encourage you to be selective about which paired passages you use for each activity.

If you love paired passages, make sure to head over to this blog post, where we provide 5 NEW ways to use paired passages in middle school ELA.

#1 | What’s the Standard?

What is the standard that you’re focusing on, and what do students need to do or practice for your students to engage with that standard?

Often we think that paired passages have to be used with reading standards, but that’s not true. In fact, depending on the passage you choose, the passages can be used for many of the standards in the ELA curriculum.

If you are working on a writing standard, you may use the paired passage as part of the research or citing practice, which is very different than using the paired passages to work on speaking standards through a discussion or even as part of a debate.

Know your goal first, and then use the passages to help your students meet your goals in the best way you can.

#2 | Which Passage?

We have over 30 paired passages in the store, so how do you choose which passage to use? 

First, is there a specific topic you’ve been discussing as a class? If there is a related passage, you may decide to use that one.

You could also choose passages based on student interest or with an upcoming holiday in mind.

With over 30 paired passages to choose from, you can be particular and pointed in your decision. You could even add in a little student choice by letting students pick from a selection of paired passages you’ve curated specifically for an assignment or lesson.

Since you have so many options, this is a great place to be picky!

Grab our FREE Paired Passage Resource!

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#3| Both Passages or Just One?

Although paired passages come in sets, you don’t have to use both passages. Maybe you only need one passage for a particular assignment, or maybe there is one perspective that you specifically want to focus on.

Just because there are two doesn’t mean you actually need to use both at the same time!

#4 | Questions or Not?

We provide reading comprehension questions for every paired passage set in our store. Just because the questions are available does not mean you actually have to use them. 

If you are using the paired passages to work on a writing standard, the questions may not have any use to you at all. However, if you are using the paired passages daily as part of your morning routine, you may want students to do every question!

#5 | Print or Digital?

Lastly, since the paired passages are available as both print and digital resources, you can decide if you want students to work through them on their computers or on paper. 

If your students have been spending a lot of time on their computers, consider printing out the next set of paired passages you use. Or maybe the activity you’re doing requires the students to annotate directly on the passages.

You don’t have to commit to doing it the same way every time!

Paired passages can be magical in your classroom, but with so many different kinds, you can use them in different ways all year long!

Hopefully, some of the suggestions on this list have caused you to think of your paired passages in a whole new way!

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How to set up a new ELA classroom (5 things you NEED to have)

When you get the opportunity to set up a new ELA classroom, you have to have a plan, and no matter if you are someone who likes to color-coordinate, label everything, or keep the room bare, there are 6 things I would strongly recommend having.

When you are just starting out, teaching can be really exciting, but I remember those first moments when I walked into my classroom in the fall and looked around.

Suddenly the weight of an entire school year began to fall onto me.

Now, that may sound dramatic, but we are ELA teachers, after all, so I would be remiss if I left out the dramatic writing.

But, seriously. 

How many of you remember the first time you prepped your ELA class? Do you remember what books you read, papers you wrote, or projects you prepared?

I remember a few, but my teaching has changed so dramatically since then that the first-year me may not even recognize me today.

That is because I’ve gotten smarter with how I prepare, and I recognize what is most important.

Let’s dig into my must-have list!

5 things I now believe you NEED to have to adequately set up a new ELA classroom.

#1 | These Curriculum Breakdown Spreadsheets

Like it or not, teaching is not all sunshine and rainbows and creative projects. It is a series of standards and skills that you have to make sure students are working on and mastering throughout the year.

How can you prepare for such a mighty task? Plan well from the beginning.

There are Curriculum Breakdown Spreadsheets that will make planning much easier, and it is also a whole lot easier to make sure that nothing gets left out throughout the year.

Preparing Middle School Students for standardized tests: 6th grade standards checklist
Preparing Middle School Students for Standardized Tests: (7th Grade Standards Checklist)
8th Grade Standards Checklist

#2 | A Good Emergency Sub Plan 

You don’t get to pick when you get sick, and sometimes you need to punt. That means having a sub plan ready to go for those emergency situations.

