Try some of these top 12 favourite end of the year lessons to keep your students engaged. Eleven teacher bloggers have taken the time to share their thoughts on how to make the end of the year more manageable for teachers. This week we are discussing our favourite end of the year lessons, assignments, and units that we LOVE teaching at this time of year.
This four-part series discusses:
What are your favourite end of the year lessons?
- This is the best time to try out virtual field trips. Where I teach we have a limit on how much each family can spend per year on field trips. This budget is usually spent early on. The end of the year would be a great time to try going on a virtual field trip as a class using a data projector or as individual students using a virtual reality headset like Google Cardboard or something similar. Kristy from 2 Peas and a Dog
- I have an assignment where each student writes an anonymous memory or compliment for every other class member. We decorate brown paper lunch bags and then the students deliver their positive thoughts to each other like Valentines. Seeing the students read all the messages is one of the highlights of my year! Meghan from Fun Fresh Ideas
- In my Geography classes, we wrapped up the year with a travel project. Students made real calls and sent real emails to request travel brochures from their list of “most want to visit” locations. In the end, they put together incredible travel folders that some of them handed off to their parents at the end of the year in hopes of making it a reality! Michele from A Lesson Plan For Teachers
- I love project-based learning at the end of the year. One of my favorites was starting “companies” with the help of BizWorld. Students had to learn all about the various jobs, how to interview, create marketing plans, and then make and sell their bracelets. It was a great experience! This year we’ll be focused on research and I am determined to make it fun and a tad odd – just to keep them engaged! Lisa from Mrs Spangler in the Middle
- I usually teach ecology at the end of the year because it’s easy to build in projects, and real news stories, and maybe even go outside to collect data. Tara from Science in the City
- My favourite assignment at the end of the year is the “survivor’s guide.” Students work in groups to create a guide for next year’s students on “surviving” my class. The guides are a huge hit with students. They love being the experts. I love that I learn what they enjoyed in my class, the tips that maybe I should be giving at the end of the year, and that the guides are often funny. For example, one year a group advised future students that “dark chocolate goes a long way!” The students also offer serious advice like “don’t wait until it’s too late. Ask for help.” These morsels of wisdom are great to pass on to my new students each year. I can’t wait to see the advice in this year’s guides. Education With Doc Running from Education with Doc Running
- I can’t wait to use my commencement speech unit with my seniors again this year! They will watch and analyze videos of commencement speeches, including speeches from Adm. William McRaven, David McCullough Jr., J. K. Rowling, Michele Obama, and Steve Jobs. Then they’ll use these as inspiration for writing their own “commencement” speeches to be given in our class. Kim from OC Beach Teacher
- Toward the end of the year, students create a Poetry Anthology. It’s really the last major project of the year, and it’s so creative that students get really into it. They write a few of their own poems or find poems that they like, but I also require an illustration for each page and this is where they really have fun. I love poetry and I love seeing their work, so this is the perfect project to look forward to. Danielle from Teach Nouvelle
- My students love virtual building. We do research on Frank Lloyd Wright then I have them design/and build like him. DIGITALLY! https://youtu.be/nS-WiavY_wo We will culminate our Frank Lloyd Wright experience by taking a field trip to a home he designed. Mary from Your Smarticles
- I love ending the year with The Odyssey. The classic epic poem can be a perfect way to talk to students about their goals, visions, and dreams for their own epic journey through life. Melissa from The Reading and Writing Haven
- I like teaching about slope. Randi from 4 The Love of Math
End of the Year Mega Bundle
Looking for a variety of engaging activities to keep your students entertained and learning until the very end of the school year?
Check out our End-of-the-Year Mega Bundle! This bundle includes nine different activities, ranging from non-fiction articles to digital escape rooms, that are designed to keep students engaged and entertained while also reinforcing important academic concepts.
Whether you’re looking for fun activities to celebrate the end of the year or academic lessons to keep your students focused until the very last day, this bundle has everything you need. With a mix of academic and just-for-fun activities, there’s something here for every classroom and every student.
Don’t let the end of the year drag on – grab our End-of-the-Year Mega Bundle and finish the year on a high note!
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