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Login Create AccountGetting class started with middle school students can be a challenge. It’s easy to lose the first few minutes of class to tasks like attendance or settling students down. Having an engaging entry task for the class can be a game changer. It energizes students and gets them in the creative flow.
In the same way, getting middle school students invested in a new project can also be tricky. It pays to start with an activity to capture their interest and attention.
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This exercise pushes students to move quickly. This can be especially helpful for students who are resistant to working at a faster pace. Setting the exercise up to have them work progressively faster helps strip away the second-guessing and methodical approaches that can bog down perfectionists. It’s also an excellent way for students to work on the essentials of what makes a portrait.
Here are three questions students might consider when they are finished.
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I use the website, Creative Combinations, to find fun and weird pairings of words for students to draw. However, you can also make up your own cards and have students pick out random combinations. In this case, you could add a verb to the fun.
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By creating odd combinations, you can push students to stretch their imaginations. The sillier the phrase, the better! By not allowing students to look words up, they end up trying to deduce the definitions based on the word parts. Unintentional vocabulary practice at it’s finest! Overall, this activity is a great way to get students thinking visually.
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Exquisite corpse drawings encourage risk-taking, experimentation, and collaboration. Masked behind the fun and goofiness is an engaging creative exercise. These drawings remove control and encourage students to become comfortable with unexpected outcomes and working collaboratively. Inevitably, students want to return to this warm-up to try and top their last attempt.
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Here are four prompts you may want to try:
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Working with chalk is quick, easy, and temporary. It’s an inherently rough medium that doesn’t allow for perfectionism. It also challenges students to work on a large scale and experience drawing from the shoulder and elbow rather than their wrists and fingers. The temporary nature of the drawings also appeals to middle school students. They know their work will wash away with the next rain shower, and they’re more willing to stretch and play with their drawings.
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A consistent activity like this one helps develop routines and is a great way to get students thinking creatively at the beginning of class. I use this activity in my photography class. It pushes students to continually change things up and not get too repetitive in their work. They get more creative with each passing class. Plus, the phrases become an impromptu journal of their time in class.
Whether you’re looking for a short bellringer or an introductory activity, you’re sure to find something on this list your middle schoolers will enjoy.
How do you start your classes off each day?
Do you also have closing activities you like to do with your students?
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