The end of the year is always a complete whirlwind! At my school, we have field day, field trips, we have a class picnic, awards ceremonies, and on top of that, we are making videos, student gifts, and REPORT CARDS!!! And, in the time it just took me to type this, I just thought of about 1,000,000,000 other things I need to do!
I have seen some pretty cool stuff online about end of the year ideas that will send your kiddos off for the summer, while thinking a bit about what’s to come next year in the new grade level.
- Screaming Good Year!
I thought this was a really cool idea from the Teacher Idea Factory! Really cute, and really simple!! Check out the full directions for this idea here!
- End of the Year Flipbooks!
I made these flipbooks for students to reflect on their year, to look forward to their summer plans, as well as to help students think about what the next grade level. I tried to make these as simple as possible for you to print for students. There is a version for each grade level from 2-5! These are available from TpT!
- End of the Year Election!
I’m not sure how I haven’t seen this before now, but I LOVE THIS and am very excited to use this idea with my kiddos this year. Have students vote, tally up the results, and give out awards based on each category. Thanks to First Grade Factory for this idea!! Available here!
- “YOU ROCK” Class T-Shirts!
This was probably one of my students’ favorite end of the year activities from the last few years. As a class, we came up with a quote that we all placed on the front of the shirt. The year we did this project, my kids chose, “Be the Change You Wish to See in the World.” On the t-shirt, each of the students got to walk around and write one word on the back of every other t-shirt which described that student best. Of course, the words “nice” and “happy” and “kind” showed up a TON, but we also talked about word choice and choosing words that accurately described each student in the class. At the end, the kids were so proud of those shirts, and the kids couldn’t help but smile when they read what each of their classmates wrote about them. :)I asked each of the students to bring in a white shirt, but I also bought a couple of packages for those that didn’t bring them in. I also bought a couple of packages of fabric markers and had a couple of students walk around to write on the shirts at a time. This ran smoothly, and was a great end of the year project!
- End of the Year Brochures
I LOVE these end of the year brochures from Two Little Birds! She has a version for grades 1-5, and they are so easy to print. The kids will surely love completing these while reflecting on their year! Check them out here!
Teaching is truly the best profession ever! Not only do we love our jobs, but it’s one of the only jobs where you get to start fresh each year. If you have a tough year, you know that next year it could be the total opposite and be the best year EVER!
I hope you have a wonderful end to the school year, and have a relaxing summer. Take a little bit of time to enjoy yourself and refresh before we start this ride all over again!
Happy Teaching (and relaxing)
-Dan M.
