8th Grade Other (Specialty) Activities

Looking for a meaningful and engaging way to bring gratitude into your classroom this Thanksgiving season? This 4-Day Thanksgiving Toast Writing Unit has everything you need to help your students craft heartfelt toasts while building their public speaking and writing skills. It's print-and-go, includes interactive slides, and is loaded with fun Thanksgiving puns to keep your students motivated and inspired!

What’s Inside:

• Day 1: Kick off with a Do Now, note-taking, and brainstorming a mind map of gratitude.
• Day 2: Plan and draft your toast using a structured planning guide.
• Day 3: Revise with peer feedback and finalize the toast.
• Day 4: Present with style in a festive classroom setting!
• Bonus: Toast Awards (e.g., "Most Heartfelt," "Funniest Toast") to celebrate your students’ creativity!

What Makes This Resource Special?

• Complete Package: Includes detailed lesson plans, printable guided notes, slides, and awards.
• Flexible & Easy-to-Use: Print-and-go resources allow you to spend less time prepping and more time enjoying the activity.
• Interactive and Fun: Engage students with brainstorming activities, video clips, and a celebratory presentation day featuring pie and sparkling juice.
• Real-World Skills: Students practice public speaking, writing, and expressing gratitude—skills they’ll use for a lifetime!

Perfect For:

• Thanksgiving week lessons
• Middle school ELA or Speech classes
• Public speaking units

Teacher Tips for Maximum Impact:

• Bring in sparkling juice and pie to create a “Thanksgiving Toast Table” for presentation day.
• Set up a festive classroom with fall-themed decorations and soft background music.
• Use the included Toast Awards to celebrate students’ creativity and confidence.

Zip File Reader Required To Open File

Do you find yourself searching for new ways to get your students involved in the review process? These 10 activities are great ways to review the concepts and ideas of the day's lesson or an effective way to end a unit. Great teacher time-savers. Try these activities and watch your students have fun reviewing what they learned in class.

Includes:

• ABC's,
• Top Ten,
• Match Maker,
• Run Baby Run,
• Human Bingo,
• Tag Your It, and MORE!

Disclaimer:

One purchase is for the use of one teacher. If additional teachers would like to use this product, please purchase additional licenses.

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Ex-Book takes you on an interactive writing journey to help shed a broken relationship and your ex. Explore expectations for a new soulmate with these 25 color and writing reflective activities. Includes: About me... Defining love... I like... My future soulmate... My idea of a romantic date... About my ex... My ex liked... What I liked about you/annoyed me about you/what we were working on... Road Map of Love Unlocked Secrets Our Favorite Memories Our Favorites What we shared... A last letter to my ex... A Poem to Free My Heart Making My Own Break-Up Movie Tattoo Design Break Up Party We broke up over... YOU be the judge... The Dating Game My Dream Vacation My Positive Attributes: A Recipe My future without my ex... Reflective, fun activities to ease pain and tension of a break-up. Great way to move on from a relationship and focus on positive character traits!

Master Financial Literacy with This Engaging Assignment!

Explore an essential topic from financial literacy with this focused assignment, part of a 15-assignment series designed to empower students with practical money management skills.

Each assignment provides a clear, 4-paragraph overview of a key financial concept, covering its importance, application, and impact in real-life scenarios. Written to be accessible for a wide range of learners, it’s perfect for building critical financial understanding.

To reinforce learning, every assignment includes 4 comprehension questions that challenge students to reflect, apply knowledge, and think critically.

With an answer key included for easy grading, this ready-to-use resource is ideal for standalone lessons or as part of the full series.

Check my store for the complete set and other engaging financial literacy materials!

Boost student engagement with this AVID WICOR Strategies and Activities List! Designed for ALL grade levels, these quick, 5-minute activities support critical thinking, collaboration, and writing skills. Perfect for implementing inquiry-based learning and increasing student participation in under five minutes!

⭐AVID BUNDLE!⭐

What's Included

• 36 under 5 min AVID strategies

• descriptions for each

• WICOR category

Best Selling AVID Resources

Costa Bundle

Team Building Bundle

AVID Claps

WICOR Bundle
Early Finisher Packets

Need social skills activities for elementary students that promote social-emotional learning and teach emotional regulation skills? Look no further; here are 130+ diverse resources designed to help you address student concerns and take your elementary school counseling program to the next level!

