Begin at the beginning. The first day of class creates the atmosphere for the entire semester. Here is my favorite first day lesson plan that allows students to express themselves, learn about a classmate, and exposes students to a few classic figures.

This end of high school scrapbook is great for English class but can be used in most content areas. It could easily be adapted to middle school as welll. High school seniors (or those leaving middle school) put 8 individual assignments into a scrapbook containing memories from high school.