Language Activities for High School
Language arts -- the ability to read, write, listen and speak -- is a requisite for all levels of learners, from elementary grades through college. These core skills allow students to understand technical data, read and interpret music, compose and create. There are a variety of language-based activities for high school students that integrate specific topics with grammar, literature and writing.
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Applied Language Activities
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Language activities that directly tie into relevant topics engage high school students and show them the relevance and importance of effective communication. As an introduction to an American literature course, instructors can ask students to listen to a recording of the "Star Spangled Banner" and brainstorm on the meaning of freedom and the significance of this anthem in their lives. For Black History Month, students can interview African-American leaders in their community, develop specific questions and report on the results. Teachers can also encourage students to write and submit editorials to their local newspapers on topics about which they feel strongly.
Creative Writing and Expression
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Creative writing assignments integrate left-brained grammar and technical skills with right-brained, holistic expressions of imagination and possibility. At the start of a literature segment, instructors can incorporate creative expression and research by asking students to introduce themselves by writing one or two sentences about what "makes them tick" in terms of hobbies, activities, family and so on. Students then need to research a famous quote -- in short stories, plays, literature or poetry -- that best reflects this idea of who they are. Students then present what they have written and researched in engaging and relevant manner.
To help high school students imagine the possibilities for their futures and to help them cope with the stresses of submitting college applications and taking SATs, have them imagine their lives five years, ten years, fifteen years into the future: students will write letters from their future selves to their current selves. Teachers can encourage their students to think big and imagine the advice and experiences their future selves will share.
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Poetry
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Poetry can inspire and help students take an introspective look at their lives; students can even use their lives as a basis for writing poetry. Teachers can have students write, "Today I feel (blank) because of (a reason)." Students then brainstorm a list of emotions. From this list, they choose one and assign it a color, taste, look, sound and sensation. This information becomes the basis for their poetry, which incorporates their names, traits, feelings, sensations, fears and joys.
Teachers can also use works of art to inspire poetry and creativity. Have students observe a painting and journal their impressions of the colors, lines, patterns and emotions felt. From this journaling, students can create poetry that tells a story about the art they've observed.
College Admission Preparation
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To help high school students write an effective essay for their college application, teachers can encourage them to brainstorm ideas on various topics, such as odd information about themselves, something no one knows about them, what gets them up in the morning, a strong memory and its importance or words that describe their high school experience. From this pool of ideas, students choose three that best describes their future goals. Students then draft a paragraph on these three topics; from these three paragraphs, students choose one that best reflects who they are and why they would be good college applicants. This remaining paragraph becomes the basis for the college admissions essay.
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References
- AllLevelsEducator.com: The Importance of Language Arts in College for Future Teachers
- Youth Net: Introduction to American Literature; Shannon McBride
- Education.com: Be a Reporter for the Day; Dina Brooks
- Education.com: Write an Editorial for the Local NewspaperMelissa Blough
- A to Z Teacher Stuff: A View of Yourself Through Famous Writers; Brett Heinzman
- The Educator's Reference Desk: Knowing Ourselves and Others; Missy Kasbaum; May 1994
Resources
- Photo Credit The girl studies foreign language image by Mykola Velychko from Fotolia.com
