The end of the school year is an exciting time… but it can also be overwhelming for teachers. There’s so much to get done and there’s nothing worse than running out of time on a cool project or unit.
And of course, as much as we look forward to a restful summer and a much needed break (especially during this 2020-2021 school year!), we also know we’ll miss our students and the community we’ve worked so hard building together.
End the year with grace and intentionality with these 5 low-prep end-of-the-year activities… whether you’re teaching in person, virtually, or a combination of the two.
End-of-the-Year Discussion Activity
If you’re giving any final exams, projects, or presentations on the last day of school, an End-of-the-Year discussion activity is a perfect, low-prep way to wrap up your last day.
Simply choose 3-5 fun, low-stakes questions for students to answer. They can answer them in writing, share with partners, or share 1 or more of their answers with the whole class as a nice way to create closure for the class community you’ve built together over the year.
What kind of questions to ask? I like to ask students about the most memorable moments of the year, their area of most growth, challenges they overcame, or their upcoming summer. Whatever questions you ask, keep it light, safe, and positive.
I love this activity because it is so flexible, which is ideal when you’re down to your last day and you’re not 100% sure how long students will take on an exam or to give their final presentations.
Only 10 minutes left? Ask students to choose 1 question to answer in writing and then invite them to pair-share or ask for a few volunteers.
Have 30 minutes left? Skip writing answers and pull desks into a circle. Each student shares their answer to one question as you move around the circle.
You can print questions on a handout for students to do independently after an exam while other students finish or you can project the questions on the overhead and go around the class sharing answers to the questions until class time runs out.
In addition to being awesomely flexible, this activity is also great because it’s meaningful (in other words…it’s not just an empty time filler). Students are always genuinely interested in what each other shares because they know it’s their last chance to share with each other.
End-of-the-Year Course Survey
Improve your teaching by asking your students for their feedback to guide the changes you make to your class over the summer.
Students love to feel like they have a say and many enjoy the idea that they’re helping to improve the class for future students.
The key to successful end-of-year surveys is to set the activity up well. This means making sure students understand the purpose of giving their feedback (ie: helping you improve the class for the next year’s class) and making sure students feel safe giving their honest, constructive opinions.
Setting class surveys up for success also means making it clear to students they’re evaluating and giving feedback on the course, NOT you as a person or a teacher. Just as you are not grading students all year long, but are grading projects and the extent to which students met standards, students are giving feedback on the course, activities, content, policies, etc.
The best way I’ve found to keep this distinction clear is to word questions in a way that calls attention to the course. For example, my first year I asked something like “what could I do differently to help you learn better?” Unfortunately, the feedback I received wasn’t too helpful…
Now, I’ve learned to word this question to be more specifically oriented towards the course by asking: “what is one change you suggest making to the course for next year and why?” Not surprisingly, the responses I receive now are not only more respectful and kind, but they’re also a lot more actionable and genuinely helpful.
End-of-the-Year Letters
Another low-stress and low-prep way to end the year is to invite students to write letters. I love the letters because they’re a chance for students to gain closure and to say goodbye as well as to reflect on all their growth over the year.
I like to incorporate student choice by giving prompts for writing letters to a variety of recipients. Over the years, students have written letters to me, their guardians or peers, the class itself, a favorite author, next year’s students, and even themselves!
When students choose to write a letter-to-the-teacher, I have found those letters to be as informative as the class surveys – plus, I love the added layer of personalization that comes from the letter format. Some of the responses I’ve gotten over the years have really been quite sweet.
Similarly, letters to future students filled with advice and tips for “surviving,” have also been both funny and informative for me. Putting the letters out on the desks at the start of next year can also be a fun way to introduce new students to your class (just make sure to read each letter carefully for anything inappropriate!)
I also like to encourage students to write letters of gratitude to those who have helped them during the year, such as their guardians, friends, siblings, other teachers, and school staff members (such as nurses, coaches, administrators, counselors, custodial staff, cafeteria workers, and more). Acknowledging others has been such a nice and positive way to end the year.
End-of-the-Year One Pager
One pagers are a fun way for students to reflect on the school year, wind down from a stressful week of finals, and create one last piece of work they can feel proud taking home with them at the end of the day.
A one pager is a concise and visual way of expressing several aspects of learning or analysis on a single page. For my own end-of-the-year one pagers, I ask students to reflect on their challenges, growth, and memories throughout the course of the year.
One of my favorite things to ask students to include on the one pager is common words and phrases from our class. It helps to build a wonderful time-capsule memory as students capture pop culture references and students personalities with the phrases we tended to use often throughout the year.
End-of-the-Year Soundtrack
One of my favorite closing activities for the school year is to invite students to create a soundtrack that encapsulates their year.
For a simple activity, students choose 10 songs that represent the last year and explain why they chose each song. You can also give students specific categories to choose songs for, such as a song that encapsulates their love life this year, their school participation this year, their family relationships this year, etc.
If you want to keep an ELA focus, invite students to identify or explain a piece of figurative language in each song or to analyze a quote from each song.
It can also be fun to invite students to illustrate each song they chose and to share a song or their entire soundtrack with the class if time allows.
Join the conversation
What’s your favorite end-of-the-year activity?
Looking for ready-made materials for the end of the school year?
Check out Jen’s End-of-Year Bundle, which has ready-to-go materials for several of the activities discussed above, including a one-pager, soundtrack, survival guide activity and more!