Download the entire Mrs. Bell The Crafty Counselor store! It's filled with creative, highly engaging lessons, games, and activities geared toward supporting the social-emotional learning and personal growth of your students. Have access to over 140 (and growing) diverse resources now!

This school counseling curriculum storewide bundle currently contains over 130 crafty lessons & activities that will support your student’s academic, personal, and social-emotional needs. The included social skills activities and games will help children learn emotional regulation skills, coping strategies, anger management strategies & SO MUCH MORE!

These activities are ideal for individual counseling sessions, small group counseling curriculums, classroom guidance lessons, teacher use in the classroom, and calm down corners…the list of possible uses for these resources is never-ending!

This is a growing bundle that currently includes all of Mrs. Bell The Crafty Counselor’s products at a very steep 50% discount. As a growing bundle, it means that the price will increase each time that I add a new product until I reach TeachShare’s 400-paid products cap for a bundle listing. Once the maximum of 400 products has been reached, no more resources will be added to this bundle, and it will no longer be considered a growing bundle. 

Buy today! *Have access to up to 400 products in the future! 

Included are creative counseling lessons, SEL activities, and self-regulation resources for busy educators. This is your one-stop spot for counselors and teachers looking for creative, interactive SEL resources for students.

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Copyright © Mrs. Bell The Crafty Counselor. All rights reserved by the author. This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one user is prohibited.

*There is no guarantee that 400 products will be added to the Mrs. Bell The Crafty Counselor Store or to this bundle.

Elevate your library lessons with this dynamic bundle!

Bundle includes 3 sets of task cards, a hands-on coding activity, a STEM resource package, and a captivating set of lightbox slides. Perfect for fostering critical thinking and creativity, these resources make learning engaging and fun.

* Task cards sets are perfect for back to school library orientation or reviewing skills with students throughout the year. One set is K-4, other sets are 3-8.

* STEAM package includes everything you need to get started, including STEAM bulletin board headers, project "rules", a pre-activity for students to research and learn about the aspects of STEAM, a teacher planning sheet, student workbook, student reflection sheet, and student presentation guidelines.

* Coding resource includes 5 different "stations" that could be done as a whole class activity, or more like traditional ELL and math learning centres.

Please don't forget to take a look at the other items I have available in my store!

Follow me to get the most up to date information and heads up on upcoming sales.

All new items are listed at 50% off during the first 24 hours. Another great reason to follow my store.

Thank for taking the time to stop by and purchase this resource.

An informative lesson for Years 7, 8 & 9 which focuses on improving their understanding of vapes. Lesson includes: teacher tips, links to resources, a worksheet and an enjoyable educational game to finish.

This Kindness Activity brings a whole new perspective on the impact of our words and how they can get carried throughout the day. For this activity, you will be provided with the Google Slide digital download which includes key notes, instructions for you and your class, visuals, reflective points, and a "ready to use" download. You will also need: heavy books, balloons (or feathers, crumpled paper, or other 'light' items), post-it notes, and a bucket or other container to hold the post-it notes. This lesson is both interactive and impactful - leading to reflection and discussion for all. It is important to note that some students may use this activity as a way to identify harsh, heavy, or negative comments that may be occurring within the school building and the counselor, support staff, or teacher should be prepared to address this with the class, while acknowledgement that some comments brought up may be better addressed in a more private setting. This lesson has been a huge environment changer for my middle school students!

These 33 EDITABLE Back to School PowerPoint and Google Slides slideshow templates are perfect in helping your students get to know you during the first week of school, meet the teacher night or open house! Designed with editable slides, this template allows you to easily add your information and create a personalized introduction to your classroom!

