Keeping high school students engaged at the start of class is a challenge that every teacher faces. Enter the high school daily starter — a simple yet powerful tool to set the tone for a productive lesson. Not only do daily starters help establish routines, but they can also spark critical thinking and prepare students for future success. My latest resource, 180 Days of Engaging College and Career Starters, is designed specifically to meet this need, offering a full year of meaningful and standards-aligned prompts to help high school students gear up for college and career readiness.
What Is a High School Daily Starter?
A high school daily starter is a quick, focused activity that students complete as they enter the classroom. These activities are often designed to reinforce prior learning, introduce new concepts, or build skills aligned with your curriculum. For high school teachers, daily starters can also serve as a platform to develop soft skills like time management and c
ollaboration, alongside hard skills like critical thinking and writing. With a focus on college and career readiness, daily starters can ensure every moment in the classroom is purposeful and impactful.
Why Focus on College and Career Readiness?
As high school teachers, we know that preparing students for life beyond the classroom is one of our most important goals. The 180 Days of Engaging College and Career Starters was created to help teachers do just that. Each starter in this resource is designed to:
- Encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Foster real-world connections to careers and college pathways.
- Provide engaging prompts that align with Common Core and other academic standards.
- Require only a few minutes of class time while packing a powerful punch.
For example, one daily starter might prompt students to reflect on the skills they would bring to a hypothetical job interview, while another asks them to analyze the ethical dilemmas in a workplace scenario. These starters are practical, relatable, and flexible enough to fit into any high school curriculum.
How to Use High School Daily Starters Effectively
To maximize the impact of your high school daily starter, consider these tips:
- Consistency is Key: Start every class with a daily starter to create a routine that students rely on.
- Tie It to Your Lesson: Use the starter as a warm-up for the day’s main activity or discussion.
- Incorporate Task Cards: Grade-level-appropriate task cards, like those in my ELA Common Core Task Cards MEGA Bundle, can double as daily starters, providing a quick and easy way to engage students in reading, writing, or analytical tasks.
- Encourage Reflection: Dedicate a minute or two to debrief the starter, linking it to long-term goals like college readiness or career aspirations.
Why Task Cards Make Great High School Daily Starters
Any teacher who has used task cards knows how versatile they are. They’re not just for stations or review days; they can be repurposed as highly effective daily starters. My ELA Common Core Task Cards MEGA Bundle includes hundreds of prompts that challenge students to:
- Analyze textual evidence.
- Strengthen their argumentative writing.
- Engage with vocabulary in meaningful ways.
Using these task cards as daily starters can save you planning time while ensuring your students are consistently practicing essential ELA skills.
P.S. I wrote down some of my tips and tricks when it comes to high school task cards in the blog post below. Check it out: 
Making the Most of Your High School Daily Starters
When implemented thoughtfully, daily starters can transform the beginning of your class period into a time of meaningful learning. Whether you’re using my 180 Days of Engaging College and Career Starters or task cards from my MEGA Bundle, the goal remains the same: to engage students in a way that prepares them for success beyond the high school classroom.
Ready to transform your class? Explore these resources today and see how impactful high school daily starters can be!
These warm ups target five different skill/content categories and are all CCSS aligned:
Reading Literature (RL)
Reading Information (RI)
Context Clues (L)
Creative Writing (W) *Which is one of my personal favorites!
Response to Quotations (W)
