Warm-up activities grab the attention of the students and get their minds fired up for the main lesson. A warm-up usually only takes about 5 minutes at the beginning of class, leaving you with plenty of time to teach the actual content. The activities are typically entertaining in format to create excitement about participating.
Picture Stories
A picture creates the basis of this quick warm-up activity for English class. The activity focuses on creating a story, paying attention to details and being descriptive. Display an interesting picture for the class. You might choose a picture that is recognizable or an image that is difficult to decipher to force the students to rely on the details and descriptions. The students share either verbally or in written form about the picture. You might ask them to describe the scene or create a story based on it. The goal is to quickly come up with words relevant to the picture.
Journal Writing in Language Arts Class
A 5 or 10 minute journal session to start English class warms up the writing skills and minds of the students. Write a question of the day on the board to serve as the journal topic. Topic ideas for the questions include current events, holidays, seasonal topics, future goals and typical social issues like school pressures or peer pressure. The students start writing immediately and continue writing without pausing until the time is up. Some students might have difficulty writing on one topic for the entire time. You can require that they start writing about the question of the day with the option to switch to another topic if they run out of ideas.
Dig Deeper Questioning Activity
A few students each day get to take center stage for this language arts warm-up activity. One student makes a simple statement about an activity he did recently. For example, he might say, "I went to a concert." The other students ask questions to dig deeper and get more details about the student's experience. This helps the kids develop questions that help dig up detailed information. The activity also gives the students a chance to practice talking in front of a group.
What's the Object?
This English class warm-up game requires an object that the students can't identify immediately. The kids inspect the object to figure out what it does. Ask them to describe the different features of the object that could give clues about its purpose. Make notes on the board based on the student contributions. If the kids can't figure out what the item is after a few minutes, give them a few clues. Another option is to have each student write a paragraph about what they think the object is and what it is used for.
Warming up for Language Arts Class
Student warm-up activities get your class ready for your main lesson. Using a variety of warm-up activities keeps the students interested day after day.
Shelley Frost - Shelley Frost pursued a freelance writing career after giving up a traditional job to stay home with her two young children. Shelley ...
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