Finish the year with a bang: What to do when there's nothing to do??

Hey, everyone! I hope you all are having a smooth ending to your school year! These last few days of the year can be very challenging if you are not prepared with engaging activities to keep your class busy. We only have 8 days left in our year and I am trying hard to find things that will keep my class busy yet learning so any off task craziness says at a minimum!

Here are a few activities I like to do these last few days that will chew up some time....but also keep students learning!

1) Project Based Learning:

This is a great time to do these types of activities. Kids just love them. We just got done reading The One and Only Ivan, so this week we're designing our own zoos. I am giving them some graph paper and a few guidelines and the rest will be up to them. Some tpt sellers that have great projects are Digital Divide and Conquer and Teaching With a Mountain View but you don't even have to do fancy pre-made projects. Just throw out a few ideas and I'm sure your students will run with it!

2) Student Made Games:

Give students blank game boards, some index cards and game pieces and have them make their own review games. Kids love to do this! Just pick your subjects and give them a few guidelines on how you want the questions written....the best thing about this activity is after spending time making the games you can then spend more time PLAYING each others games!

Pick up a free game board here:

3) Student Surveys:

This is a great way to practice graphing and data collection! Students come up with a survey question, then collect their data and make several different graphs to show their data. The final part of this project is presenting their data to the class. We did this project last Friday, it took the better part of a morning and everyone was fully engaged!

4) Figure Me Out Math Posters:

This is another fun math activity....students come up with math problems about themselves and make a poster or chart. There are a some cute pics on Pinterest to give you some examples of this. Here's one that one of my students made today:

5) Memory Books:

We all know and love to do Memory Books. Kids love them and when they take their time and do a nice job, they can be keepsake items. I was in need of a refresher on the one I use so I went searching for a new one and found this super cute! Bonus....it is a freebie! 

We really hope your last days of school are wonderful and you enjoy the time you have left with your kiddos! I have 7 more days, but who's counting???

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Finish the Year With a Bang: End With the Beginning in Mind

14 days. That’s all I have left. That’s it ! Can you believe it?

END WITH THE BEGINNING IN MIND

The end of this school year is {finally} near, my friends, and I have already started preparing. You know the expression, "begin with the end of mind?" As many teachers have at this time of the year, I have shifted my thinking to "end with the beginning in mind."

I think that I, like most teachers, romanticize the back-to-school season; Every year I forget how chaotic, overwhelming, and exhausting it is until I'm living it. Each year, I have gotten a little better about prepping for the next year.

An old trick that you may already know is to have and fill a Back-to-School Box. In this box you will put everything that you will need immediately, during pre-planning, open house, and the first week of school. You will store this box somewhere in your classroom that is memorable and easily accessible for when you come back after your amazing - but too short - summer vacation.

In my box, I include:

• Desk AND lanyard nametags for my new students, laminated and cut (I write names with a Sharpie AFTER laminating)
• Supplies for Open House: copies, labels, station signs, and easels
• Basic copies for the first week of school

You've seen the lines for the copier - and even worse, the laminator - during preplanning. Avoid those lines AT ALL COSTS by planning ahead!

I'VE LOST MY MIND, I KNOW

How do I get all of these things done, you ask, in addition to my regular teaching and planning?

I make myself a countdown calendar. On this printed calendar, I count down the days until the end of the school year... obviously! But also, on each day, I write down a few tasks to be completed. I do try to organize the tasks so that they don't take away from my current class.

For example, I'm not taking any math stuff down until the day after the last day of math. (We switch classes for math.) The first days of tasks are things that are practically unnoticeable to the students; I don't want them to think their school year is quite over yet!



I save the tasks that I want the kids to help with for the last day or so. Some of them would rather do chores for me than watch a movie - which I ADORE!

All that being said, it's an easy way to organize little tasks and get things done in a timely way, instead of being overwhelmed during post-planning. PSA: Having only ONE day of post-planning is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS if you ask me. I'm supposed to undo 180 days in one morning, before the staff celebration? Um, no.

JUST KEEP TEACHING

We are almost there, y'all! Hang on! While you and your students anxiously await your summer and you try to cross tasks off of your countdown calendar, make sure you give your students some fun, yet meaningful, work to do.

I may be a little biased, but I personally love these end-of-year newspaper writing projects that I created. The kids LOVE writing their own newspapers, reflecting on the school year, and spending lots of time illustrating. It's a great calm activity for the last week of school.

For even more ideas from The Primary Peach be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates.