The post Free 7th Grade ELA Curriculum Map Pacing Guide for Week 1 Planning Activities appeared first on English, Oh My!.

Students become the featured story in their very own newspaper as they reflect on their interests, goals, family, hobbies, and future dreams. This project is perfect for the first week of school, getting-to-know-you activities, back-to-school bulletin boards, middle school ELA, and writing centers.

Perfect For:

• Back to School Activities
• First Week of School
• Meet the Teacher Week
• Getting to Know Your Students
• Middle School ELA
• Upper Elementary ELA
• Writing Workshop
• Bulletin Board Displays
• Student Portfolios
• Open House Displays
• Sub Plans
• Icebreaker Activities

What’s Included

✔ Student newspaper template-Digital & PDF

* Teacher example newspaper

✔ Planning pages-Digital & PDF

* Interview question cards

✔ Writing extension activities

* Editor’s checklist

✔ Grading rubric

* Print-and-go pages

Students will create their own newspaper featuring:

⭐ Featured Story about themselves

* Exclusive Student Interview

⭐ Favorite Things Column

* Help Wanted (Future Career)

⭐ Words to Live By (Inspirational Quote)

* Summer Highlights

⭐ Fun Facts

* Top 10 List

⭐ Community Member Spotlight

* Editor’s Checklist

⭐ Project Rubric

Why Teachers Love This Project

📰 Encourages meaningful conversations among classmates.

– Helps teachers learn about their students.

📰 Creates a beautiful hallway or classroom display.

Promotes writing in an authentic, engaging format.

📰 Easy to differentiate for a variety of learners.

– Requires very little prep.

❗❗COPYRIGHT ❗❗

© 2026 English, Oh My. The Classroom Chronicles© layout, design, and artwork are protected by copyright. This resource is for single-classroom use only and may not be copied, shared, or redistributed in any form without permission.

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The post First Week of School All About Me Classroom Chronicles appeared first on English, Oh My!.

Perfect for:

• Independent Work
• Literacy Centers
• Early Finishers
• Sub Plans
• Homework
• Bell Ringers

Each high-interest passage includes 7–8 comprehension questions that cover key ELA skills like:

• Main Idea & Details
• Word in Context
• Figurative Language
• Text Evidence
• Inference & Drawing Conclusions

What makes this resource extra engaging? Each passage has a picture to color in using the correct answers. Students use their answers to uncover the colors and color in a mystery picture, blending reading with critical thinking and creativity.

✅ What’s Included:

• 8 themed reading passages (Back to School, August & September topics)
• 7–8 comprehension questions per passage
• Color-by-code mystery pictures
• Full Answer Key

Your students will love the game-like feel while reinforcing key comprehension skills—plus, no prep for you!

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I greatly appreciate your FIVE-STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ feedback, and it helps you build points to use towards FREE TPT purchases!

I greatly appreciate your feedback, as I take great pride in my work.  If you have any issues with the product, please contact me BEFORE leaving feedback.  I greatly appreciate you! Email me at englishohmy@gmail.com.

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Copyright © English, Oh My! ®
-Permission to copy for single classroom use only.
-Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.
-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

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The post Color the Code Reading Passages -August & September appeared first on English, Oh My!.

Each themed week includes 5 short nonfiction reading passages, centered around fascinating mysteries like The Mary Celeste, Atlantis, The Mystery of King Tut’s Tomb, and Black Holes. Students read one short passage per day and answer 3-4 standards-based multiple-choice questions that help them reveal a mystery code for that day. This will help them solve the riddle or puzzle on Friday.

