To help your learners discover their own writing styles and embrace reading, check out the fun high school language arts activities below. Support students' voices with hands-on English lessons on how to analyze poems, podcasts, and arguments, complete with videos, downloadable worksheets, and more.
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5 Social-Emotional Learning Activities for High School Students
Help your students become independent and meaningful contributors to society with these high school SEL activities based on CASEL's core competencies.
Sara Buren
Shaped Contributor -
29 Back-to-School Writing Prompts for Middle and High School
School's back in session, which means it's time for a fresh batch of writing prompts for the new year. Have your high school or middle school students try these Back-to-School prompts this fall.
Ali Habashi
Shaped Editor -
Mayan Pyramids vs. Egyptian Pyramids Lesson Plan Idea
Looking to include ELA instruction in your social studies classroom? This Mayan pyramids vs. Egyptian pyramids lesson plan idea has students discuss the similarities and differences between the two types of structures through writing an essay.
Shaped Staff
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25 Valentine's Day Writing Prompts and Ideas
No matter what your middle school or high school class is reading, these writing prompts about love will get them ready for Valentine's Day.
Ali Habashi
Shaped Editor -
8 Black History Month Writing Prompts
Introduce students to Black innovators with these Black History Month writing prompts and guide them into a particular type of text, such as personal narrative, informative, or persuasive.
Perry Hollins
Fourth-Grade Teacher, Evanston/Skokie School District, Illinois -
ELA Halloween Activities for Middle School and High School Students
Get your ELA class into the spirit with these fun Halloween activities for middle school and high school students, and learn from a few masters of horror how to really make those spines tingle and those bones shake.
Ali Habashi
Shaped EditorBrenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor -
How to Write for TV: Virtual Collaboration and the Blank Page
Carmen Sandiego showrunner Duane Capizzi takes readers inside the writers room and explores how to engage in collaborative script writing. He shows how TV writing is suited to virtual environments and shares experiences and strategies for conquering the blank page.
Duane Capizzi
TV Writer and Producer -
Literacy at Work: The Writers Room with Duane Capizzi
Have your students explore the exciting world of TV writing with a free lesson plan and insights from producer, writer, and Carmen Sandiego showrunner Duane Capizzi.
Shaped Staff
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Never Give Up, Grades 9–12
Though the characters in these stories face challenges and obstacles, they never stop trying to do the right thing.
Shaped Staff
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Stories You Won't Forget, Grades 9–12
These stories will probably stick with you the rest of your life—the characters and what they experience are just that unforgettable!
Shaped Staff
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Dystopian Tales, Grades 9–12
Dystopian novels—often set in the future—depict undesirable or frightening societies where the citizens suffer from restrictions and/or injustices.
Shaped Staff
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Literacy at Work: How to Write a Rap with Dr. Chris Emdin
Have your students discover how creating and performing raps can inspire self-reflection, confidence, and an appreciation for writing.
Shaped Staff
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Friends and Family Matter, Grades 9–12
Though we may sometimes have differences of opinion with our friends or family members, they are often the ones we rely on to see us through difficult times.
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Graphic Books for Grades 9–12
Graphic novels are hugely popular with readers of all ages. They capture our attention and keep us turning pages compulsively.
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Did You Know? for Grades 9-12
This week’s suggested titles all fall into the nonfiction category, but they are anything but dull! If you like learning about real people and the real world, these are for you.
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Fantasy Series for Grades 9-12
Escaping our own reality by diving into a fantastical world can be an exciting adventure and a therapeutic release.
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Great Summer Reads With Carol Jago: Take a Book to the Movies! for Grades 9-12
When books are so engaging, filmmakers inevitably want to try adapting them for the big screen. Notice the changes they have made or have had to make as you read and watch.
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Forgotten Stories of the Oregon Trail: Native American Oral History
Read about the oral history of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes near the Oregon Trail and help students preserve stories from their own oral history.
Shaped Staff
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Great Summer Reads with Carol Jago: Into Space! for Grades 9-12
Visit Mars, tour the galaxy, and befriend curious species in this week’s great summer reads.
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 10: Write Two-Sentence Stories and More
Have high schoolers find inspiration for stories in everyday objects or events and craft advice columns with these downloadable activities for at-home learning.
Shaped Staff
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What’s on Your Mind? A Flexible SEL Freewrite
Help students in Grades 3–12 tap into what they're feeling with an informal writing activity.
Janna Sakson
Shaped Contributor -
Forgotten Stories of the Oregon Trail: Writing History
Students will learn from reading diary entries written on the Oregon Trail how such writings preserve history and bring the past to life.
Glenn Greenberg
Shaped Contributor -
Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 9: Write an Unnecessary Sequel and More
High schoolers can sharpen their writing skills with activities including a reflective essay on the past school year and a playlist for a book they read.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 8: Synthesize Information and More
For this week's activities, students can create a how-to video, use research to defend their stance on an issue, and respond to summer writing prompts.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 7: Memorize and Recite a Poem and More
With these downloadable activities, high schoolers will memorize and recite a poem, take notes as they read a novel, and memorialize a book in memes.
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 6: Analyze a Podcast and More
Have your students explore haiku, analyze a podcast, and practice identifying literary terms with these downloadable activities for high schoolers.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 5: Teaching Metaphor by Carol Jago and More
High schoolers can sharpen their writing, language, critical thinking, and reading skills with these instructional resources.
Shaped Staff
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Literacy at Work: Writing a Personality Feature with Esther Wojcicki
Esther Wojcicki shares her lesson on conducting an interview and writing a personality feature—an intriguing, creative article about the interviewee.
Shaped Staff
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Fun At-Home Lesson for ELA: Write a Personality Feature and Other Activities
Teach students in Grades 3-12 how to conduct interviews and write compelling personality features with these insights from Esther Wojcicki.
Esther Wojcicki
Journalist and Teacher; Founder, Palo Alto High Media Arts Program -
Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 4: Create a Sketchnote and More
Activities including creating a sketchnote, writing an ode to an everyday item, and analyzing the theme of a short story.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 3: Evaluate a News Article and More
Have high schoolers continue learning from home by evaluating a news article for reliability, maintaining a dialectical journal, and responding to daily dinner prompts.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 2: Analyze a Poem and More
Have high schoolers analyze a poem, summarize an informational text, and write effective arguments with this week's downloadables activities.
Shaped Staff
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Grades 9–12 ELA Activity Set 1: Ripped from the Headlines and More
Have high school students analyze news stories, poems, and short stories with these instructional resources designed for remote learning.
Shaped Staff
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View more language arts teaching ideas for high school. Or, check out our full list of free learning activities for all grades and all subjects.
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