Warm Up Activities for High School Classes

Modified: Aug 25
6 min read
Table of contents

Keeping high school students engaged, especially during the first few minutes of class, can be a challenge. Whether you’re teaching right after lunch, during the final period of the day, or in the sweltering heat of May or June, getting learners focused fast is key.

This blog is packed with teacher-approved warm-up activities designed for Grades 9–12 across multiple subjects. From ESL-friendly icebreakers to fast-paced writing prompts, these classroom starters help build student confidence, community, and participation.

💡 Teaching middle school too? Check out our Middle School Warm-Ups blog for age-appropriate ideas.
✍️ Need tips for making a great first impression? Don’t miss our “Meet the Teacher” template guide.

Icebreaker activities for high school students

Great for the start of the school year, after school breaks, or when you’re forming new groups.

1. Chain Story:

Learners collaborate to write a story about the first day of school on a single piece of paper. However, as they pass the paper to the next student, fold it so that only the most recent sentence is visible. Then, read the entire story to the class. It’s usually a good piece of amusing nonsense!

2. “I have spoken”

This works well as a back-to-school activity after a holiday or long weekend. In a large circle, students get the chance to say as much (or as little) as they want about their vacation (or any topic of their choosing) in 20 seconds. At the end of their time, they say, “I have spoken,” and everyone replies, “Ho!” Then the turn passes to the next student in the circle.

3. “I’m going to bring”:

Start by saying, “I’m going for a picnic (or on vacation, or to the beach), and I’m going to bring,” and then name an appropriate item that starts with the letter “A.” The next student in the circle says, “I’m going for a picnic and I’m going to bring,” and then they repeat your item and then add an item that starts with B. Continue around the circle, adding an item that starts with the next letter of the alphabet each time. This can work especially well if you’re creative with where you’re “going.”

4. Sign of the day

Fun fact, The United States does not in fact have an official language! But, after English and Spanish, American Sign Language is among the most widespread. Just like Spanish, the benefits of knowing a few simple words and phrases in ASL can be huge for social and professional development. It can also be a lot of fun for your students to have another means of communication with other learners. There’s a great Youtube channel here, that can get you and your class started on learning new signs!

English class warm-up activities

Perfect for high school ELA, Literature, and Language Arts classes, these short exercises reinforce key skills and spark creativity.

1. Flash Fiction

Not stories about the world’s fastest superhero. Flash fiction is all about writing very short stories as quickly as possible! Give your students a prompt from a previous lesson and tell them they have one minute to write a response to it. Be sure to establish that short stories require a beginning, middle, and end, even if they’re very small!

2. Character Motivations

Write a famous character on the whiteboard. It could be an obscure character from a previous lesson, or someone more generic. Have your students write bullet points on a piece of paper about what motivates them.

ESL warm-up games for multilingual classrooms

Learning English as a second language can be really tough. There’s a good chance that at least one of your learners will speak English as a second language. Games like these can be a great way to build a strong foundation that can improve their confidence before beginning a new topic. One of the best ways to maximize your native English speakers’ interest is to introduce new topics in fun ways. Try some of these ESL games and see for yourself!

1. Fun, Fantastic Friends

This is a great team-building ESL warm-up activity that can be played in pairs or small groups. Divide your learners up into pairs or small groups. If you’re teaching online, this works fine as an individual activity. Assign each group or person a letter (Maybe avoid difficult letters such as X or Q!). They now have to find two adjectives and a noun with that starting letter to describe themselves. When everybody is ready, each group introduces themselves in front of the class. Students usually come up with funny, original ideas that make everybody laugh. You will hear things like, “We are amazing, active animals” and, “We are cool, cheerful classmates.”

2. Sentence Scramble

For native English speakers, incorrect syntax can be easy to find, but tricky to explain. For this fun activity, you can divide the students into small groups. Come up with a few sentences before class, and write the sentence’s words on your whiteboard in random order. The first group or individual student to unscramble the words and read the sentence aloud correctly wins that round.When creating sentences, you can use motivating mottos, the target subject of the day, or review a grammar point from a previous lesson. Even though it might sound very easy, you can choose quite complicated phrases, such as quotes, scientific principles, or even a Shakespearean verse or two!

Geo-Relevant Classroom Contexts

These warm-ups are adaptable for schools across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and beyond.
You can localize them by:

  • Using current events from your region
  • Incorporating culturally relevant examples or holidays
  • Adjusting vocabulary or accents for your audience

Kami templates make localization easy, just edit the text and assign it through your LMS.

Quick tips for implementation

  • ⏱️ Keep warm-ups under 5 minutes
  • 🎨 Use visuals or digital whiteboards for fun formatting
  • 🔁 Reuse formats weekly to create routine
  • 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Encourage peer discussion or group work
  • 🖥️ Use Kami’s collaboration tools to let students respond live

Try Kami templates for quick & easy warm-ups

Looking to save time and boost student engagement? Kami offers free, editable warm-up templates and icebreaker activities in the Kami Library. Try Kami for free today.

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