Why Teachers Love These Weekly Mysteries:

• Perfect for daily reading comprehension practice
• Great for test prep, spiral review, and ELA bell ringers
• Ideal for ELA warm-ups, literacy centers, and early finishers
• Easy to assign for sub plans, morning work, or homework
• Aligned to Common Core Standards and ideal for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade ELA

Skills Covered:

• Determining theme and central idea
• Identifying the main idea and supporting details
• Analyzing figurative language and word choice
• Using context clues to define vocabulary
• Understanding cause and effect

What You’ll Get in This Resource:

-5 nonfiction reading passages (150–200 words each) per week

*Multiple-choice questions with answer keys

-Mystery word puzzles and a student recording sheet

*High-interest themes that spark curiosity and engagement

-Printable AND digital formats included

✨Make reading comprehension fun again with these engaging and rigorous Weekly Reading Mysteries! They’re the perfect blend of ELA skill practice, critical thinking, and mystery-solving fun your students will look forward to every week!

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✏️ FEEDBACK ✏️

I greatly appreciate your FIVE-STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ feedback, and it helps you build points to use towards FREE TPT purchases!

I greatly appreciate your feedback, as I take great pride in my work.  If you have any issues with the product, please contact me BEFORE leaving feedback.  I greatly appreciate you! Email me at englishohmy@gmail.com.

——————————————————–

Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

-Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

-Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

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The post August & September Daily Mysteries appeared first on English, Oh My!.

Imagine walking into your classroom that first week with zero stress about what to teach. That’s the goal! I’ve planned a complete set of engaging, no-prep back-to-school ELA activities designed specifically for middle school students.

Perfect for:

• First Day of School

– Back to School Week

• ELA Bell Ringers & Stations

– Classroom Community Building

• Emergency Sub Plans in Week 1

In this ELA back-to-school bundle, you’ll find:

✅ Back to School One-Pager
* A Get-to-Know-Your-Teacher Mystery Activity
✅ Classroom Expectations + Goal Setting Stations
*Who Kidnapped the Principal? ELA Mystery
✅ Student Interest Google Form
* Print & digital formats for flexible use

Whether you teach 6th, 7th, or 8th grade ELA, these first week activities are meaningful, easy to implement, and aligned with your goals: build classroom community, set the tone for respectful discussion, and sneak in essential literacy skills.

No prep. No panic. Just everything you need to launch your middle school ELA year with clarity, creativity, and fun.

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⭐ Click HERE to become my latest follower. You will then receive customized email updates about this store.

⭐ Join my AMAZING SECONDARY ELA MASTERMIND FB GROUP, and collaborate with ELA teachers who are like-minded!

☆How would you like 5 ELA & Classroom Resources for ABSOLUTELY FREE?☆

⭐Grab these ABSOLUTELY FREE PRODUCTS RIGHT HERE: FREE PRODUCTS ⭐

✏️ FEEDBACK ✏️

I greatly appreciate your FIVE-STAR ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ feedback! Don’t forget you receive points when you purchase from my store to use for future purchases!

I greatly appreciate your feedback, as I take great pride in my work.  If you have any issues with the product, please contact me BEFORE leaving feedback.  I greatly appreciate you! Email me at englishohmy@gmail.com.

——————————————————–

Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

-Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

-Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

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The post First Week of School Activities for the ELA Classroom appeared first on English, Oh My!.

Check out this incredible bundle!

In this bundle, you are receiving:

1. Back to School Bulletin Board & Door Decor

2. Back to School, First Day of School Digital Escape Room

3. Back to School, Getting to Know you Survey

4. Digital Back-to-School Flip Book

5. First Day of School Slides

6. Back to School Good Morning/Afternoon Slides

7. Icebreakers

8. Meet the Teacher, Open House Brochure

9. Mountain-Themed Inspirational Posters

10. First Day of School Coloring Activity

11. Using Google Classroom

12. Flamingo Calendar

This bundle is perfect to get you started for the first week of school, and will provide you with everything you need to decorate!

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Terms of Use

Purchasing my teaching resources allows you to:

⭐  make copies for your own classes only.

⭐ place this file on your own password-protected class page or server (Blackboard, Google Drive, etc)

⭐ AS LONG AS no other teacher has access to that class webpage. This resource is for you, the purchaser, alone.

