If you are looking for the perfect way to start your school year off strong with a rigorous yet engaging beginning of the year activity your students will be talking about all year, look no further than this Back to School Escape Room for ELA - Pop Culture Edition!

There is no wonder why escape rooms are so popular; they are highly engaging and encourage people to work together and think creatively in order to solve different puzzles... all while trying to beat the clock! This meticulously-crafted resource features all of the materials you need to conduct a full-length ELA Escape Room. Planning an escape room may seem like quite the daunting task, but this product provides everything from the basics and set-up instructions to signs and answer keys so that yours runs smoothly from start to finish. The activity involves movement, energy, creative thinking and most of all, collaboration. Your students will be having so much fun that they won’t even realize the higher order thinking skills they are applying in the playing of this game!

How does it work?

Your students must learn to collaborate with their new peers to escape your classroom by solving 5 different Language Arts skills-based puzzles, discovering a hidden message, and finding clues along the way.

• Comme Drama: In the first task, students must identify comma rules used in 6 celebrity quotes. When matched correctly on a mat puzzle, shaded boxes reveal the first code.
• Celeb-spiration: In the second task, students will read true stories about celebrities who had to work incredibly hard for their success, either by beating the odds of a harsh upbringing or by trying and failing many times before hitting it big. In each, there is one commonly misspelled word. Students must identify the word and enter the correct spelling into an answer sheet. Circled boxes reveal the second code.
• Stressed Out: In the third task, students must perform a close reading of the song, Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots. The letters of the correct multiple choice answers form the third code.
• Steph's Fallen Phrase: In the fourth task, students must complete a fallen phrase that forms an inspirational quote by basketball star, Stephen Curry. Circled boxes within the answer reveal the fourth code.
• Jig Saw Quote: In the fifth and final task, students must assemble a jig saw puzzle that forms an inspirational quote by Kendrick Lamar to motivate them to start their year off strong. (We can't give that away here!)

Product Includes:

- Escape Room Basics

- Detailed Day-Of Instructions

- Escape Room Print Checklist

- Student Teams Chart

- Welcome Sign for Your Door

- Materials for 5 Tasks: task signs to be folded upright, task instructions (2 per page for easy printing), and necessary information to be kept at stations

- Student Answer Booklet

- Teacher Answer Keys

- Code Word Theme Open Response for homework or in-class writing activity

- Escape Room Reflection for homework or in-class writing activity

Although this escape room is ideal for the beginning of the school year, it can be used at any time throughout the year without modification.

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We've gone digital! Check out our paperless version to support distance learning:

⭐ Back to School ELA Digital Escape Room - Pop Culture Edition

If you enjoyed this escape room, make sure to check out the original and second edition!

⭐ Back to School ELA Escape Room

⭐ Back to School ESCAPE ROOM - Second Edition

Check out these related resources by Language Arts Excellence to start your year in ELA off strong:

⭐ Back to School ELA Bundle

⭐ First Day of ELA "Book Talk" Activity

⭐ Back to School "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover" Activity

⭐ Back to School Effective Effort Lesson Plan

⭐ First Day of School Powerpoint Presentation

⭐ Emergency ELA Lesson Plan BUNDLE

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⭐⭐⭐For the escape room enthusiasts out there, you can now build your own bundle at 20% off the cover price of 3 or more escape rooms! Click the link to check out all of the escape rooms Language Arts Excellence has to offer: Build Your Own Escape Room BUNDLE⭐⭐⭐

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