✨Save 30% with the Meet the Teacher Bundle!✨

Editable Templates

• Editable PowerPoint templates
• Editable Google Slides templates
• Daisy background and coordinating clipart on each slide
• Editable text boxes are inserted in each slide
• you can edit the font, color, and size of the text
• the borders, headings, and clipart images are NOT editable

33 Slides Included (each slide is repeated without clipart)

• welcome back to school
• teacher
• about me
• my family
• my pet
• my pets
• my friends
• this summer I...
• snapshots
• my education
• my hobbies
• my favorites: drink, color, subject
• my favorites: food, movie, book
• fun facts
• what you can expect
• school days
• questions
• blank template with editable heading

More Back to School Resources:

Meet the Teacher Slideshow

100's Chart Mystery Picture

Gift Tags

Birthday Crowns, Certificates & Pencil Toppers

Back to School Roll & Read Games:

CVC, Blends & Digraphs

CVCe Long Vowels

Long Vowel Teams

R Controlled Vowels

Back to School Roll & Race Math Games:

Addition & Subtraction Within 10

Addition & Subtraction Within 20

• Thanksgiving Gratitude Toast Writing Unit with Slides and Awards
• Looking for a meaningful and engaging way to bring gratitude into your classroom this Thanksgiving season? This 4-Day Thanksgiving Toast Writing Unit has everything you need to help your students craft heartfelt toasts while building their public speaking and writing skills.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Informational Texts: Central Idea & Author’s Purpose
• This resource features informational texts centered around the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Students will practice identifying the central idea and author’s purpose using guided activities, perfect for grades 4-6. Includes quizzes and engaging slides to bring the festive event into your classroom!
• Multiple Genre Thanksgiving Writing Fun: Story Starters, Centers, and Activities
  Spark creativity with these 10 engaging Thanksgiving-themed story starters! This freebie offers writing prompts perfect for centers or bell-ringers, allowing students to explore genres while creating their own holiday-inspired tales. Ideal for grades 4 and up!
• Text Features with Thanksgiving Football Text Set, Quizzes, and Slides
  Bring excitement to your lessons with this text feature set using Thanksgiving football articles. Students will analyze and identify different text features while engaging with a fun, seasonal topic. Quizzes and slide presentations are included for easy, interactive learning.
• Thanksgiving Argument Writing Unit: Debate Topics & Lesson Plans for STAAR ECRs
  Help your students master argumentative writing with this resource, complete with four Thanksgiving-themed debate prompts. Perfect for middle school, the unit includes a 75-minute lesson plan, guided notes, and templates for teaching claims, evidence, and rebuttals.
• Thanksgiving Author’s Purpose Reading Unit: Passages, Slides, Guided Notes (Grades 5-7)
  This reading unit features five double-sided Thanksgiving-themed passages that explore different author’s purposes. With interactive slides and guided notes, this resource is great for whole-group instruction, centers, or intervention activities in grades 5-7.
• Thanksgiving Digital Resource: Interactive Slides for Middle School Fall Break Vibes
  This non-academic, interactive slide deck is perfect for building community and having fun the day before Fall Break. Featuring 22 slides with thought-provoking and engaging Thanksgiving prompts, it's a fun, low-prep activity to wrap up the season.
• Thanksgiving Persuasive Writing Activity: Rhetoric for Grades 5-7 (Ethos, Pathos, Logos)
  This resource guides students through persuasive writing with a focus on rhetoric. Using Thanksgiving-themed prompts, students will practice developing strong arguments using ethos, pathos, and logos. Perfect for building writing and critical thinking skills in grades 5-7.
• Thanksgiving Text Structure Coloring Sort & Lesson
  Teach text structures in a creative and interactive way with this Thanksgiving coloring activity. Students will learn about different text structures and apply them through sorting and coloring activities, making the lesson both educational and fun.
• 10 Fall Narrative Essay Picture Prompts and Planner: Print and Go & Slides
  This resource includes 10 narrative essay prompts, each with a fall theme, designed to help students craft compelling stories. Perfect for middle school students, the resource includes both print-and-go materials and a slide deck for easy classroom use.

This bundle could cover 20-25 days of classroom instruction, depending on how the resources are paced and implemented. It offers a great variety of activities for both Thanksgiving season and beyond.

This bundle Includes:

Please note: All instructional material including bundles should not be shared. You are purchasing to be used by one instructor. For more than one instructor to use this material, additional user licenses MUST be purchased -- one per for each instructor using this material.

The price of $86.68 is to cost with a 30% discount. No other discounts can be used with this bundle.

