Are you looking for a fun and easy new years activity for middle school? It’s almost that time to start fresh, start over, and make changes in your classroom. This includes you AND your students. A new year has always been a chance to start making changes to your life that you weren’t a fan of before or just work on making something better.
Your students are the same. They are probably ready to make some changes as well. Maybe they want to study more, maybe that want to participate in class more, or maybe, they just want to be nicer to their awesome teacher! Who knows?
I do have one way to find out, New Years Task Cards!
No matter what, at the beginning of the school year, in August for us, or at the beginning of an actual new year, I love to find out a little more about my students. This year especially, it’s important to get to know your students and build relationships. It’s also important for them to reflect on your class, and have a little fun!
Let’s learn more about this New Years Activity!
A Fun New Years Activity for Your Middle School Science Classroom
Do you need an exciting activity to kick of the new year? New Years task cards – science edition are the way to go!
These are a great way to first, learn more about your students, second, help them to set goals for the rest of the school year, and lastly, help set task card expectations for your classroom.
With these task cards, you can discover what your students did over winter break, what holiday traditions your students have, what they enjoy about science class, and so much more!!
In my classroom, my students move around A LOT. This helps to keep them engaged and keep their blood flowing to their brain for optimum learning.
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when my students are seated, mainly for completing digital interactive lessons, or quizzes and tests, but mostly, we are moving (in an organized manner, of course).
Here are some ways that you can implement the New Year’s Task Cards in the classroom.
Ways to Use New Years Task Cards
There are so many ways that task cards can be used in the classroom. This resource goes into a little more depth, but here are some ideas!
Around the Room
This one has to be my favorite, because it’s the easiest! Once you have your New Years activity printed and cut out, you just need to tape them all around the room! You can put them on the wall, on desks and chairs, and anywhere your heart desires. You can even go outside and put them on the school building if it’s not too cold!
This almost turns into a scavenger hunt. Hmmm, where is #10?
Stations
This is similar to posting these task cards around the room, but this could be slightly more organized. Imagine that you have your desks/tables in groups around the room. You can place 3-4 task cards per group, set a timer, and have students rotate through these groups every 4-5 minutes or so until all students have completed each task card.
This still allows students to get up and move, but you are aware of where each student is supposed to be at a given time.
This is great for students that are not quite ready for complete freedom and self-directed learning.
Partners
These task cards, as mentioned, are great for learning about your students and giving them a chance to share some things about themselves, but it would be nice if they could share things with a partner as well.
Students can work on the task cards together in one of the ways mentioned above, and after each card, they can compare answers. This is a great opportunity to grow classroom community. Students may learn so much about each other!
Digital New Years Task Cards
Maybe your classroom looks a little different this year, or maybe you are trying to reduce the amount of paper you use in the classroom.
I got you!
These New Years Task Cards for the science classroom also come in a digital version!
If you don’t have the time to print and cut the task cards out, this digital version can be used. All you have to do you create a copy to share with your students, and they can complete this is Google Slides or whatever digital platform you use in your classroom.
Are you still teaching virtually? Not a problem! This digital version of the New Years Task Cards will help you learn more about you students!
I love this new years activity!
More Resources
Here are some more resources you can add to your New Year!
New Year’s – Traditions, Resolutions, & Date
3 Ideas for Resetting for New Year Science Success
Help your students master science content!
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