Yes, we’re tired at the end of another school year. Yes, our students think school is basically “done.” Yes, we have billions of things to do to wrap up the year.
But we also want to enjoy the last days with our students while keeping them busy and engaged.
What we need are some easy, low-prep activities.
None of these are especially new or never-before-seen, but I have tried to curate some of the best ideas out there that will take the least teacher time and energy. So here we go!
Daily Activities
1 – Hang up bulletin board paper along one wall or bulletin board. Give students markers and let them write messages, memories, shout-outs of appreciation, etc. They can draw pictures or add whatever other creative (and appropriate) touches you want them to add. Leave this up for several days and let students continue to add to it.
2 – Read a picture book daily. Here is a list of some of my favorites.
3 – Make an end of year playlist. Here are some songs to consider including from We Are Teachers website.
Writing Activities
4 – Write a letter to next year’s students. Give them some prompt ideas such as these:
*here’s what to expect in _____ grade
*here are the best parts about _____ grade
*here’s what you need to know about your teacher . . .
*one of my favorite things we did was . . .
*a favorite field trip was . . .
*some of my favorite books we read were . . .
*some books you should read in _____ grade are . . .
5 – Write a letter to their next year’s teacher if they are continuing in a grade at your school. Give them some prompt ideas such as these:
*my name is ________ and I prefer to be called ________.
*I am looking forward to ______ grade because . . . (OR I am worried about _______ grade because . . .) or write about both!
*some things I especially like at school are . . . and here’s why . . .
*some things that are more challenging for me are . . . and here’s why . . .
*some goals I have for _______ grade are . . .
*I’m hoping you can help me with . . .
*some things I enjoy doing outside of school are . . .
*some things I want you to know about me are . . .
6 – Write an EOY reflection. Here are some ideas to spark their thinking:
*what was their favorite thing to learn this year?
*what were some favorite books we read this year?
*what was a favorite field trip and why?
*what were some of your favorite class traditions or rituals?
*what are some of your favorite memories of our class?
*if you could change anything about this year, what would you change?
*what is one of your favorite accomplishments of the year?
*what is one of your favorite memories of your teacher(s)?
*what is one of your favorite memories of your classmates?
*what will you miss most about this school year and why?
*what advice would you give to yourself, if you could return to the first day of school?
7 – create a class yearbook or memory book. Here’s a link to one that my team uses.
Here is another version from Curriculum Corner (one of my favorite resource websites, by the way).
8 – Write thank you notes to other teachers or adults within the school.
9 – Jennifer Findley has some awesome end of year writing prompts HERE! She also has some great ideas about prepping students for the next grade’s content in this post. (And her website is another great resource site for all kinds of topics.)
10 – Make a Padlet wall for each student with the focus question “What do you like about . . . ?”. Send one Padlet wall link to your students daily (through email or post in Google Classroom). Then each student can add brief notes or stories about the focus student. You can print these Padlets or email them to your students and families.
11 – Have your students write a six-word memoir! Here are our directions for writing the memoirs.
12 – Consider giving your students a Google form with feedback for you from the year. (“EOG” stands for “End of Grade,” which is the name of our state test.)
13 – Mary at Teaching with a Mountain View has a great activity called Three Words. To do this, have each of your students (or small groups of students) come up with a creative three-word phrase to describe the school year. Then, have them come up with a creative way to display their three words. You can read more about it HERE.
14 – Another great idea from Mary at Teaching with a Mountain View: make an ABC book about the school year. You can read more HERE. Jennifer Findley has a great template for this activity.
15 – Make a ME – THEN & NOW poster. Have students look back at books they were reading at the beginning of the year compared to now, compare writing samples, and think about math and content areas that they know much more about now. Also include skills such as friendship or work habits skills they have learned or have improved throughout the year.
16 – Paper plate keepsakes – Pick up a pack of paper plates and give out some colorful markers. Have each student write their name in the middle of the plate, then start passing! Each student writes complimentary words to describe their classmate, then passes it to the next kid. They’ll each end up with a sweet keepsake for the school year! (Another option – if you’re concerned about what some students might write: have them write these separately, then you do the writing on the paper plate.)
17 – choose some quotes from this list. Have your students write what the quote means to them.
Activities about Books/Reading
18 – Have your students make a class “summer reading list.” What are some books that they recommend kids should read over the summer? You can google lists if you want to give your students something to choose from (or to inspire their own ideas).