1. China’s One-Child Policy (Cartogram)

2. Geograph: Who's The Boss? Comparing World Government Systems

3. Geography Pre-assessment/Post-assessment For Beginning of Year

4. Getting to Know You Through Geography: A Beginning of the Year Activity

5. Bloom's Taxonomy Stems & Guiding Questions for Social Studies and Geography

6 Geography: Push and Pull Factors on Human Migration (Full Lesson, PP + Game)

7. Landforms Picture Dictionary Introductory Activity

8. Developing or Developed? Examing Countries' Development

9. Cult of Personality: A Lesson on Propaganda

10. Teaching With Political Cartoons in the Social Studies & Geography Classroom

11. Celebrating the Changing Roles of Women in Asia

12. Earth Day: Solving Issues Around the World

13. Understanding Culture and Subculture Cooperative Learning Activity

14. Geography & Social Studies Comprehension Activity: Fact or Fiction

15. Hitler’s Olympics With PowePoint

16. Baby Drop Box: How China and South Korea Prevent Infanticide

17. 5 Themes of Geography Flipbook (Using Current Events)

18. Create a Country Recipe (Exploring Characteristics of a Country)

19. Amazing Natural Disasters of the 20th Century

20. Easter Hunt Around The World Using Google Maps & Absolute Location

21. Is Our Government System Fair?—Intro to Government Systems

22. 10 Quick & Effective Wrap-Up Reviews: Middle School Geography & Social Studies

23. Differentiated Instruction - A Multiple Intelligences Lesson

24. Creating a Culture Using Five Geographical Themes

25. Women in the Early Industrial Revolution in Social Studies

OR BUILD YOUR OWN BUNDLE HERE

Master Financial Literacy with This Engaging Assignment!

Explore an essential topic from financial literacy with this focused assignment, part of a 15-assignment series designed to empower students with practical money management skills.

Each assignment provides a clear, 4-paragraph overview of a key financial concept, covering its importance, application, and impact in real-life scenarios. Written to be accessible for a wide range of learners, it’s perfect for building critical financial understanding.

To reinforce learning, every assignment includes 4 comprehension questions that challenge students to reflect, apply knowledge, and think critically.

With an answer key included for easy grading, this ready-to-use resource is ideal for standalone lessons or as part of the full series.

Check my store for the complete set and other engaging financial literacy materials!

Start each and every morning on a positive note with these unique inspirational quotes, motivational quotes, or daily quick write statements. Use the included inspirational quotes in a variety of ways, my favorite being as a quote of the day activity with students. This download includes a printable version and a link to the digital Google Slides™ version.

Pick one of the 180 included inspirational quotes to read aloud to your classroom or on the school news. Engage students in a discussion as to what the inspirational quote means to them. Deepen student understanding and enrich student learning by using these motivational quotes as a daily quick write activity prompt with your students. 

Included in this Download:

• 180 Inspirational Quotes (PDF Download, Printable)
• "I liked the quote.." Exit Tickets 
• Google Slides™ Link (clickable link found on page three of PDF)

Start school on a positive note as you build classroom community and make your students feel at ease in the classroom. At the beginning of each class or at the start of the day, pull out a quote at random and read it to the class. Leave “I Liked the Quote” slips next to your Inspiration Jar (the container you house the quotes in). When a student feels moved by a quote, they can write down the quote to keep for when they need a little inspiration.

Other Educators Like You Said:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Laura S. says, "I used these quotes for my "good morning" slide each day. My students really enjoy reading them and getting to discuss what they think they mean!"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nola W. says, "Thank you for putting together such a huge packet. These quotes are awesome."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ VI says, "These are thought-provoking and genuinely suitable for upper primary aged students. Brilliant for discussions and a "Quote of the Day." Thank you"

Click the preview for more details and images of this Inspirational Quote of the Day Activity! 

Stay Connected:

• mrsbellthecraftycounselor.com
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Follow me on TeachShare for updates about new products and 50% off sales!

You May Also Like:

• Get to Know Me Bundle
• Self Affirmation Activity Pack
• Will You Help Flip the Turtle?

These Inspirational Quote of the Day Activity are copyright © Mrs. Bell The Crafty Counselor. Therefore, all rights are reserved by the author. Copying for more than one user is prohibited.

