Middle school teachers will surely face a little soul-searching with their students throughout the year. It's beyond important to lay a strong foundation with the setup of one's classroom within the first few weeks of school and maintain that classroom culture throughout the year.
Helping students develop identity charts and finding hope in all of their admirable traits can put you on the fast track. Here are 22 meaningful middle school activities that will be perfect for the beginning, middle, or end of school.
1. Tell Me About You
Initiate positive conversations, and allow students to freely express who they are. Providing students with activities like this will have a huge impact on how comfortable or uncomfortable students are in the classroom. A great game for the first few weeks of school.
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2. New Student | Bloom & Prickle
Although this may have been designed for new students, this worksheet can be used for various personal identity aspects throughout middle school. Use this to provoke student feelings and self-esteem.
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3. Positive Traits Cootie Catcher
I absolutely love this one. This is a self-esteem lesson where other students work together to bring out each other's positive qualities. Work with students and create cootie catchers in groups or have students create them on their own.
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4. Morning Journal Prompts
Does your class have daily journals? A descriptive writing activity is one of the best ways for students to get out all of their feelings. Starting the day with a morning journal prompt will help students develop their identities.
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5. Love Me, Flower
A who am I activity students of all ages will enjoy and appreciate. Work through your student's personal identity with them by giving feedback and providing a comfortable space for them to express exactly who they are.
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6. Who Am I Outside? Who Am I Inside?
Gaining an understanding of identity doesn't get easier as we get older. Meaning our middle school students are probably feeling a little lost. Self-esteem activities like this will provoke students to look outside what they see in the mirror and into what they feel inside.
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7. Tell Me Who You Are
Class activities that also involve parents are super exciting for everyone. Instead of creating identity charts this year, have students and parents create their own identity & community. Use words and phrases to describe you and stick them all over.
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8. Who I Am, Who I Want to Be
This is an extremely simple activity that will help students to grasp the concept of identity. If you have a class with teenagers, it will feel nice as a basic idea to get them thinking about their identity. Bring in the colorful ideas later.
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9. Self-Esteem Journey
Suppose you've found one or more of your students struggling with a difficult time in their lives. Provide them with a blank template of the self-esteem journey and fill in the checklist or write it in their journals.
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10. How Did You Affect the Class Today?
Self-esteem and "Who I am" go hand in hand. Having students reflect on their part in class lessons is really important to help them develop into exactly who they are. There is no correct answer to this, so let your kiddo's minds run wild.
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11. I Am Jars
I love this idea!! Keep these jars around for the year, and every time your student feels an "I am" moment, have them add it to their jars. The best part is that students get to decorate their jars at the beginning of the school year and read all their qualities at the end.
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12. My Identity
This is a game for middle schoolers that not only helps them read into their identity but also incorporates a little music and fun. Using the sentence starters, students must create a sentence that speaks to their identity.
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13. I Am Interesting
This is a pretty basic activity that can easily be incorporated into different classroom lessons. Help students connect with themselves by guiding them in developing descriptive statements for physical, social, and inner aspects of their lives.
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14. Authentic Self Art
This therapeutic art activity is perfect for any of your students that may be struggling to find who they really are. This isn't only an art project; it also incorporates meditation and relaxation for students.
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15. Self-Awareness
My students love this because it's simple and fun. Help your students point out their most qualities and chat about how that affects their daily lives and decisions. Make a huge impact by having students talk about their identity qualities rather than facts.
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16. Feelings Charades
Do your middle schoolers have trouble sharing their emotions? This feelings charades activity will help kiddos experience and guess different emotions from each other. Fun activities like this add more comfort to the classroom and can greatly impact how students react to different emotions they feel.
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17. The Reflection in Me
Short films are some of the best middle school homeroom ideas. The Reflection of Me focuses on who we are and what our reflections mean. Guide your students in follow-up questions about how students feel when they look in the mirror.
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18. Philosophy of Who I Am
Learning through philosophy can be challenging, but it can be exceptionally helpful for some students. This TedEd video will help students better understand what it really means to know who you are and how dynamic identity can be.
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19. I Need My Teacher to Know
Do you do a "Getting to know you" activity at the beginning of the year?
If you answered yes, this might be an amazing alternative with little to no prep. If you're planning on setting your students up with student journals, this may just be the perfect first prompt for middle school students.
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20. Who I Am Game
This game is normally played by choosing a famous person and guessing who they are through various clues. But, using classroom identity charts might be more fun to have students choose another student in the class and describe them positively.
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21. Would You Rather?
There's no doubt that playing "Would You Rather" is always a win. Fantastic activities like this never fail to burn some time. Turn it into a classroom activity where students get to know each other and maybe who has the same interests as them!
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22. Random Wheel
There are sooo many ways to use the Random wheel in your classroom. Have your students join groups, spin, and chat with each other or use it as a whole class. It will honestly soon become one of your favorite classroom games due to low prep and high engagement.
Pro tip: You can create your own random wheel for any topic in your classroom!
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