Top End-of-Year School Activities for Students

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Oh, finally, after what seemed ages – the academic year of your school is nearing its conclusion.

After months of enduring challenging Math problems, complex definitions in Physics and diagrams in Biology, your students are grooming themselves for the final exams. While the main exams are lurking around the corner, students might also have to gear up for their pre-finals, during this period.

This accounts for multiple responsibilities on the end of learners.

Not only that. Teachers are also required to work towards attaining their objectives, particularly that of completing the school curriculum. They must ensure that they cover each and every academic topic corresponding to the curriculum during this time.

However, the attention spans of students as well as teachers, at this point of time, are not at its best.

I will tell you why.

Teachers and students have little choice but to tolerate prolonged classroom activities and lecture sessions. This leads to an accumulation of stress in the young minds of students, as they desperately try to make ends meet by struggling hard to finish their projects, analyze their lessons and memorize facts and figures. So naturally, the last few days of school are characterized by an element of ‘chaotic rush’!

Here is a list of some of the amazing end-of-year activities that can guide you in utilizing the end of the academic year to the best of your abilities.

#1. Let Students Teach the Class

You have taught your students throughout the year, aiding their recall with question-answer sessions, quizzes and exciting PowerPoint presentations. Students have been seated at their desks in rapt attention as you have explained the various topics.

Now, dear teachers, it is high time things change to some extent.

How about letting your students play your role for a pleasant modification to the existent classroom policies?  This strategy is also known as ‘peer tutoring’ wherein students teach other students in a particular classroom.

Here is what you can do: divide your class into small groups. Now, assign a topic to each group. The topic must belong to the category of academic topics that have been taught to them this year.

Grant them a certain amount of time to ponder over their respective topics.

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Instruct them to come up with an effective review activity that they must grade independently. Finally, evaluate their review activities and check if they have got all their facts accurate.

#2. Encourage Students to Write a ‘Children’s Book’

Every human being is blessed with infinite creative potential.

One merely needs to discover his innate creativity and start harnessing its potential daily. I have a smart idea that can help you inspire your students to exercise their creativity in diverse ways. This activity would enhance the written communication skills of your pupils considerably, I am certain.

You can ask your students to work together and write a book for children.

The language must be precise, simple and student-friendly, focusing on the key facts of the school curriculum. It would make lessons even more engaging for students.

And the best part about it is that they develop a renewed interest in their subject when they make attempts to write a book exclusively for kids.

As your students get busy planning the contents of the book, assembling data, their subject-knowledge is automatically boosted. Moreover, they act as great reviews for the lessons they have learnt.

#3. Make Students Develop a ‘Class Scrapbook’

When I was a high schooler, I remember how my classmates used to pass on those fun scrapbooks, wherein we were expected to fill in some interesting details about ourselves.

For instance, the scrapbook asked about our hobbies, our most memorable moments, our best friend and so on.

Once I finished writing in them, I simply passed them over to the rest of my classmates for them to share their thoughts. It served as a fond remembrance of us peers, who laughed and learnt together in a particular classroom, while we were preparing for a life beyond the boundaries of school.

To make it more thrilling, students can also create a class scrapbook.

They might offer some questions like ‘Something I have learnt about myself’, or ‘the best experiment we had in our Chemistry sessions’. You can also ask your students to include a question on ‘what is your favorite classroom memory’ in the scrapbook.

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#4. Get Students to Write Letters to Future Learners  

How many of you are anxious about the miserable grammatical expertise of your students? You have made the best efforts to inculcate a sense of sophistication in terms of their English language skills – but all in vain.

They keep making silly errors in their comprehension and essays.

Let me offer you a smart piece of advice here: get your students write letters to future students who would be joining your school. They would emphasize on giving essential advice to the students about how they would cope up with their lessons once they are a part of the class. For instance, your students can write down the top ten secrets of surviving in your classroom, especially during a particular teacher’s lecture session.

You can also include a few suggestions regarding how to learn some of the most challenging portions of the study materials of any academic idea. Doing so improves the vocabulary of students thereby polishing their language aptitude.

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#5. Assist Students in Creating Individual Portfolios

Frustrated after a tiresome History session with your dear students?

You had to prepare notes prior to your presentation, explain each slide in details, and conduct a feedback session with your students as well.

Now how about bidding farewell to your stress by indulging in something that is unique? Well, here you go. You can assist your students to create individual portfolios for themselves.

Before you raise your eyebrows and ask me, “How is this going to help my pupils”?

Well, trust me it would definitely do your students a world of good.

First of all, a portfolio for student would go on to highlight the academic and extra-curricular activities they have been involved in, since the beginning of the academic year.

You might even ask your students to develop a chart that represents a self-evaluation of the students. For example, it might display the achievements of a student in their exams and their classroom performance.

Make two copies of the portfolios, one of which can remain with your students. And, the other one can be offered to their parents.

#6. Motivate Students to Evaluate their Course

Did you know that evaluating a course is truly beneficial for students?

Ask your students to start evaluating their course immediately. They can identify the loopholes in their course and also suggest some significant factors that can go on to make the course intensely productive for the next batch of students. This would enable you to design your course more easily and can inspire you to make it more flexible for your students.

Just do not stop when they have evaluated their course.

For, you must be willing to provide them your honest feedback now. What do you think about their evaluation? Are they progressing on the right lines? Feel free to share your opinions about it and discuss it with your students.

Your students would also understand their lessons better if they follow this rule of mine.

#7. Devise Fun Ways to Make Students Practice Skills

Every teacher wishes her students were more proficient in specific skill-sets – be it reading, working on the grammar, Math formulas or theorems, the Periodic Table and so on!

Choose any skill and be determined to make your students absolutely perfect in this particular skill.

Make it the sole focus of all your lecture sessions. For instance, you might plan a ‘Grammar Week’, ‘Reading Fair or a ‘Math Formula Memorization Contest’ in your class. Make sure all your students participate in these exciting academic events.

You can also ask your students to read their favorite novels for a certain duration of time in your class, in order to work on their reading skills.

Furthermore, if you wish to improve the written communication skill of your students, you can also permit them to write profiles of their favorite actors or even their own autobiographies!

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So, what is your favorite end-of-year school activity from this list? Do you have any more additional ideas that can rejuvenate the exhausted brains of students during this part of the year? If yes, do feel free to share them with us in the ‘comments’ section provided below. We would be glad to receive your feedback!