Your emergency sub plan needs to be something that you can have ready to go any day. In your emergency sub plan, have a copy of your class lists, all handouts that the sub may need, and literally anything else that a sub may need to make this plan happen.

I don’t even like to have sub plans that are computer-dependent since even that is sometimes hard for subs to manage. Instead, have a lesson prepared that has physical copies.

Trust me, when you’re puking your guts out at 4 a.m., you’ll be happy that an emergency plan exists.

This Figurative Language Emergency Sub Plan is great to have on the ready for this purpose!

I also believe in having a sub-tub ready to go, and you can read more about my sub-tub here.

#3 | Whiteboards and Markers

Yep. I appreciate a class set of whiteboards more than almost anything else because they are at once paper and presentation. We can use these whiteboards for formative assessment, to take quick notes, to jot down quick feedback, and to answer questions.

They are definitely one of the places I’m willing to spend the money.

#4 | An Organizational Plan

Have a good plan for both paper/physical product and printout organization AND organization in your Google Drive and on your school computer.

You need to start with a good organizational system right away otherwise, by the time you have the time to think about cleaning everything up, it’s too late, and everything is way out of hand.

You also want to file your resources and files in a way that when you leave the school district, it is easy to take your stuff with you. Again, this is good to think about in advance!

#5 | A Place to Hide the Good Stuff

Yep. I went there. 

On my list of 5, I am going to definitely say that you absolutely NEED to have a special spot in your classroom for your stuff because you never know who is going to use your room for what purpose. 

School classrooms get rented out a lot, and classroom doors are often left unlocked during free periods, during lunch, and before and after school. You need to protect your stuff by having a place where you put your good stuff away at the end of the day.

I like this place to have a lock, but sometimes even a closet with a door is a good enough option if you’re limited.

I also know that working with middle school students that boundaries can sometimes be an issue, so you don’t need to tempt them with even more cool stuff than you already have in your classroom.

There you have it. 5 completely mismatched items that I think are must-haves for anyone who is going to set up a new ELA classroom!

It may seem random, but each of these things is important in its own way!

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Grab FREE Middle School ELA Standard Breakdowns Below!

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7 Idea-Generating Activities for Setting Goals with Middle School Students

These 7 activities for setting goals with middle school students will help your students pick topics, develop plans, and think about the best way to accomplish their goals.

Got to be honest…sometimes setting goals with students can cause a legit headache. 

Just saying the words ‘goal setting’ can send our students into a tailspin of statements like…

“I don’t have any goals.”

“I don’t know what to write.”

“This doesn’t work for me.”

“I’m not a goal-setter.”

And you know what?

We get it.

We all have those days when some of these types of tasks feel a little pointless. However, research study after research study has proven that goals (especially those that are written down, frequently reviewed, and honestly assessed) are incredibly valuable in schools and the workplace.

Thus, if we can help our students come up with a goal they are passionate about, they will be more successful in accomplishing that goal.

So, today, we are going to make coming up with goals easier for your students with 7 idea-generating activities for goal setting with middle school students.

These ideas were created with middle school students in mind. They are active, quirky, and thought-provoking.

7 Activities for Setting Goals with Middle School Students

#1 | 20 Questions

Simple and cunning, this activity for setting goals with middle school students is really quite simple. Ask the students to write down some part of their life they would like to improve. Then pair them up. 

Each student will get to ask the other a series of 20 yes/no questions in an effort to guess what the first student wrote down.

The trick is that the game is just a distraction. The main goal is just to get the students to write down something they want to improve on. You’ll instruct them to write their first goal around that part of their life.

The goal of this activity is to get students to think quickly. The game takes away the pressure of having to come up with the RIGHT thing to set a goal about. Instead, students are just asked to pick a topic on which they know they need to improve.

For many students, coming up with a topic to base a goal around is the hard part. However, once we hide the topic in the form of a game, it becomes easier.

You can also have them write down answers to these questions to get a similar result:

  • Write down the activity you’ve always wanted to try.
  • Write down the part of this class that is hardest for you.
  • Write down something that distracts you.
  • Write down a part of writing that is hard.
  • Write down your favorite topic in science.

