Resources to Close Out the School Year

The school year is coming to an end, and teachers are rushing to complete their lessons and finish the year on a high note. Education World offers a number of end-of-year resources to help provide classroom closure.

Here are a few of our favorites:

End-of-year Closure Activities for All Grades

This article offers tips on building student self-esteem and empowerment. These activity suggestions reinforce positive classroom climate and even offer ways for students to think about their future. 

For grades K-5, invite students to reflect on specific questions and answer them either orally or on paper. Some examples of questions are:

• How did you surprise yourself?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• How did you help someone?
• What was the best thing you wrote?
• What challenges did you overcome?

Another activity asks students in grades 6-8 to share specific goals they have for the future. For grades 9-12, try having students reflect on great speeches from Commencement Speeches You Wish You'd Heard. 

Making the Most of End-of-School Days

These five lesson plans help teachers fill the last weeks of the school year. Ideas include thinking into the future, creating a class yearbook or turning a plain t-shirt into a favorite work of poetry. 

Wind Up Learning as the Year Winds Down: Activities for the Last Days of School

This article provides fun projects teachers can assign, or complete with the class, at the end of the year. Here are some of the ideas:

• Produce a TV Commercial
• Fourth-Grade Scrapbook
• Egg Drop
• Online Scavenger Hunt

The New Teacher Advisor: Closure Activities for the End of the School Year

For teachers who are leaving the classroom either for a different classroom, or a new teaching opportunity in another school, this article offers a number of closure activities teachers can share with their students to create long-lasting memories. Here are just a few:

• Story Share: Have each student write a story about his or her favorite memory of the school year. Have the students share their stories aloud. 
• Create a memory book
• Give out goodbye cards/notecards to students

It's Quittin' Time!

In this article, teacher Brenda Dyck reflects on feelings that all teachers experience as the year comes to a close. She offers advice on how to use the last days of school more productively--for example, encourage students to complete make-up work and make memories with students via arts and crafts, tournaments, movies, sporting events and more. 

The Last Six Weeks of School

Marlynn Clayton, an experienced teacher in the primary grades, said closure activities give kids the opportunity to reflect on their strengths and feel a sense of satisfaction for having worked hard. 

Suggested activities include brainstorming with the classroom and listing what the students have accomplished or learned. The students can then take these charts and display them around the classroom in ways that are unique and creative. Other options are memory books, scrapbooks, creating an information book for next year's students and more. 

Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor
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