The end-of-the-school year can be a challenge for students and teachers alike. Everyone is in countdown mode and classroom behavior becomes difficult to control. Keep your sanity and your classroom organization at the end of the year by switching up your routine and lessons!
Here are ideas and activities to keep your classroom running smoothly until the last day of school.
Rewards, Rewards, Rewards
Since most students are not extrinsically motivated to learn with summer just around the corner, create new rewards for the whole class to aspire to! Create a dual system that rewards individual students, as well as the whole class.
- Free Choice Friday
For students who follow classroom rules and finish their homework/lessons, provide a 20 to 30 minute time slot at the end of the day for them to play games, read, or do fun activities. (Students who don’t make the requirements can spend that time with you working on unfinished work.) Activities can be as simple as:- Draw and write time
- Board/card games
- Center activities
- Creative toys such as Legos
- Class Behavior Goal
Challenge students to meet a behavior goal as a class and reward them with:- A pajama day
- Extra recess
- Class movie (Read a book aloud and watch the movie)
- Lunch with the teacher
Take it Outside
Spring is in full bloom and summer is just around the corner. Plan some lessons for outdoors to give students a break from their desks.
- Silent outdoor reading: Invite students to take turns silent reading outside your classroom. Break them into small groups and invite a different group each day to read outdoors. (This only works if you have an aide or parent willing to help monitor students.)
- Plan a science lesson outdoors: Check out DIY Schoolyard Habitat Lesson
- Outdoor draw and write: Ask student to bring their writing journals outside and choose one plant in the schoolyard to draw. Ask them to write about their plant, as if they were describing it to someone who is blind.
- Math review scavenger hunt: Turn your math task cards into a scavenger hunt. (You will need an extra adult for this activity.)
- Create master list of math problems students could solve. (This works great for end-of-the-year math review.)
- Using 3×5 cards, write down the answers to the problems and place the cards around the playground. (It helps to create one set of answers for each group playing.)
- Assign students into small groups with clipboards.
- Each group must solve the math problems on their master sheets and look for the correct answer card, hidden on the playground.
- Bonus feature: You can include an extension problem on the answer task cards to challenge students to think deeper!
Movement Activities for the Last Week of School
Incorporate brain breaks more frequently in May and the last days of school! Studies have shown that children are more engaged when they are allowed to move frequently.
- Use classroom apps such as Go Noodle and Motion Maze.
- Randomly fill a jar with movement activities and choose a student to pick one.
- Play a game of charades with your weekly vocabulary words.
Creative Activities to Switch up your Lesson Routine
Let’s face it: the class schedule that provided so much organization and predictably for your students in the beginning of the school year is old news by now. Take a break from the textbook and insert some creative lessons into your end-of-the-year routine.
A Postcard Home- Creative Drawing and Writing Free Printable
Download this free creative writing activity here.
This writing activity sets up a situation in which students are spending the weekend away from their family and friends and write a postcard to tell what they have done and seen, including drawing a picture on the back. (From Evan-Moor’s Giant Every Day Write.)
- “What is it?” Drawing and Writing Activity
When the school year ends, the “What Is It?” lesson may prove to have been your favorite for its simplicity. Students turn a doodle (such as a shape or line) into a drawing that corresponds with a particular theme or unit, and then explain their drawing orally or in writing. You can easily adapt this for all ages, calling the activity a “Squiggle Story” or “Doodle Draw.”
For more details and examples, read: What Is It? A Fun Drawing and Writing Lesson Integrates Standards Across the Curriculum
- Pop Art Activity – Free Printable
- This is a great activity to have students do during testing week or at the end of the school year. Check out this article and free download on how to make a Pop Art food poster! Making Art Relevant in the Classroom: How to Teach Pop Art
- Time Filler Activities
Quality time filler activities are perfect for the last week of school when textbooks have been turned in and attention spans are short. Read this article for tips and free activities for grades 1-6, including free thinking skills activities and paper crafts that are easy to complete in short chunks of time: Teachable Moments: Using Quality Time Fillers
- Book Swap
This is a great activity to encourage summer reading!- Every student brings a used book to class (wrapped) with a brief summary of why they enjoyed the book. No spoilers!
- Each student is randomly given a wrapped book to open (one at a time in front of the class).
- Students record each book title opened so they have a list of summer reading books to check out at the library.
- Students can highlight their top ten favorite books they would like to read over the summer!
- Make a Paper Book
- Students can write and illustrate their own story or make a paper book for class autographs.
- For directions on making your own paper book view this video.
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- For creative writing prompts, see: Creative Writing Prompts for the End of the Year
Making Memories: Last Week of School Activities
The last week of school is usually filled with school assemblies and classroom organization. Listed below are some activities to keep your students occupied during the bustle and create a positive experience to end the school year.
- Chalk Memories: This activity works well during the last week of school.
- Get a box of sidewalk chalk.
- Students can draw their favorite memories of the school year.
- Picnic: Invite students to meet you on the grass for a lunch picnic the last day of school.
- Autograph Keepsake: Have students create an autograph book/paper for their classmates to sign. (This works well when not everyone in your class purchases a yearbook.) They can spend time decorating it and signing.
Host a Mini-Olympics: Plan to host an outdoor Mini-Olympics with your grade level! Ask each classroom to create five outdoor activities (staffed with parent volunteers.)
- Each class creates gold medal necklaces with students’ pictures and names for students to wear during the event. (Necklaces can be attached with yarn.) Each time a student completes an event, add a sticker on the back of the medal.
- Before beginning the event, classes can line up for an Olympic parade around the school before starting the events. (You can even play the theme song!)
- Olympic events can be very simple and use the available playground equipment. Some ideas for outdoor Olympic events are:
- Hula Hoop
- Bean Bag toss
- Jump rope
- Soccer goal kicks
- Three legged race
- Basketball throw
- Race around the track
- Monkey bar course
- Jumping jack station
What is your favorite end-of-the-year activity? Please share with our readers!
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Heather Foudy is a certified elementary teacher with over 7 years’ experience as an educator and volunteer in the classroom. She enjoys creating lessons that are meaningful and creative for students. She is currently working for Evan-Moor’s marketing and communications team and enjoys building learning opportunities that are both meaningful and creative for students and teachers alike.