Ten-Minute Language and Writing Activities for Grades 4–6

 Whether you’re looking to fill an awkward time gap in the classroom or looking to find a fun, engaging game for grades 4–6, Ten-Minute Activities is the resource for you! These short, interactive activities and games for every subject reinforce class content while also practicing independent learning and engaging students in the material.

Check out some of these activities that practice language arts skills for Grades 4–6:

Context Clues

For this activity, you will need a list of vocabulary words for your grade level and chart paper or overhead transparency paper.

1. Write one of the words from your list on the board or on your overhead. Try to use words that your students are unfamiliar with.
2. Read it out for your students, then use it in a sentence. The sentence must provide enough clues so students can guess the meaning of the word.
   
   1. For example: clamorous…The clamorous students yelled, screamed, and ran out the door.
3. Have students write down their best guess on the words’ definition or discuss it with a partner.
4. You can turn this into a game by having students write guesses on whiteboards, keeping a tally of how many words students get right.

Main Ideas Poster Play

This activity requires posters or large pictures (calendar pictures), paper, and pencils.

1. Display one picture at a time.
2. Tell students they have 30 seconds to write a title for the poster or picture that clearly expresses what it is about.
3. After 30 seconds, remove the poster and show the next one.
4. After four or five posters, display all the pictures on the board together. Have students share their titles with partners, a group, or the class.

Phenomenal Partner Paragraphs

The required materials for this topic sentence/supporting details activity are an overhead projector, paper, and pencils.

1. Divide students into groups of 4 and assign each student in the group a number 1–4.
2. Give each group a piece of lined paper and a pencil.
3. Pick a topic from the list below or choose a topic from class material and write it on the board for the groups to see.
   
   1. Bananas, spaghetti, autumn, clouds, recess, shoes, balloons, exercise, snow, kites, worms
4. Student 1 writes a topic sentence on the paper and then passes it to Student 2.
5. Student 2 reads the topic sentence and then adds a supporting detail.
6. Students 3 and 4 will also add supporting details.
7. Groups will read their paragraphs and revise before sharing with the class.

Get ‘em Hooked

Practice story beginning with this activity, for which you’ll need paper and pencils.

1. Share an example topic and topic sentence for the class.
   Topic example: A Thrilling Ride.
   Topic Sentence: As the car started to accelerate down the steep hill, Harry realized that the brakes were gone!
2. Tell students that a good topic sentence grabs the reader’s attention.
3. Choose a topic and write it on the board. Some examples are: best friends, zoo animals, my favorite holiday, relatives, a sport, time travel, weather, school…
4. Challenge students to write an attention-grabbing topic sentence!
5. Allow students to share their sentences with partners or groups, revise, and share with the whole class!

These language arts activities are quick, engaging, and interactive!

About the Author

Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning.