Writing Activities to Keep Students Engaged in the Classroom

Keeping students engaged in the classroom seems like a full-time task, but there are some fun projects you can do to help students learn while keeping their interest. Let’s look at some enriching writing activities you can utilize to create well-rounded students and teach essential skills in the process.

Poetry Scavenger Hunt

For reluctant writers, poetry can be an accessible way to build vocabulary and get used to expression. A poetry scavenger hunt makes this an engaging activity by taking magazines, papers, and leaflets or copying words from signs and announcements. Students can put them together to form their poetry and share it with the class.

What If? Bowl

Open-ended questions are a great way to get students flowing in the writing process. Have everyone in the class write down a what-if question — the wackier, the better — and place their question, folded, into a bowl. Students draw out a paper and free-write for a set period to answer their open-ended questions.

Letters to Myself

Another way to get students to think critically and imaginatively is a letter to themselves. You can choose past self or future self for this assignment, or allow students to choose independently. They’ll think critically and may feel more connected to the writing process because of the personal connection.

Story Chain

If you’re looking for a way for the entire classroom to bond overwriting, this is it. Story chains are great for group work or whole-class work, allowing students to make connections and thinking creatively.

They work like this: Ask students to write one line on a piece of paper to begin a piece of writing. Pass the paper to the next person, who reads the line and folds it over to hide it from view. That student writes the next sentence and passes it to the next person, who folds the paper again and writes another sentence. The project continues until the original writer has their paper again. Read aloud for extra laughs or interest.

Argumentative Essays

Argumentative writing lesson plans can be customized for ability level or purpose. Choose a high-interest topic (Should schools assign homework?) so that students feel interested. Be sure to teach the difference between a claim and an opinion and allow students to craft arguments and present evidence through their writing. It can also be helpful to brainstorm supporting evidence in groups before the writing process. If you need support for lesson plans, free resources from expert sites like Adobe Education Exchange can help.

Response and Reflections

Students love YouTube and other online video services. Use that interest to your advantage by finding online videos for your students to watch. Afterward, students must respond to the video through reflection writing or in response based on your assignment. This is a great way to get fodder for argumentative essays, too.

Keep Students Engaged With Writing

Writing doesn’t have to be boring. You can keep students engaged through creative topics and interactive lesson plans designed to bring out their creativity and opinions. Writing is a wonderful tool, and these topics won’t let you down.