19 – Make a list of “Books You Should Read in ______ Grade” for next year’s students. Or add these suggestions to a chart paper for next year’s beginning of year display.
20 – Does your school or local library or local bookstore offer any kind of summer reading program? Consider inviting a librarian or bookstore representative to visit your class and talk about the program. If that won’t work, you can still visit the website (or share the link with your students) and have them learn about what the program entails.
21 – Take your reading outside if it is safe to do so! Allow students to bring towels or blankets, set up a comfy reading spot, and do some independent reading (or read aloud) outside.
22 – Read a book together, then watch the movie. To make this activity more rigorous (and standards-aligned), have your students answer and discuss the following questions:
*Which did you enjoy more – the book or the movie? Why?
*Did the main characters look and act like you expected? Why or why not?
•What scenes were different in the movie? Were these differences good or bad, and why?
*What parts were better in the book, and why?
*What are some other differences between the book and the movie?
Some movies that are great for this activity:
*A Wrinkle in Time
*Because of Winn-Dixie
*The BFG
*Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
*Charlotte’s Web
*Hidden Figures
*Holes
*Hoot
*Matilda
*The One & Only Ivan
*Shiloh
*The Tale of Despereaux
*Wonder
23 – Allow students to do some readers’ theater! This is a fun way to work on fluency, learn some content (depending on the script), collaborate, and have a good time.
Here are some links to free scripts:
~Readers’ Theater Scripts & Plays
~The Best Class scripts
~Weebly scripts
~Readers’ Theater All Year
~T. P. Jagger scripts
~scripts on Education.com
24 – Have students create their own poetry anthologies. Collect some books of poetry. They can be from your classroom collection, your school library (if you’re still able to check out books), or your public library.
Here are some favorite poetry titles:
~Random House Book of Poetry for Children
~Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
~Summer Vacation, Here I Come! by D. J. Steinberg
~Poetry for Young People series
~No More Homework! No More Tests! Kids’ Favorite Funny School Poems by Bruce Lansky
Give students blank paper. Their job is to find poems that they love (for whatever reason), and copy the poem in their best handwriting/cursive (including the title and author), one poem per page.
Then they can illustrate the poem or create a design for the page.
When they finish, they can put the pages together along with a cover page with their name, the words “Poetry Anthology”, and the year.
STEM Activities
25 – STEM challenges from We Are Teachers
Fun Websites for Kids to Explore
26 – Go on a virtual field trip! Here are some of my favorites. We Are Teachers posted a free virtual space career tour that looks interesting. Here’s the link.
27 – Boost your students’ vocabularies by letting them play Free Rice. (It also benefits the United Nations World Food Programme.)
28 – Wonderopolis is another great site for exploring and learning.
29 – Street View Treks is a fun site for exploring places around the world.
30 – 5 Clue Challenge is fun for watching short videos and using clues to guess the animal, location, or person!
31 – Watch videos on TeachFlix (one of my new favorite sites!).
Games, Puzzles, & Art
32 – Allow students to play card games or board games! You may have a set of games but you can also find inexpensive ones at thrift stores. Here are some favorites:
Uno
Crazy Eights
Go Fish
Clue
Yahtzee
Monopoly
Battleship
Checkers
Chess
Chinese Checkers
Backgammon
Pictionary
Hedbanz
Race Across the USA
Sorry!
Trouble
Connect 4
If you want to allow students to play games together, but on devices, take a look at this site: Buddy Board Games.
33 – If your students enjoy puzzles, here is a site with printable puzzles.
34 – If your students enjoy coloring sheets, here is a site with printable coloring pages.
35 – This is a great origami website!
36 – This is my favorite art website that kids can enjoy on their own.
37 – Allow your students to create board games about a math concept for next year’s students. Show them examples such as the games on this site (click your grade level, then scroll down the left side of the page to the Game File). Let them work as partners or in teams to create the games.
38 – Play math games! Our North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website (same site as linked in #37 above) has some awesome games to print and play. Here is the link.
39 – We Are Teachers always has such fun activities that are grab and go. Here is this year’s Last Day of School bundle of activities.
40 – Curriculum Corner’s “Have a Groovy Summer” has some fun activities, all with a tie-dye theme.
41 – Minds in Bloom is another favorite resource site. Here is a link to some fun games for the end of the year.
42 – Enjoy a paper airplane contest!
I hope you found some fun ideas here! Enjoy the last few days with your students. Summer will be here soon!
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