I sure wish my students inherently loved to read, and they all had wicked vocabulary skills, and I never had to convince them that a text was worthwhile of their time. If they did, that would make engaging reluctant readers much easier.
When it comes to engaging middle school ELA and high school English students, I’ve noticed a pretty consistent trend: teens like to color, doodle, and create. As much as some teens might moan and groan about coloring, it’s actually quite therapeutic, and it helps many disengaged students focus on the lesson, assignment, or assessment. That is why these coloring activities for secondary ELA are great additions to your curriculum!
However, when it comes to coloring in the classroom, all coloring-type assignments are not created equally and should not be used synonymously. In fact, sketch notes and doodle notes, mind maps, and one-pagers all have their own distinct place and purpose in the classroom. And when used effectively, these activities and assignments help unlock students’ creativity and analysis skills.
Before diving into the different coloring activities, it is important to have the materials you need to successfully facilitate these assignments in the classroom. There have been quite a few times when I walked into my classroom at the start of a school day not planning on coloring, but I throw it in because at the last moment I felt that it would serve a purpose in my daily lesson. This blog post contains affiliate links that help cover the cost of the blog.
