100 Things to Do - Finish the Year with a Bang!

It's always a little sad when you close the door on another teaching year. The kids are gone, the desks are pushed off to the side - empty of their learning contents. The silence once again descends. The year is done.

Hey guys, It's Gary from ScrappyGuy designs.   When this post goes live there will only be five school days left before this year officially ends. It's bittersweet as I start counting down the last ten years in my teaching career. Retirement is beginning to loom in the headlights.

As this happens, I think back on some of the fun activities I've done to end a school year. One of my favorites happens to be something that extends from the last day long into the summer. AND it brings those freshly scrubbed faces back to you the next year. You know you're gonna be missing them by then.

I found this list over at the 101 Things website. I tweaked it a little to fit my students more. Near the end of school, I hand them out and ask them to check off at least 25 things. If they do that and bring it back to me in August, I usually let them visit the Treasure Chest in my room.

This way I can check in on them. See how their summer went. Ask who they have for a teacher this year. Reconnect with them and wish them luck on another successful school year.

Hopefully your students will come running back to see you just one more time before they move on.

Enjoy your summer!

 

 

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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 (and a SPLAT!)

At the end of the year, once testing is over and kids have lost their minds are ready for summer, it's the perfect time to pull out the messy science experiments to review all the fun skills you've learned this year!

One of my favorite activities to do with kiddos of ALL ages is to make OOBLECK! If you've never made oobleck, you are in for a treat. It can get a little messy, but it is the BEST sensory experience! Oobleck has properties of a solid and a liquid (great review of matter!) and it's easy to make (measuring skills review!) and actually easy to clean up- if it gets on the carpet, let it dry completely and then it can be vacuumed up easily, as it turns into a dry powder. 

To start the lesson, read the great book by Dr. Seuss, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

*affiliate link to the book on Amazon*

Then, allow students to make the oobleck! (If you want to make it ahead of time yourself as one big batch, that is okay, too! Remember, it is two parts cornstarch to one part water. One year I accidentally flipped that conversion and OOPS- we did not have oobleck that day.)

You can download this free directions page to help your students make oobleck on their own:

As I mentioned above, oobleck has properties of a solid and a liquid: it will take the shape of its container like a liquid, but with force (like a hit, poke, or squeeze) it acts like a solid! It can be rolled into a ball, but it can also flow and drip like a liquid. Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid.

And make sure to show them this awesome video of people walking, and even DANCING, on a pool of oobleck!! (HERE IS THE SAFESHARE LINK)

Your kids will LOVE all the oobleck excitement! It's a great way to finish the year with a bang- and a splat! :) Have fun!

Organizing for the End of the Year the EASY Way

The end of year can be SUCH a crazy time of year.  It is fun, high energy, and BUSY! I was always looking for any trick to shave time off of paperwork, since there seemed to be so much at this time of year.


An Easy Idea
I have a simple tip to share with you: the End of the Year File.

Nothing fancy. Just a file folder. I kept this file folder in an easy to access spot on my desk or guided reading table.  ANY end of the year paperwork, such as EIP, RTI overviews, end of the year checklists from the administration, ESOL paperwork, and any other acronym under the sun went in the file folder.  This way I had it all corralled.

Whenever I had a spare minute I went through the folder and completed the paperwork.  It also kept me from LOSING any papers in the great End Of The Year Paper Shuffle...called my desk.  Was yours like this too?!??!

Also, to keep things practical, you can write your end of the year to do list DIRECTLY on the front (or inside) of the folder.  This way your to do list does not get lost (am I the only one this has happened to?!) and you can keep easily add to your to do list as papers are added to the file.


Want More Ideas?
Are you looking for other end of the year tips?  Check out the following ideas on my blog:

Click here to read about keeping materials organized at the end!

Click here to read several more tips to get organized for the end of the year!

Click here for EASY ways to get ready for NEXT school year NOW!

Are there any ideas I missed?  How do you stay organized at the end?

PIN FOR LATER:

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Tips for the End of the Year

Hey Ya'll!

It's Theresa from True Life I'm a Teacher, and I feel like it's been forever since I've blogged here at "The Peach." It was actually just a month ago, but the end of the school year makes my days and weeks run together and I'm lucky to remember my own name, basically.

 There is literally not a second of downtime in my classroom this time of the year. I have backup plans for my backup plans. I almost treat it as if there's a substitute...free time = time for behavior issues. Here are some things I have readily available, some are good for 3 minutes worth of time, while others could take 15-20 minutes, and others could take up as much or as little time as what you need.

- GoNoodle (seriously, check.this.out)

- Read Alouds (random, not necessarily related to anything in particular)

- games (math facts around the world, hangman with spelling/vocabulary words)

- Activities like THESE themed specifically for the end of the year

After almost 180 days of specific management techniques/routines/seating arrangements/ _______ (fill in whatever you've been doing), switching up your routine or trying something new can the most exciting thing ever! Normally, throughout the year, I use "Copeland Cash" as part of a token economy, but by the end of the year, my kiddos are kind of over it (and so am I). I've started using stickers (never underestimate the power of a sticker) and some incentive charts I picked up at Dollar Tree. I pass out stickers like crazy for good behavior, and the kids plop them on their chart. They can turn in a completely sticker-filled chart for anything from our class store!

Also, by complete dumb luck, I stumbled upon something great! I had to flip flop writer's workshop and reader's workshop due to testing, and it was like I'd introduced a completely different subject. I mean, hello??? We've been doing these all year, but apparently just changing the order of our schedule was a game-changer. Go figure!

I also use these awards {they're FREE} to reward students who are being extra great in the hallways...well, anywhere! Ha!

My last tip is to have a countdown going! The excited surrounding the changing of the countdown is pretty surreal! Last year, I just used this simple {and FREE} countdown. We updated it each morning during morning meeting. The kids love it!

This year, I put a fun activity in an envelope with the number of days left of school written on the outside. So far, we've enjoyed no shoes in the classroom, a nature walk, a jump rope competition, Blow Pops, and lunch bunch! The mystery surrounding what could possibly be in the envelope is more than my sweet seconds can hardly stand, and their behavior is on point so that they don't miss out on each day's fun activity!

You can find all our countdown activities here!

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. 

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.

End of the Year Assessments That Work

I am a planner.  I love getting a jump on planning over the summer.  Many of my colleagues are the same way.  But the one thing I hate about starting the school year is getting the opinion of another teacher or a parent about my class list.

I decided to get around this by having my students complete an End of the Year Self Assessment. This assessment would be written by the students knowing that the "audience" would be their teacher the following school year. I felt this would give the future teacher a better understanding of the student.

This assessment was designed with the things that I would want to know about my students (if these are things you want to know about your current students, make this a first day of school activity). Having the students tell you what they believe are their strengths and weaknesses let's you know about their confidence, and who could be classroom "experts" in specific subjects. It will also help you with creating small groups.  

I love knowing about the books students enjoy reading.  It is always great to use books that students recommend because their excitement will motivate others.  I also love to have student input in choosing my read alouds.  One year I had a class where the majority of the students loved historical fiction - guess what I section grew in my classroom library?

Download your copy of the End of the Year Student Self-Assessment.

Want to save this idea for later?  Pin this.

Do you want more ideas about self-assessing?  Check these out.

Header Photo: Mama Miss Designs