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Lit with Lyns

Proven Back to School Activities & Strategies that Work

Back to School Ideas & Resources· digital activities for middle school ELA· Digital Escape Rooms· digital resources

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I hope those of you who are still out for the summer are enjoying your last few weeks. If you’re like me and are back in the saddle, hopefully you’ve had a great start to the school year. I want to share proven back to school activities & strategies that work to make your start seamless.

1- Daily Digital Agenda

This has been a life changer for me! Not only does it keep me on top of what we’re doing, it allows students to know what we’re doing that day, and if a student is absent, they can check the agenda to see what they missed. If you happen to use Schoology, here’s a quick video that shows you how to add it as a button in the course, so students can’t miss it. To access the FREE agenda template, click HERE.

 

 

2- Back to School Activities Digital Escape Room

This back to school digital escape room is a FANTASTIC way to start your school year off right! Perfect for 5th, 6th, 7th, & 8th grade!!!

***SAVE 20% when you purchase this in the Back to School GROWING BUNDLE!

Your students will think you’re the best teacher around when you use this high engagement resource, which allows you to get to know more about them with a student survey, provide important tips on how they can be successful throughout the school year, and teach them about setting SMART Goals.

3- Exit Tickets (Yours for FREE)

I always want to make sure my students understand the material we covered in class. Because of that, I created digital and printable exit tickets. They work for any subject area and can apply to whatever you covered that day. How about a FREEBIE?!? You can grab these here.

 

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For more beginning of the school year tips, check out this blog post.

What strategies for back to school do you implement that works? I’d love to hear all about them in the comments. Seriously… I need all the goods!

 

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« Best Test Prep Resources for ELA End of Year Testing
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☀️ Keep your middle school students engaged until ☀️ Keep your middle school students engaged until the VERY last day of school! 🔐📚 Comment ESCAPE to have link sent straight to your inbox. 

This End of Year Digital Escape Room is the perfect way to review important ELA skills while still having FUN during those chaotic final weeks 😅

Students will work through engaging challenges focused on:
✨ Reading Comprehension
✨ Figurative Language
✨ Student Reflection
✨ Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

✔️ Digital & Editable
✔️ Grades 5–8
✔️ Zero Prep
✔️ No Printing Needed

Your students will love the interactive format, and you’ll love having an easy, meaningful activity that keeps everyone focused and learning 🙌

Perfect for review days, sub plans, enrichment, or end-of-year fun! 🌴💻

#middleschoolela #elateacher #endofyearactivities #digitalescaperoom
✨ Grammar just got a whole lot more fun! ✨Comment ✨ Grammar just got a whole lot more fun! ✨Comment GRAMMAR to have the link sent directly to your messages. 

These 8 Parts of Speech Posters are the perfect way to make grammar concepts clear, engaging, and easy for students to remember! 📚💡

Each poster includes:
✔️ The part of speech word 
✔️ Student-friendly definition 
✔️ Example word 
✔️ Visual image support 
✔️ The part of speech used in a sentence 

PLUS — they come in BOTH 🌈 color and 🖍️ black & white options!

Perfect for:
⭐ Classroom decor 
⭐ Grammar walls 
⭐ Interactive notebooks 
⭐ Anchor charts 
⭐ Student reference tools 

Your students will actually USE these all year long! 🙌

#middlegradesela #grammaractivities #partsofspeech #classroomdecor #anchorcharts
✨ Make those last weeks of school meaningful AND e ✨ Make those last weeks of school meaningful AND engaging! ✨  𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞s. 

Give your middle school students the opportunity to reflect on their year in a fun, student-centered way with this End of Year Student Reflection & Infographic activity! 💻📝 

Students can: 
🎉 Share favorite memories 
🎶 Talk about favorite songs & TV shows 
👯 Reflect on friendships 
💭 Give feedback about what they liked or would change 
📚 Celebrate growth from the school year 

Perfect for keeping students engaged while still encouraging thoughtful reflection during the busy end-of-year season! 

✔️ Digital & Printable 
✔️ Grades 5–8 
✔️ Zero Prep 
✔️ Meaningful + Fun 

This is the perfect activity for building classroom community, encouraging student voice, and ending the year on a positive note 💖 

#middleschoolteacher #endofyearactivities #teacherlife #middlegrades #elateacher
Your students already LOVE creating stories… now i Your students already LOVE creating stories… now imagine turning their writing into illustrated books they can actually publish. 📚✨

BuildMyStory makes it easy for students to transform their ideas into engaging, illustrated storybooks in just a few lessons — while practicing standards-aligned reading and writing skills at the same time.

✔️ Free to use
✔️ Boosts creativity + engagement
✔️ Standards-aligned
✔️ Perfect for elementary & middle school classrooms
✔️ Students become published authors 💙

This is the kind of writing activity students beg to keep working on. 🙌

#TeachersOfInstagram #ELAteachers #TeacherTools #WritingWorkshop
Who can relate? Who can relate?
✨ Make argumentative writing ENGAGING and easy to ✨ Make argumentative writing ENGAGING and easy to teach! ✨𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬.

This zero prep resource includes interactive drag-&-drop activities, argumentative paragraph examples, and skill-based practice that helps students confidently identify the key parts of argumentative writing.

🖊️ Students will practice identifying:
✔️ Claims
✔️ Evidence
✔️ Counterclaims
✔️ Transition words for counterclaims & rebuttals

What’s included:
📚 Thesis Statements & Evidence activities
💻 Claims & Counterclaims drag-&-drop activities
📝 Argumentative paragraph example
🔍 Paragraph analysis practice
✅ Answer keys included
🖨️ PRINT + DIGITAL versions included

Perfect for middle school ELA and easy to use for whole group, stations, independent practice, or review!

#middle schoolela #argumentativewriting #elateacher #teacherspayteachers #digitallearning
✨ End of the year… but your students are still lea ✨ End of the year… but your students are still learning! 🙌 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬!!!

Keep your middle schoolers engaged (without the chaos 😅) with these 10 End of Year Mini-Projects — available in digital + printable formats!

📝 Each project includes a meaningful writing component
💻 Editable PowerPoint included — customize with ease!
⏱️ ZERO prep (because you’ve done enough already!)

Perfect for those last few weeks when attention spans are low but you still want purposeful, standards-aligned activities 💡

Your students will stay engaged, reflect on their year, and actually enjoy learning right up to the last day 🎉

#middleschoolELA #teacherlife #endofyearactivities #elatips #teachersofinstagram

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