Digital end of the year activities can be fun! It is not always possible to use paper-based end-of-the-year activities due to different circumstances e.g., Covid-19 in 2020. Check out this list of engaging digital end-of-the-year activities.
Have you considered trying digital end of the year activities with your students? Here are some reasons teachers should use digital end-of-the-year activities:
- Student Engagement – We know students love their devices and they love interactive online activities sometimes more than traditional paper-based activities. Digital lessons can include elements such as videos, images, and audio, which make the activities more appealing to students.
- Accessibility and Flexibility – These activities can be completed anywhere and anytime which gives students the ability to participate in end of the year activities even if they can’t attend school in person.
- Time Saving – Some digital activities can be graded automatically. This frees up teachers’ time to do all of those end of the year checklist items that must be done before the last day of school. Are you still planning your graduation or end of the year slideshow? Check out these clean song ideas.
- Collaboration – Not all digital tasks are solitary. End of the year digital activities such as this End of the Year Digital Escape Room can be designed to encourage collaboration among students.
Choosing to use some or all digital end of the year activities provides benefits for both teachers and students.
Formal Digital End of the Year Activities and Lessons
If you are required to teach until the second last day of school (it is not acceptable where I teach to just show movies the last week of school – all activities must be educational) try these super high-interest activities.
Article of the Week Non-Fiction High-Interest Articles Bundle #1 – This resource contains 10 high-interest non-fiction articles and reading activities to assist with reading comprehension, standardized test prep (EQAO), and cross-curricular learning. Included Article Topics: Regifting, Benefits of Reading, Benefits of Exercise, Dangers of Caffeine and Energy Drinks, The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, The Mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, School Uniforms, Electric Cars, Self-Driving Cars, The D.B. Cooper Mystery. You could give students a choice in which articles they read and turn the writing responses into informal debate topics. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Media Literacy & Consumer Awareness – Cover your media literacy expectations and help your students develop a deeper understanding of consumer awareness and media literacy with this engaging 10-media literacy lesson bundle. Students will learn about various marketing claims and marketing strategies companies make to persuade consumers to buy their products. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Other Engaging Digital End of the Year Activities
- Create a Bitmoji class photo. Ask parents to help their child create their own Bitmoji and email it to you. If you do not want to create a Bitmoji you can have students create an avatar in any program that they are familiar with. Get more Bitmoji ideas here.
- Digital Class Party. Host a class party on Zoom, Google Meets, or Google Hang Outs. Have a theme and ask kids to dress in that theme. Ensure your theme is very simple to include everyone e.g., school colours.
- Create a graduation slideshow video for students who are leaving/graduating.
- Create a digital memory book.
- Don’t forget to have students complete traditional end-of-the-year activities as you would do in the classroom – letters to future teachers and students, creative writing, memoirs, etc. We want students to feel some sense of a normal school environment.
End of the Year Activities – This resource contains 6 different activities you can do with your students during the last few weeks of school. Students will work on a Letter Writing Activity, School Year Reflections Memory Book, Read It Book Recommendations, Six-Word Memoirs, Thank You Cards, and a Summer Creative Writing Assignment. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
More End-of-the-Year Resources
- Graduation Songs for End of the Year Slideshows
- The Importance of End-of-the-Year Teacher Reflections
- 6 Amazing End of the School-Year Activities