Get outside!
Hands-on activities!
To see more check out my previous blogs on Egg dropPermanent Marker Science
3. Look back on the year you’ve had together
Reflect on your year! I’m sure you’ve done a lot of fun things together and a good way to keep your students engaged is to have them spend some time reflecting on all they have learned, the fun projects you’ve done, special trips, etc. A quick and easy way to do this is to have your students create a top 10 list. However, I personally love to have my students create memory books. These memory books are perfect for the end of the year because they keep the students engaged. They are writing, drawing, and thinking. Also included is a “note from the teacher” page. I spend some time writing a note to each of my students, bind their memory books as a keepsake, and include them as an end of the year gift.4. Help prepare next year’s students!
My school holds a move-up day for the incoming students. Near the end of school we all spend about 30 minutes visiting the upcoming teacher’s rooms. So that means I get to see the incoming third grade. I like to have my current fourth graders tell them all about fourth grade. To do that I have them write letters to the third graders, make a top 10 list (as mentioned above), create Venn Diagrams with the difference in grades, etc. It’s a helpful way to ease some nerves and set expectations early on.
5. Reward your students for a job well done!
At the end of the year, I reward my students for their hard work. I do this in the typical way with award certificates. We host a fun presentation ceremony and hand out student awards. Each student gets one. The best thing about the awards is that there are academic achievements but also nonacademic achievements as well.
I also like to make some traditional things we do more fun. My students complete monthly genre book reports and our final book report culminates with a book share party. I bring in food and drinks and really let the kids enjoy themselves while they browse their classmates’ book selections. Check out this blog post about book shares.
Another fun thing to do is read aloud a book that has been made into a movie. After you finish reading the book watch the movie as a class and spot the differences between them.
These are some ideas and activities for keeping my class engaged at the end of the year. Do you have any tried and true tips or tricks to add? Comment below!