I can’t BELIEVE it’s already the
end of the school year! It seems to go
by SO fast! To make things run a little easier, I always try to get as much of
the dreaded “have to’s” out of the
way! You know... ALL that assessment stuff, permanent records,
writing samples, grading... anything I know that I’m going to have to disclose
to parents or my principal. I begin this
at least 4 weeks before the last day of school – let’s face it, it’s too
stressful to try and get it all done in a short amount of time... i.e. last
minute! We’ve all done that before...
Eeeek!!!!!
Once you feel that you’ve got a “good
grip” on the essentials then you can do some fun things with your kids the last
week or so! I spend probably about a
week and a half making little “treasures” for my students and parents. Here are some ideas you might want to try:
1.
Student Self Portrait (Beginning and End of Year)
2.
What I will Miss about Kindergarten/First Grade
story
3.
Alphabet Book (kept throughout the year)
4.
Class DVD
5.
Memory Bag-Book (sample drawings, writing,
stories that were made throughout the year)
6.
Handprints
7.
Class T-shirts
8.
The Important Thing to Remember Book (we make this
for the upcoming class... I read it to my new students on the first day of
school!)
In the past, my school has
always had a pretty significant production for the last week of school. There is always a Kindergarten graduation
ceremony, 5th Grade Luncheon-Walk-Balloon Release-Ceremony, and
Classroom Awards. Whew! Tell me about it... it’s almost on the verge
of being insane!!! But, basically the
kids and parents come to my classroom after the “bigger ceremony” is finished
in the gym. When they arrive, I have a
gift sitting at each child’s seat... along with report cards, Class DVD,
keepsakes, etc. I also take a few
moments to recognize EACH student in my class.
I give each student a silly certificate to recognize their
accomplishments and their little personalities!
They love this!! (I have made these printable certificates available on
TPT -Teachers Pay Teachers and I hope you’ll check them out!
 |
| Click Here to purchase Certificates on Teachers Pay Teachers |
After I give out certificates, we enjoy a
cookie cake and juice boxes while playing a portion of our class DVD on the
active board. The parents LOVE this
part!!!! Finally, the kids are free to
be checked-out by their parents and leave to start those GREAT vacations! If students do not get checked out, we spend
the rest of the day watching movies, playing, and cleaning!
I hope
you all have a GREAT End of the Year!