Library Task Cards, Introduction to the Library

This pack includes 26 scavenger hunt cards and a printable answer sheet allowing students to record up to twelve answers.

The purpose of this scavenger hunt is to familiarize the students with the library, using the alphabet. This set of cards will also familiarize your students with using your library search tool. This resource is not specific to fiction or nonfiction.

A simple but effective activity that gets students engaged in locating information within their library.

Two extra cards for you to choose your own topics, in case you don't have books on the topics in this resource.

What people are saying:

• Thank you for this fun resource! So easy to print, laminate, and use. (Sara M)
• Can't wait to use this with my students! (Donna Jo)

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Please don't forget to take a look at the other items I have available in my store!

Follow me to get the most up to date information and heads up on upcoming sales.

All new items are listed at 50% off during the first 24 hours. Another great reason to follow my store.

Thank for taking the time to stop by and purchase this resource.

A reading comprehension tasks which focuses on the current issue of vaping. An informative text on a topic interesting to teens and tweens has been used to engage them in their learning whilst developing comprehension skills. Questions range from easy to hard and uses cognitive verbs from the Australian Curriculum. This encourages students to go beyond the retrieval and comprehension stages and into analysis and knowledge utilisation.

What better way to learn kindness than by practicing and experiencing it firsthand! Get ready to have a blast with your students - this is a fun one!! This download includes THREE interactive SEL activities to introduce kindness ideas, invite creative thinking, and provide “real-time” practice of the trait! This is such a fun way to get students talking, creating, and engaging... all while being kind to one another! Digital download gives detailed instructions on how to play each version of the activity as well as 15 "pair matches" to be used in the activity (or for other uses in your classroom!)

Looking for other kindness activities for your students? See links below:

Kindness Activity and the Impact of our Words

Kindness Activity - Class "Snowball Fight"

"Think Before You Speak" - Interactive SEL Activity

Key Features:

• Concise 4-Paragraph Format: Breaks down topics into manageable sections for maximum understanding. Written at a 7th grade ESOL student level but suitable for a wide range of learners.
• Four Comprehension Questions: Encourages critical thinking and tests knowledge effectively.
• Answer Key Included: Simplifies grading and ensures accurate evaluation.
• Multi-Purpose Use: Ideal for lessons, homework, assessments, or review activities.
• Wide Topic Range: This is one assignment from a series of 20. Buy different topics to use for group projects / study guides and more.

Visit my store today for bundle deals on this series and discover other engaging, ready-to-use assignments for your classroom needs!

Task Cards for Library Orientation! Designed to enhance library skills, these engaging cards guide students through essential library functions.

36 Library Scavenger Hunt Task Cards

This pack includes 36 scavenger hunt cards and a printable answer sheet allowing students to record up to twelve answers.

This is a great way to introduce/remind students of the different parts of the library. You may also wish to do this as a challenge, having one student choose a card and find the book - record how long it took them, and make this the “time to beat” for following visits.

A simple but effective activity that gets students engaged in locating information within their library.

How to use:

* Print, laminate and cut each card.

* You have the option of having students write their answers on the printable (included), a mini whiteboard, having them physically bring the book to you OR if you have the technology, use tablets/smartphones and have students take pictures of their answers.

* A activity came be done as individuals, pairs or teams (no more than three is my recommendation)

**********************************************************************

Please don't forget to take a look at the other items I have available in my store!

Follow me to get the most up to date information and heads up on upcoming sales.

All new items are listed at 50% off during the first 24 hours. Another great reason to follow my store.

Thank for taking the time to stop by and purchase this resource.

Key Features:

• Concise 4-Paragraph Format: Breaks down topics into manageable sections for maximum understanding. Written at a 7th grade ESOL student level but suitable for a wide range of learners.
• Four Comprehension Questions: Encourages critical thinking and tests knowledge effectively.
• Answer Key Included: Simplifies grading and ensures accurate evaluation.
• Multi-Purpose Use: Ideal for lessons, homework, assessments, or review activities.
• Wide Topic Range: This is one assignment from a series of 20. Buy different topics to use for group projects / study guides and more.

Visit my store today for bundle deals on this series and discover other engaging, ready-to-use assignments for your classroom needs!