Fun ELA Activities for 5th Grade!
Let’s get real. You want lessons your students want to do, not just have to do. You want high energy, meaningful work, and proof that it boosts learning, not just fun. Well, here’s your secret weapon for getting fun ELA activities for 5th grade students!
🎧 Ready to fix your problems?
1. Instant engagement (no hustling to plan)
Every lesson is no prep with rap song lyric videos, slides, and lyric-based ELA activities. You don’t need to write a beat or map out mini lessons — it’s performance-ready. Press play, guide them through reading/annotating, let them remix. Boom. Engagement.
2. Standards without the snooze
This isn’t just “cool music on repeat.” Each song is paired with skill-based activities: analyzing main idea and details, figurative language, vocabulary in context, and peer editing. You’ll hit the standards while your are kids thinking they’re doing “rap stuff,” not worksheets.
3. Every kid gets a stage
Some students love spotlight roles, some love writing or background vocals. This format gives everyone a role. You’ll see shy students open up, writers drop bars, performers glow.
4. Longevity & growth
You get access to over 60 songs (and counting). Use them across units, remix, grow with your students. It’s not a one-and-done gimmick.
Click here for your custom resources!
📚 Can rap really boost test scores?
Yep. Research backs the idea of music + literacy learning:
- Kids who engage in music training often show boosts in literacy-related language skills, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and reading skills.
- Playing and perceiving music sharpens auditory processing, leading to stronger reading performance.
- Culturally responsive teaching experts say Hip Hop and rap connect with student identity, making lessons feel relevant and increasing buy-in.
- And for learners with attention needs: rhythm and repetition in rap sustain focus and cognitive rhythm.
So yes — turning lyrics into learning isn’t just fun; it plays to how brains hear, process, and remember language.
Why wait? Get it now!
💡 How does it work?
Week 1: Immerse & annotate
Play the rap. Students use the song lyrics as a reading passage and mark figurative language, synonyms and antonyms, supporting details for the main idea of each verse, and context clues for unfamiliar words. You lead a guided annotation.
Week 2: Remix & write
Divide students into groups. Give them a “slot” in the rap to rewrite or extend. They sketch out their lines, get feedback, refine.
Week 3: Rehearse & perform
Use the lyric video or slides as scaffolding. Your students rehearse their flow, timing, transitions, then perform for class, school, or family event.
Week 4: Reflect & extend
Lead a debrief: Which lyrics did you love? Why? What word choices changed tone? Could you turn it into a video?
Ready for awesome? Just click here!
🗣 You can have it all!
You don’t have to choose between fun and rigor. This tool bridges them. You get a curriculum-aligned, performance-based, student-powered tool. Your students get voice, creativity, and real ELA growth.
If you want help adapting it to your pacing guide, shaping performance rubrics, or piloting with your class first — I’ve got your back. Let’s drop a beat and hit those test scores, together.