By purchasing my teaching resource, you ARE NOT ALLOWED TO:

⭐ make copies for other teachers or their classes.

⭐ distribute this digital resource to other teachers.

⭐ post this resource on any webpage or server that is available for public view, for other teachers.

⭐Publish or teach on OutSchool

If you and a team of teachers would like to use this resource together, please purchase additional licenses on the resource purchase page.

Failure to comply with these terms of use is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license.

I would greatly appreciate it if you contact me first if you have an issue with the product before leaving feedback.  I will be more than happy to accommodate you!  Just email me at englishohmy@gmail.com.

FOLLOW ME!Back to School, For All Subjects

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The post Back to School Bundle appeared first on English, Oh My!.

In this product, your students will receive a list of suspects who possibly kidnapped the principal on the first day of school just in time for the Back to School assembly. The students will be asked to solve four clues in order to solve the mystery.

This product is perfect for…

*Group Activities

*ELA Skills Review

*Independent Work

*Stations & Centers

*Engaging Competition

In this product, you will receive:

1. Directions for the Teacher

2. PDF & Digital Version of the Activity

3. Answer Key

What other teachers like you have said about these mysteries…

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Catherine W said, I had purchased this to fill in in March but we ended up with so many weather days I set it aside. In the last week of school, we had time to try it. The students really enjoyed the different approaches and figuring out all the bits of each puzzle. THANK you!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kris’s Classroom said, My students, LOVED this assignment!! They were engaged the entire time!! Thank you for making a fun, creative, and rigorous activity for the students!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ JoAnn W said, I love this resource! I used this with my 8th graders on a few wonky school days around the testing season. The puzzles were challenging but manageable, and my students really enjoyed narrowing down the list of suspects over time.

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Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

✏️FEEDBACK✏️

I greatly appreciate your thoughts and feedback; however, I would greatly appreciate it if you could contact me FIRST before leaving feedback on my site, so I can rectify the situation for you.  Just email me at englishohmy@gmail.com, and I will get back to you within 24hrs :). 

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The post Back to School ELA Mystery appeared first on English, Oh My!.

This escape room narrative will have your students get stuck in a video game during the morning of the first day of school, and the essential question is: Can they escape before school starts?

Your students will encounter fun puzzles including a jigsaw puzzle, a hidden image, and four review slides.

What are the positive aspects of a Digital EDUcational Escape?

1. It is NO-PREP! There is nothing to make, print, cut, laminate, clues to hide, buy or locks to set. Everything is ready for your students on the Google Site!
2. Students will encounter Google Form questions.
3. Your students will solve puzzles, ciphers, and clues to escape!
4. All you have to do is share the link with your students or assign the link in GOOGLE Classroom.
5. You can have your students complete this on Chromebooks, on an IPad, or in a computer lab, collaboratively or individually.

What do my students or I need to know going into this escape room? (PLEASE READ!)

1. Your students should have knowledge of the basic literary terms, figurative language, homophones (to, two, too, effect, affect, accept, except, their, there and there), basic grammar (abstract nouns, verbs, adjectives), and proper punctuation.

In this product, you will receive:

1.  Back to School ELA Review Digital Escape Room Link

2. Step-by-step directions with answers

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Copyright © English, Oh My! ®

Permission to copy for single classroom use only.

Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this product.

-More on my Terms of Use HERE.

FEEDBACK:

I greatly appreciate your thoughts and feedback; however, I would greatly appreciate it if you could contact me FIRST before leaving feedback on my site, so I can rectify the situation for you.  Just email me at englishohmy@gmail.com, and I will get back to you within 24hrs :). 

☆How would you like 5 English Language Arts & Classroom Resources for ABSOLUTELY FREE??? ☆

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The post Back to School ELA Review Digital Escape Room appeared first on English, Oh My!.