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Middle School ELA End-of-the-Year Activity: The Year in Review Skit Challenge (With a Literary Twist!)

If you’re searching for the perfect middle school ELA end-of-the-year activity that keeps students learning, engaged, and entertained, this one is a must-try! As the countdown to summer begins and classroom energy hits peak chaos, it can feel nearly impossible to hold students’ attention while still doing something meaningful.

That’s exactly why I love the Year in Review Skit Challenge. It’s fun, creative, and doubles as a review of the literature you’ve covered all year—without feeling like more work for you or your students.

🎭 What Is the Year in Review Skit Challenge?

This is a fun and educational ELA activity for the end of the school year that allows students to revisit the books, short stories, and texts they’ve read during the year—but in a way that feels fresh, collaborative, and downright hilarious.

Here’s how it works:

Divide your students into small groups (3–5 works great).
Each group creates a short skit that brings together characters from different stories you’ve read during the year.
Students are encouraged to add modern updates, humor, and creative mashups to make their skit stand out.
End the activity with a fun “awards show” featuring categories like:
Best Comedy
Most Dramatic Performance
Best Character Impressions

This activity checks so many boxes: it’s a performance task, a literature review, a group project, and a memory-maker all in one.

📝 Free Printable for Easy Implementation

I’ve made this super simple for you by creating a free, ready-to-print student handout that walks your students through the entire skit-planning process. From choosing characters and writing their script to preparing for performance day, this guide keeps everyone on track (and keeps you from answering 500 questions!).

👉Click here to download the freebie!

💡 Need Skit Ideas to Jumpstart Student Creativity?

Here are a few skit ideas for middle school ELA students that your class will love:

Literary Therapy Session
Characters from different texts meet in a group therapy session to talk about their plot trauma. (Yes, someone always brings up surviving a dystopian society.)
Reality TV Crossover
Think Survivor, The Bachelor, or The Amazing Race—but starring characters from your class novels. Who allies? Who sabotages? Who cries on camera?
Middle School Assembly Gone Wrong
Literary characters are invited to speak at a school assembly… but let’s just say it does not go as planned. (Bonus: sneak in some public speaking standards!)

🧠 Why It’s the Perfect End-of-Year ELA Activity

This end-of-year ELA review activity hits academic goals while keeping the tone light and fun. Students revisit character traits, plot, theme, and conflict—but instead of another test or worksheet, they’re up on their feet, collaborating, and thinking outside the box.

Whether you’re reviewing core novels, short stories, or even nonfiction, this activity is flexible and adaptable to any middle school ELA curriculum.

✅ Looking for More Time-Saving Teaching Tools?

Here’s the truth: this idea—and so many others I’ve used this year—came from a tool that has transformed the way I plan lessons: ChatGPT.

If you’ve never used it, or you’ve tried but feel stuck, I’ve created a practical and quick-reward course just for ELA teachers called ChatGPT for Teachers. In it, I show you exactly how to use ChatGPT to:

Save tons of planning time
Generate creative activities
Write better prompts
Lighten your teacher workload without sacrificing quality

No tech skills required. Just actionable, time-saving strategies made for real classrooms.

👉 Here is the link if you want to check it out.

🎬 Ready to End the Year on a High Note?

The Year in Review Skit Challenge is the perfect way to wrap up your middle school ELA year with creativity, laughter, and a little literary magic. Whether your students are acting out a character mashup or turning a novel into a reality TV show, they’ll be reviewing important content while making lasting memories.

Try it out—and don’t forget to grab your free handout to make it easy!