#2 | The Game of Life

Our favorite part of The Game of Life is that we all secretly have an avenue that we hope our little car of people will take. 

To start this activity, let your students play the board game The Game of Life. Tell them that the person who’ll win is not the person with the most money but rather the person who is the happiest with their result in the end.

Once they’re done, ask them to rate their level of happiness and journal on what outcomes they would have rather seen their avatar achieve.

Use their writing to inspire their goal setting by having them pick one of their ‘ideal outcomes’ and consider what they can start doing today to achieve that outcome for themselves.

#3 | My Perfect Day

This is a writing activity, but it can be life-changing and eye-opening.

Ask students to consider themselves as adults. Ask them to write out their perfect day as an adult. 

For this activity, we are focusing on the day. So, their writing will probably have lots of times on it. At 6:30 am I wake up and have a latte made by my butler or at 7:00 am I am woken up when I hear my baby crying or I wake up at 4:30 am to head to the gym to lift weights.

The goal is to let the students have a little fun dreaming while also helping them to think through where they want to be in 8-12 years.

If your students go over the top with their planning, and get a little too silly, ask them to do a second write-up that is focused a little more on reality. 

Next, ask them to write about their perfect day as it would look at the end of the school year, but with that 8-12 year goal in mind. The goal of this activity is to get students thinking about what they can start doing as a 13-year-old to get them where they want to be in the future…What goals they could set now to have a better chance at making that future a reality.

For example, if their perfect day has them working as a lawyer, then their ‘end-of-year goal may have them participating in an 8th-grade mock trial.

Their goal for right now might have to do with researching the best clubs and teams an aspiring lawyer should consider trying in high school.

#4 | Spin the Wheel

This one is simple. Ask students to write down 5 areas of their life they are most interested in improving. (or 5 academic standards they want to improve), and then assign each to a spot on a spinner. 

Students will spin the wheel and see which one they land on. The first topic they land on 3 times is the winner and gets to be the focus of the first goal.

You can also use this method for class-wide goals.

We really like to have spinners like these handy for this kind of project.

What we find most interesting about something like spinning a wheel is that students often figure out which topic they really want to focus on most simply by waiting for the results. 

It is like the old trick of flipping a coin to make a decision. It isn’t about what side the coin lands on, it is really about which side you WANTED the coin to land on. This spinner activity can produce the same result. 

If your students come to you after spinning and say that they really want to pick one of their other topics, let them. Even though it goes against the rules of the game, we all know the main goal was just to get your students to pick a topic, and with this result, we all win!

#5 | Bingo Cards

Remember, when picking activities for goal setting with middle school students, goals can be based on a lot of different topics. We like using BINGO cards for working on behavior or healthy habits and activities.

As a class, come up with 25 healthy habits or activities (or good behaviors). Put them into a BINGO card generator like this one, and give each student a BINGO card. 

The students’ goals can then be based around the number of habits they want to incorporate into their lives or how many of these tasks they want to accomplish. The goal could also be based on the number of Bingo lines the student is able to create.

#6 | Tree of Dreams

Sometimes students need to see how accomplishing a goal can lead to changes long-term.

As a class, create a Tree of Dreams. A Tree of Dreams starts with a solid base. A single goal that is accomplished this year. Then brainstorm the different ways accomplishing that goal can affect other areas of the students’ lives or inspire other goals. 

Example:

  • If a student’s goal is to learn how to knit a scarf over the course of the next month.
  • Their next goal with that skill may be to knit a throw blanket.
  • Next, they may knit a pair of gloves and hat with a matching pattern.
  • Then, they may aim to learn another knitting pattern and make another scarf.
  • Then, they may create a pattern of their own.
  • After creating a pattern, they may host a workshop at the school to teach other people how to knit their pattern… and so on and so on.

Ask them to make a tree showing how accomplishing this one goal and rolling those skills into other goals could turn into a much bigger accomplishment. Just like a tree only has one starting point from the ground, it continues to grow and spread and become bigger and bigger.

#7 | Goldilocks’ Way

This activity is all about finding a way to accomplish your goals that is ‘just right.’

Just as Goldilocks had to sit in several chairs before finding the one that was just right for her, many of your students are not going to know how to accomplish their goals or make a plan that is right for them.

