Teachers can create a poetry calendar for which students research, design and create a calendar based on famous poets. Students need to find five poets born in each month and display one or two of each of the poet's works. Each month has a revolving display of poets.
Design a word wall. A word wall is an organized list of content words that many middle school students aren't familiar with but that can be key to understanding the content of what they are studying. Some activities for word walls include having students write definitions for selected words, use the words in stories or poetry, and illustrate the meaning of the words.
Display a quotation a day on the language arts wall. Middle school students think in terms that are more concrete than do high school students, who tend to think more in the abstract. Have each student write down his interpretation of the quotation. Follow this with a discussion about the different ideas students have come up with. This skill teaches students how to paraphrase, use synonyms and give examples.
Create a bulletin board that resembles a social networking webpage. Many middle school students have profiles on popular social networking sites, so designing a weekly language arts schedule that looks like a profile on a site is one way to hold their attention, with daily activities listed as "status updates," just like a real profile.