End-of-year Activities for Fun, Reflection, and Growth
As the year draws to a close, it's important to keep students engaged and motivated until the very last day. Use these fun and engaging ideas to help students remember experiences, reflect on learning, and celebrate growth.
Capture memories and experiences
Start simple by asking students to share their favorite memory from the year using a template like a:
For a more visual approach, assign the Snow Globe template and ask students to create a scene about their favorite memory from the year. There is even an opaque "snow globe" sticker students can add over their designs to look more realistic.
You may already use a small-moment structure to help emerging writers build their craft. Have students add these stories into Wixie by typing or simply recording voice narration. Students can add illustrations to support events in the story and publish it as an eBook they can share with family and friends.
To build data skills, work with students to design and complete a survey of trends for the year. This can be as simple as favorite foods, best classes, or most used slang terms. When students finish their graph, ask them to transform the data into a Year-in-Review infographic.
Celebrate growth
Reflecting on experiences and learning can help students identify and celebrate growth. The School Year Round Up template helps students reflect on events this year and identify what they did well, what they enjoyed, and how they grew.
Create end-of-year award certificates to celebrate each student’s unique qualities or, better yet, ask students to create a certificate of achievement to recognize the work and effort of a classmate.
Have students print their individual pages to take home as a memory of what they did well, what they enjoyed, and how they grew this school year. Organize an awards ceremony to reinforce a positive classroom culture, promote peer recognition, and boost student engagement.
Creating a digital portfolio is a powerful way to showcase learning. The process of selecting their favorite projects and assignments helps students reflect on their learning and prompts additional growth. Have students visit Design Templates > Portfolio folder to find the perfect design, such as classroom learning, colored pencils, learning adventure, portfolio, and lined paper to represent their hard work.
Show gratitude with compliments and thanks
Help everyone's year-end on a high note by complimenting or thanking someone at school. Students can thank a friend or their principal, PE teacher, or another staff member for making their school year amazing.
To help spread the love beyond friendship and popularity, have everyone draw the name of a classmate and craft a compliment specific to this person. Students can start with a thank you or compliment card template or design their own.
You can share digital notes via email or use the project wizard to print all student cards from your teacher account.
Plan a class party
And last but not least, work together to plan the ultimate end-of-the-year bash to celebrate growth and progress! Work as a class using a cluster organizer to brainstorm ideas for their party, such as:
- will there be a theme?
- what decorations do they need to create?
- who should they invite?
- what games or activities will take place?
- what food should they have?
Assign the Party Proposal template to have students apply measurement skills to design room layouts and run the calculations of potential party costs.
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