Episode 295: The First Day of School Activity Your Students Will Go Home Talking About

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On this episode of the Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast Megan breaks down an EB Teacher favorite that will have your students strategizing, debating, and writing with justification on a deserted island! (Don't worry, there's no plane crash involved!) Megan shares all the details of this engaging back-to-school activity in this episode, so that you can easily recreate this experience with your students! It's perfect for those first few days back in the classroom because it naturally fosters skills like justification, evidence-based thinking, and critical analysis while hooking student interests with its engaging theme, right from the start!

You'll first begin by setting the scene of a deserted island in your classroom. This can be done in a big way or in small ways, too! Your students will "buy in" to the fun simply based on your excitement as they enter the room. The core task for students to tackle in this activity is to analyze ten character bios and determine which five need to be rescued immediately and which five could survive a few more weeks on the island before the next rescue crew can make it.

Students will use justification from the character bios to support their choices and have a blast revealing their choices to their classmates! You'll have a blast, too, as you get to know your students personalities and learning levels during these first fun days back to school!

Tune in today, and rest easy knowing you have this engaging activity penciled into your back-to-school lessons! You won't regret it!

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