What are 11-13 year olds into these days?

[sunnysummergray]

Hello!

I am a secondary teacher who has just moved to the UK from the US to be with my husband. I am planning a lesson and am trying to tailor it to the interests of my students, who I haven't met yet! What TV shows/ Books / Movies are your kids into at this age? From the short discussion I had with my new coworkers it seems quite different from my US students, so I am looking for ideas.

Thank you so much for any feedback!

Summer

Oh and he does coding club at school, plus likes football, but more supporting a team than playing.

London 'burbs:
11 (nearly 12) dd: fav books: Lord of the Rings; Hunger Games; Ruby Redford; Anne of Green Gables series; Rick Riodan (sp?) - TV: mix of CBBC stuff and BakeOff/nature programmes
13 (nearly 14) ds: fav books: dystopias/future fictions (Ready Player One is the big one in his gang at the mo) and lots of non-fiction (coding/tech/physics based); TV - lots of youtube/cartoons - very little live TV
Films: both into StarWars, Guardians of the Galaxy but still love 'kids' films too (both keen to see Paddington 2)

But I think the upshot is expecting a bunch of 11-13 year olds to be into one thing is a push! Assume that whatever you choose will be very uncool with half the class and you're away!!

Ready Player One is an amazing book but I'm surprised it appeals to this age group. How would they get all the references. I'm a child of the 80s and played computer games at the time and I still didn't know lots of them. The 80s does seem to be a popular era for this age group though, perhaps because their parents have forced it on them

Genuinely shocked that some are watching TWD though!

Assume that whatever you choose will be very uncool with half the class and you're away!!
That's one reason I never do any 'cool' or 'relevant' hooks.
Instead of cool references to youth culture, i pick things that are through provoking or interesting in their own right.

But i suppose it depends on your style. One of my friends is big into cool references and planned a fortnight of geography work inspired by pokemon go. It's not my cup of tea but it suits his style.

My 11 yo is into Pokemon, Minecraft, Pokemon, Harry Potter, Pokemon, Dr Who, Pokemon, David Walliams, Pokemon, Terry Pratchett and Pokemon.

DS is 11 yo.

TV shows/Netflix: Big Band Theory, The Goldbergs, various science and engineering, science fiction, and documentaries.

Movies: Marvel, DC, Star Wars.

Books: Science fiction and fantasy, some YA, some adult. Loved Ready Player One. Has recently read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit, The Book of Dust, Children of Time, the Red Rising trilogy.

Out of interest what are US 11-13s into?

Ds was 11 last week.

Star Wars
Football
PS4

Reading wise
Diary of a wimpy kid
David badiel
History books - just read boy in the striped pj

DS is an immature 13.5yo. Roblox, Star Wars, Diary of Wimpy Kid, interesting science, Big Blue Planet : are all things he could relate to.

Fresh Prince of Bel Air is one of the few tv programmes I can think of.

user: ds's lot are maybe atypical in their reading habits - and yes, I'm sure they missed lots of references (although as children of 80s parents so to speak them may know more than you'd think!) But more generally 80s is cool right now (lots of them loved Stranger Things for example) - and of course the film is out this year.

My DTS will be 12 in April. Thankfully they are not yet interested in Snapchat, FB, Twitter and tend to just use phones for games and not social media. I think there's peer pressure ti follow the crowd with an I-Phone but we are strictly android parents! They like
Big Shaq
YouTube, silly vids/bloopers
Roblox
Pokemon
Mario
Nintendo Switch
Coding
Harry Potter books/films
Star Wars
The Maze Runner
LOTR/The Hobit fims
Retro gaming
Anime
Alex Rider books
Zombies
Stranger Things
Red Dwarf
Crystal Maze
New Star Trek
The Apprentce

Mine is currently reading Bear Grylls Survival Guide and Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy.
He’s ploughed his way through the Cherub series this year too.

My 11yo and her friends are into
Harry Potter Everything
Unicorns
Mythology Lite (Percy Jackson etc)
YouTube Funnies
Retro Gaming
Endless Texts using 100 emojis where one will do
Nail Varnish
The quest for the perfect pair of Jeggings
Terry Prachett
Fluffy Socks (they all gave each other fluffy socks for Xmas?)
Girlguides

My 13yo relative
Fake Nails
Having mermaid hair
Instagram

Do is 13, almost 14. Most kids at his school do Duke of Edinburgh award starting in yr 9 so they are all volunteering, doing physical activities, a skill and an expedition. Ds and friends all like sport but not football - mostly athletics and parkrun, some cricket, a lot of rugby, trampoline parks are popular. The crappy Mexican food we have in the UK is fairly popular, but Chinese food tends to be favourite. A lot are vegetarian. Ds reads Patrick Ness but not much else. Lots like to watch Stranger Things and Star Wars anything.

Do likes teachers who express a passion of their own. Personally I would love it if you taught them about the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the rule of law in the US.

DD:12 Harry Potter, Dr Who, slime, Lush, make up, netflix
DS11: lego, nerf guns, you tube, pokemon

Together: Dantdm, Minecraft, DDog & Dcat

DS nearly 12 is into his phone (watching mine craft tutorials on you tube and sending his friends silly memes on Whats app!), also loves Bake Off!

Sorry forgot to say he’s really into cookery and has started making meals himself which he loves. Other hobby is annoying his younger brother as much as poss 😬🙄

And loves all Percy Jackson books!

Coding, photoshop and virtual reality headsets. DS is 12.

YouTube
Harry Potter
Raiding my kitchen cabinets for ingredients to make slime.
PS4 games
Football
Mine craft
Scalextric

user187656748, my 11 year old loved Ready Player One. The 80s references may not as relevant to his generation but the VR and online gaming certainly is. He has been talking about it for a couple of months. He has also watched an Atari dock on Netflix since, so it seems the book has piqued his interest. I grew up in the 90s and was never much of a gamer so it is not coming from me!

doco not dock

DS is 11 and in year 6 but oldest in the year. Very young for his age.

Loves-
Lego (the expensive modular Creator sets 🙄)
Minecraft
Anthony Horowitz
David Walliams
Wimpy kid and Big Nate
Soft toys (!)
Nature and animals
Drawing (copying) book covers
Drama
Musical instruments
Films- Westerns, Sister Act (!), Star wars, Paddington, Karate Kid
Tv- old sitcoms, Dad's Army, Scooby Doo, We Bare Bears, will watch some Cbeebies (Go Jetters)
Scouts
Cricket
'Adventures'- climbing Ben Nevis etc