Are your kids burnt out from more than a year of learning primarily through screens? Check out these 4 screen free resources for ELA. Take the laptops and tablets away for a day and see how your kids respond. Just like adults, kids can get screen fatigue. When screens are out of the picture, you might find that kids learn more and have more fun.
Have you been frustrated with kids who abuse technology–playing games and getting distracted during learning?
There are so many ways to engage kids in low tech activities that don’t involve worksheets. In this blog post I’ll share 4 of my favorite ways to do this.
Scavenger Hunts
One of my favorite screen-free activity for ELA is the scavenger hunt. These activities not only help kids focus on a task, but they get to work in pairs or groups and move their feet! I sometimes put these clues around the hallways outside of my classroom. This allows us to have a change of scenery as well as move more easily.
These activities are a great review for standardized tests as well.
Card Sorts
The next screen-free resource I love to use is the card sort. Kids like to use these too, and they inspire a lot of conversation. The reason these are so beneficial is that they give students a ton of practice on a skill without making it feel like work.
I have card sorts for a number of topics, including figurative language, types of conflict, types of irony, and more!
Scrambled Paragraphs
The next screen-free resource I like to use are scrambled paragraph activities. Teachers love these because they scaffold paragraph writing for struggling writers. They take the focus off the task of writing and put it on the structure of a well written paragraph. Cards have 1 sentence each, and kids get six cards for each paragraph. They read the sentences and arrange them in a paragraph that makes sense based on transition words and logic.
Color by Number
The last screen-free activity I recommend is color by number. These activities are relaxing as well as educational. Kids get to review a ton of topics and check their work by coloring. The results are beautiful displays for your classroom as well.
How do you mix it up in your ELA classroom when kids have had too much screen time? What are your favorite screen free resources for ELA? Let me know in the comments!
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