While it can be challenging for teachers to maintain student interest through the end of the school year, this time provides unique opportunities for student reflection, planning and personal growth. The key is for teachers to find ways to make the connection between school and life. Here are some activities that teachers can use to enhance student interest at the end of the school year.
Activities That Help Students Create Memories
This time of year naturally lends itself to reflection. Teachers can help students reflect on the past school year and encourage them to acknowledge all that they have accomplished. One way to do this is to provide a forum for student expression, such as a memory wall. Teachers can create a memory wall by taping together four large post-it sheets, which are usually used on an easel during presentations. These sheets have a strong adhesive on the back which easily adheres to classroom walls. As an alternative, teachers can assign students the task of designing the final bulletin board of the year with a memory wall theme.
Most students love social activities. The memory wall can serve as a way for students to recall the highlights of their year. These highlights may include a school-wide dance or field trip, important friendships, and academic accomplishments. Students can create headings for different sections of the memory wall, including the following.
- favorite school events
- best friends
- personal accomplishments
- favorite quotes
- funny moments
- major changes
Once the wall is created and headings are in place, students can work on completing the wall over several class periods. Teachers may find it effective to allow fifteen minutes at the end of each class for a limited number of students to work on the wall each day. At the end of the year, students can take pictures with their friends, using the wall as a perfect backdrop.
Activities That Help Students Prepare for the Future
Teachers can help students envision their futures by designing a simple paired activity. For this activity, students will work with a partner to complete a three-column chart. Each column will have a heading:
- What I Want
- Why I Want It
- How I am Going to Get It
In the first column, students should write down at least two personal goals they want to set for themselves. These should be relatively short-term goals, ones they want to achieve within the next year. In the second column, they should write down why these goals are important to them and how they will benefit. In the last column, students should devise an action plan that will help them achieve their goals.
Once students have completed their charts, they should trade papers with their partners and discuss the results. Students should use a different color pen to write down their own comments on their partner’s charts, asking for elaboration when necessary. When the written reactions and discussion are complete, students should receive back their original chart and make any additions they feel necessary. Teachers should encourage students to post this chart on a wall in their bedroom for the next year.
The last month of school calls for a different approach, one that is more flexible and creative than might be sufficient during the rest of the school year. A teacher’s goal for this time should be to help students reflect on the previous school year and begin to prepare for the upcoming academic year as well. Teachers who provide scaffolded, relevant activities will find their students more enthusiastic and actively engaged through the last days before summer vacation.
Thadra Petkus - Thadra Petkus is currently a freelance writer, English teacher and mentor. Although she has taught students from age two through ...