In this activity, students will establish a general goal. 

Example: I will read 5 pages in my book every day for the next 10 days.

Then, they will explore several ways to accomplish this task by considering the following question.

  • What is the fastest way to accomplish this goal?
  • What is the worst way to accomplish this goal?
  • What is the slowest way to accomplish this goal?
  • What is the happiest way to accomplish this goal?
  • What is the oddest way to accomplish this goal?
  • What is the most helpful way to accomplish this goal?
  • How would your parent/guardian accomplish this goal?
  • How would your best friend accomplish this goal?
  • How would a child accomplish this goal?
  • What is the right/best way for YOU to accomplish this goal?

It is fun for students to explore all the ways a goal can be accomplished and arrive at what is best for them. This reinforces that there are many different ways to plan for and accomplish a goal even if it is exactly the same as someone else’s.

SMART Goals

Once your students have their topics figured out, start working through the SMART goal process. To learn more about SMART goals, you can read this blog post. We also have a SMART Goals Template!

Smart Goal Template Resource

For many students, simply coming up with an idea to set a goal around will be a challenge. These activities for setting goals with middle school students are designed to get the brainstorming started!

Some of these activities will help students settle on a topic for their goal, and others will help them with the implementation plan. They will all encourage your students to have some fun while they work their way through the process.

If you are looking for some ideas on how to set teacher goals, you’re in luck. We just finished up a blog post just for you. Check it out here!

Happy Goal Setting!

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Let’s check in on your mental health, my friend

It is September and it is time to check in on our mental health. Have you incorporated these seven tips into your life yet?

Hey, you!

Yeah, you!

How are you?

No, I don’t want the automated answers of “I’m fine.” or “Okay.”

How are you really doing?

With the school year starting, I know it can be a high-stress time. Maybe you are nervous about the number of classes you are teaching or you have heard about different students in your class and are nervous about the dynamic. Maybe you feel unprepared…or unmotivated because that burnout you felt in May is still lingering.

If you are feeling any of these things, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. There is rarely a phase of education that is easy for any teacher. The beginning of the year is no exception. There is so much to introduce and the students need more guidance as they acclimate to their educational surroundings once again.

mental health quote

In this previous post, I talked about seven tips for mental health as you go through your school year. Check out the more in-depth version HERE or check out this simplified list.

  1. Have a circle of people who check in with you once every week. 
  2. Participate in school team-building activities.
  3. Do NOT take work home on weekends. 
  4. Partake in a hobby that does not relate to school. 
  5. Utilize any counseling opportunities your school may provide. 
  6. Set boundaries!
  7. Lastly, be kind to yourself and give yourself grace.

Looking at this list, how are you doing?

Are you spending quality time with your co-workers and being honest about your feelings and needs? Have you been able to avoid taking work home on the weekends? Have you set clear boundaries for yourself?

If not, let’s start today, shall we?

What can you do TODAY that will better your health over the following weeks or months of the educational year?

You may be thinking that there isn’t a lot that you can do…because let’s be honest…there is a lot in the educational world that we have little control over. However, you have more control over your mental health than anyone else. YOU can make an appointment for yourself with the school counselor. YOU can choose to focus on the positives of each day.

It is hard, I know! How can we possibly focus on ourselves so much when we need to focus on our students, our own children, our significant other, or our coworkers?

It’s a tough feat, but you DESERVE the attention just as much as anyone else. These people who need you so much NEED you to be healthy and happy. 

Think about it this way…

Recall a time when you got sick on a work day. Your nose clogged up, you had little energy, and your head was so full, that you couldn’t really think through your lesson plans. You decide to at least make it to lunch so that you don’t have to force your coworkers to cover for you. So, you get through your classes, altering your plans a little so you can at least sit down while teaching, and try your best to not lose your patience with the students because they are being…well…themselves.

Did they get the best version of you that day?

Sure didn’t!

And they won’t if you are anxious, stressed, depressed, tired, and so on.

So take care of yourself, fellow teacher.

Check out the list above. Take some steps to provide sanctuary and support for your mind.

We are all in this together.

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