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Showing posts with label end of year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label end of year. Show all posts

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School?

What do we really need to do during those last few weeks of school?

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!

Hopefully, by this point in the year, you are done with testing, and pretty much finished with all the "have tos."  Even if you're not quite done teaching everything, I hope you have some time for some end-of-the-year fun!
 

Here are some things you can put into your plans for the last few weeks of school:

 

1. Deepen Learned Skills

 
How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!
 
Brain research tells us that we need to review skills in order to maintain them and to deepen them. That means fun activities and games to practice those important skills you've built all year! 
 
This bundle has several fun options for reviewing and deepening skills!



 

2. Prepare for summer habits

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!
 
We want our students to continue some important habits they've developed through the school year. This is a great time to introduce some fun games!
 
Here are the links to a few posts that tell about classroom games that can be played at home:
 

 
How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!

Plus, here's one to encourage them to enjoy reading! (This is one you can work on all year!)

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!


3. Make the Last Days Special

 

It's time for using those skills they've worked on all year for some fun projects!

It's a perfect time of year for putting on a play or performance of some sort. These activities build important reading skills as well as building community and teamwork.  Here's a post with more information on Dramatics in the Classroom


I absolutely LOVE Boom Learning Digital Task Cards! These are easy to assign, and the students love them! Check out this bundle: Science and Social Studies Vocabulary Building Bundle

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!

These are a great way to develop vocabulary for Science and Social Studies. They use brain-researched strategies such as Retrieval Practice, which is explained here:

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!

Here are a few more resources that follow this strategy that are perfect for end-of-the-year review!


4. Share Memories


How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!

This is a great time of year to sit back and enjoy the special memories the group has made this year. 
 
It's easy to make a memory book, or a slide show with photos from the year. I've always had the children write down their favorite memories from the year a few weeks before the end of the school year. This gives me time to type things up into a nice book. I've also found parents are quite helpful in donating photos from school events.

These are special memories for them (and you) to cherish forever. I still have memory books from many years past, and I love remembering my former students!
 

5. Enjoy them

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!
My favorite thing to do at the end of the school year is to take the time to enjoy these special children. I know, it's not easy! Between end-of-year testing, packing up the classroom, and report cards, there's little time left. But these kids are totally worth it, aren't they?  Here's a blog post that suggests some fun ways to enjoy the students. Take time to Enjoy them!
 

Enjoy these last few weeks with your students!

How Can I Prepare for the Last Weeks of School? This post has 5 suggestions for making those last few weeks special!



 

Thank You Teachers!

There are so many teachers in my school that work with my little ones, I like to make sure they feel appreciated all year, but especially Teacher Appreciation Week!
 
Thank You Teachers! Here are some thank you cards that are just perfect for teacher appreciation week!

I recently updated my set of Thank You Notes to include cards for Teacher Appreciation!

Thank You Teachers! Here are some thank you cards that are just perfect for teacher appreciation week!

There are plenty of choices, some in color, and plenty in grayscale for easy printing. These will work well for Mother's Day, as well as the end of the school year. I encourage my kiddos to make them for all those other teachers that work with them.

If you hang onto this set, there are some you can use at Christmas as well!

If you're interested in a sampling, see this image or see HERE.
Thank You Teachers! Here are some thank you cards that are just perfect for teacher appreciation week!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!


Thank You Teachers! Here are some thank you cards that are just perfect for teacher appreciation week!


Camping for a Week in the Classroom!

It's been another fun week in second grade!  This week was Camping Week (see THIS blog post), and boy oh boy, did we have fun!
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!


The children read loads of camping books, listened to nature sounds,




played learning games
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

did loads of writing,  played "camping math" scoot, and had a wonderful week!

I'm so glad I did camping week!  Here are some pictures:

1.  I brought in the little pink tent my daughter had when she was little.  It became a great place for reading books about camping!
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!


Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

2.  I brought in my little travel camping table.  The kids used it for reading as well as playing games!  
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

3.  So many kids brought in sleeping bags, it looked like a big pajama party!
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

4.  After Friday afternoon's special, there was a little treat waiting for the children.
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

5.  Yes, that's my REAL camping tent in the classroom.  We found out we could squeeze the whole class in my tent!
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

The s'mores and the tent made their day!  And, honestly, the smiles on their faces made my day!
It was a great week!

It also inspired me to make a new resource, based on most of the activities we enjoyed this week.  
 
Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

Somehow I have to make it through 8 more school days and one more teacher workshop day.  After a week at the beach and a week camping, next week's theme will be "fun at home".  

We'll be spending most of the week remembering all the fun stuff we did this year and planning fun stuff to do this summer.  

What do you do during those challenging last few weeks when the kids struggle to pay attention to anything?

Camping Friday! We celebrated our learning all week with a camping theme. See what we did!

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