Upper Grade Memoirs: End of the Year Activities

It's May but school isn't over yet! I'm Sandy Cangelosi of Sweet Integrations. Testing is over and your students are so ready for the end of the year. I have some fun ideas to keep your students engaged and learning until the last day of school.

1. Internet Scavenger Hunt - Using Fact Monster, try some of these pre-made online scavenger hunts. After your students complete their grade-level hunt, they can create their own. This is a great way to learn interesting facts about countries, states, people, science, sports and more. They can use Word and create Hyperlinks to the location of the information. Students can trade scavenger hunts.

2. Math - Johnnie's Math Page has problems using higher level thinking skills. Students love these online strategy games. They don't even realize they are doing math! I also love Mastermind and Sudoku. These are so much fun to play at the end of the year.

3. Board Games - Choose a day at the end of the year for students to bring their favorite board games. Even though my girls are grown, we still enjoy playing Clue, Scrabble and Sorry. My granddaughter pulls the games out every time she comes over to visit.

4. Nature Scavenger Hunts - Give the student teams a list of items in nature that they need to find outside. You can even give the student teams a digital camera so they can take photos of their findings. I've even asked students to find letters in nature. They are given letters of the alphabet and they try to find the shapes.

5. Alpha Autobios - Using each letter of the alphabet, students write a word that describes something about themselves. Ex. A is for Arkansas - This is where my brother lives; C is for chihuahua - I have a chihuahua named Lola.

6. Categories - Play Categories on the computers. Use topics like fruits, vegetables, sports, states, 3 letter words, 4 letter words, etc. Give the students a specific time to type as many words as they can. The winner of the round can win a piece of candy or treat.

7. Musical Stories - Give each child a story starter on the computer or on a handout. Ex. My Plans for the Summer or My Favorite Vacation. Students will begin typing at their computer or desk. After a certain amount of time, students will change places and begin adding to the next person's story. After several rounds, send students back to their original story so they can write an ending to their story. Read these out load. Students will have a blast reading the stories. (Make sure to give instructions about language, violence, etc. I always tell my students, "No blood and guts allowed!")

8. Project Based Learning - The end of the year is the perfect time to implement Project Based Learning. While enjoying this fun unit, students are still learning life skills, math, technology and writing.

Our students visit Amy's Ice Cream which is in our neighborhood. Amy's started in Austin and has become an Austin icon.

9. Fantasy Vacation - Some students will not have the opportunity to go on a vacation, so why don't you give them an opportunity to plan a Fantasy Vacation! Give your students a budget to plan a vacation to a country or state. Students will plan air travel, hotel costs, site-seeing (cultural experiences), and research these places of interest.

Or, have your students plan a StayCation. My friend Amanda of Primary Gal has this fun unit in which students plan a budget for four days of activities (day trips) close to home. You can also check out her blog post about end of the year projects.

10. End of the Year Collage - Use the app PicCollage to create a collage of events, favorites activities, friends, subjects, etc. Teachers, if you have extra digital pictures of class events, add them to the camera rolls. Students can add text, online pictures, photos, video and stickers. Choose your own layout for your Photo Yearbook.

Encourage your students to continue learning throughout the summer. I've provided some elementary websites that are fun and great for review. Just click on the image below to download. And, enjoy free computer awards for the end of the year.