The one with End of Year Tips & Activities

Can you believe it? The end of the year is soooooooooo soon. We came back from spring break (which was earlier than usual this year) and I was shocked to find there were less than 50 teaching days left. How am I going to fit it all in? What can I do to close out the year for my kiddos?

I bet I’m not the only one having these thoughts…read to see FIVE (Updated 4/24/17) of my favorite end of year ideas, then hop on to the next blog to find more!

Let’s super power through the end of the year together! 🙂

1. Go outside! Learning outside can be fun and motivating. Measure playground equipment for math, observe clouds for weather in science, draw something in nature, take a book outside and read, use clipboards to take worksheets outside, or even take a little extra recess time. Nice weather always motivates me to think creatively and get my students outside!

2. You grade all year long, let them grade you! Students can give you feedback about their favorite classes and what they like, or didn’t like, this year. It’s always fun to read their ideas and see what classes were their favorites. We make a bar graph (sometimes a large one on the wall using post-its) and talk abut why they picked certain grades. It’s so interesting to find out what projects they loved and what units they really disliked. for this freebie.

3. Write a Letter: Have students write a letter full of advice for the upcoming class. They can give them all of their tips for surviving fourth grade (or second, or third, or fifth, etc.). They are funny to share as a group, and they get to practice their letter writing and proofreading skills! Another letter option is to have students write a letter to THEMSELVES about what they think will happen in the next grade. They can write goals they’ll accomplish, what they think the teachers will be like, and whether they’ll like the next grade as much as they loved their current grade (because of course they loved having you!). Either they address the letter to themselves and I mail it at the end of the following school year, or I can hand deliver them if they’re still at my school. I used to do this when I was in high school for a class and I loved reading what I wrote each year, so I adopted this as an idea for my students now.

4. Argument about Books: I love to read all kinds of books, but I know my students don’t. I have them evaluate ALL of the stories we read throughout the year and pick one that I HAVE to teach my next group of fourth graders and one that I should NEVER teach again. Of course, they have to tell me why! We end up having great debates about the stories, plus it has helped me to learn what stories that I should try to replace, because I know if my students aren’t interested, they won’t be engaged learners.

5. This is the perfect way for students to create a memory book of their time in your class. We draw three of our favorite memories, create a glyph of our favorite summer activities, and write some fun facts about 4th grade. My students LOVE creating these each year. We always have time to share and autograph everyone’s lapbook also. Click here to check out (P.S. It’s not just for 4th grade- there are customizable options for several grades available.)