Back-to-School FREE Fun Writing Activities Get Students Excited About Writing: Writing Using Similes and Hyperbole

In my experience, students just starting the school year want to get to know each other a little, but most don't want to have to talk too much. Another thing I noticed is that they really want their teacher to give them hope that ELA is going to be fun this year (even if it is a slight exaggeration).

So that's why I came up with four fun ELA writing activities (remember "fun" might be a slight exaggeration...I mean, are they fun like video games? Not exactly. Fun, as far as writing in ELA goes? Most definitely YES!) And the good news is that they are FREE! Perfect for grades 5-8.

Trust me, this is the time of year when you want them to start thinking your class has the potential to be fun (at least some of the time anyway...and of course, relatively speaking).

The four FREE ELA writing activities also help students get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere in which they write about themselves with a creative twist and have the opportunity to share a little about themselves. 

This is the first writing activity in the series. Tomorrow I will post the second one in the series.

FREE BACK-TO-SCHOOL FUN WRITING LESSON #1

"Bragging and Boasting"

Students will use hyperbole and similes to brag about a skill they have. Click on the product cover to take you to my store where you can download the step-by-step lesson and printable for FREE. Here is a sample of what a final draft would look like:

Katie the Incredible Rollerblader

       I am so good at rollerblading. When I rollerblade, crowds of people gather around just to see my impressive skills. You can hear people getting on their cell phones to say, “Dude, you gotta get over here and see the most amazing rollerblader I have ever seen!” People beg me for my autograph like I am a movie star or something. I am so fast, it is as if there are engines in each one of my rollerblades. I am like a jet. I even had a race with a sports car one time and I won - easily. Not only am I fast, but I can do awesome tricks. I can jump over just about any obstacle: cars, mailboxes, people, you name it. I once jumped over a tree! And flips are no problem. I make flips look so easy, it is like I am coin being tossed in the air during a coin toss. I jump up so high and do about 15 flips on the way down. And don’t even get me started on how many laps I can do at the roller rink. I can do about 1,000 laps around the roller rink in one minute. I truly am the best rollerblader on the entire planet!

CHECK OUT BACK-TO-SCHOOL FREE FUN WRITING LESSON #2
CHECK OUT BACK-TO-SCHOOL FREE FUN WRITING LESSON #3
CHECK OUT BACK-TO-SCHOOL FREE FUN WRITING LESSON #4

Looking for High-Interest ENGAGING READING for your students? WANT TO HAVE THEM PRACTICE ALL 10 READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT STANDARDS? Students keep reporting how much they LOVE the texts!!! TRY BOTH VOLUMES: