Friday, June 3, 2022
The days are getting longer, the flowers are blooming, and students can almost taste the freedom of summer holidays. But before they do, there is still a tricky period of the year to navigate when classes become a delicate balance of focus, fun and farewell. So, to help acknowledge the closing of the academic year and leave students with fond memories, here are 10 easy-to-use end of term activity ideas to conclude the year on a positive note.
Naturally, the end of a course offers opportunities to reflect on the year gone by so why not use that to your advantage by creating a Class of 2021-22 poster or mini yearbook? Students bring a photo or for the artistic minded, draw themselves. They then contribute different sections such as Useful tips to survive an English class, A day in the life of my pen or finish sentence starters like I’ll never forget the day… and The most useful thing I learnt was… . Furthermore, in the vein of high school yearbooks the world over, students could nominate each other as Student most likely to… though respecting appropriateness at all times of course. And lastly, print a copy for each student, you never know, it might even become a permanent keepsake – just don’t forget the autographs!
Similar to the above, another great activity involving reflection is having an awards ceremony to recognise the year’s ‘outstanding’ achievements. ‘Outstanding’ in the sense that the accolades need not all be academic in tone, this is an occasion to get creative and have some fun! So, either using your imagination and/or with students’ help, come up with a list of categories which students can be nominated for like Best Kept Coursebook or Most Memorable Comment. Students then nominate each other anonymously for the various categories as well as including the reason why. This activity may need to be spread over two classes though, to allow the teacher to collate all the information before the big event. To top it off, each winner must give a brief acceptance speech.
Do say: And the award goes to…
Don’t say: I forgot the envelope, sorry.
Genuine compliments are said to cause a boost in chemicals in the reward area of the brain, so how about lifting students’ spirits with this extremely simple end of year activity? All you need is a stack of post-it notes, A4 paper, some pens and knowledge/memories of fellow students. To begin with, get the students thinking about what they appreciate in their classmates (and you too if you want). Now, hand out an A4 piece of paper to each student, they write their name at the top and decorate it however they wish, these are then placed around the classroom or attached to each student’s back. Next, give enough post-it notes so that students can write a positive comment or a nice memory about everyone in the class. Having done that, students stand up and stick the complimentary notes to their respective names. Once this has been completed, it’s time to bask in the warm fuzzy glow of reading them all!
For those building up to exams, revision is crucial at this time of year. One way to do this in a fun and light-hearted way is to divide the units in the coursebook amongst the students and make them responsible for coming up with X questions (e.g. 10) related to the vocabulary/grammar from their respective unit. The preparation may take a lesson or two, which builds anticipation to the event itself, and when the big day arrives, feel free to include music, drum rolls and quizmaster voice to add to the occasion!
The written word lasts, and for that reason it can offer a fascinating snapshot in time. This activity involves each student writing a letter to their future self, detailing things like their progress made over the year, what they want to improve on, plans for summer plus anything else of interest. All of this is then entered into a website like www.futureme.org which lets you choose a future date to receive the email and voilà, happy future reading. A different version of this involves writing a letter to an unknown person doing the same course the following year, though the letter content is likely to vary, perhaps giving advice for surviving the course, things to look forward to and best wishes. The teacher keeps hold of the letters until next year and delivers them to the new students, and with any luck, generating excitement about the year to come.
As the name suggests, this activity involves a time capsule, which is then filled with objects, drawings or written lists that represent the past year. For the arts and crafts lovers, a decorated cereal box works well and can be easily made by you or the class. After that, students (in pairs or small groups) decide what things best represent the year and why, and bring (if small enough), draw or write down the items with their respective explanation to place in the time capsule. An official sealing ceremony is a good way to wrap up the activity, that is, until the following year’s unveiling! The big decision is then whether to open it at the start or the end of the next school year. Regardless, students can have fun predicting what the previous students decided was worthy of inclusion before opening. Side note: remember where you leave the time capsule over summer.
Life has its certainties – taxes, rain in San Sebastián, summer superhero movies and for teachers in particular, writing reports. An amusing alternative, however, is to have students write their own (whether this truly counts towards their official record is another matter). To do this, simply give them a template of the current report or design one suitable for the needs of the class. Word of caution – be clear in the instructions as to whether they are writing a realistic and honest reflection of their year or a glamourised ‘perfect’ version of their report. Students could even keep their classmates and teacher in check by writing one for them too!
No doubt the end-of-year results in wandering minds so to keep the coursebook at a distance, heed the advice of Monty Python: and now for something completely different. Find those scrabble letters, dust off the Cuisenaire rods or knock out a few crazy role plays. This is the perfect moment to try out that lesson you’ve always been curious about but perhaps thought it not exactly appropriate for an exam course. Reignite the joy in language learning and teaching, you never know, it could even become a go-to lesson in your repertoire!
Everyone enjoys receiving gifts, so imagine getting one from every member of the class, teacher included! That is the principle behind this activity, whereby each student has an unlimited amount of money to buy a personalised farewell present for their fellow classmates. All it requires is a little bit of creativity. Individually, students draw up a class list and note down an imaginary gift for everyone alongside the reason why. For example, this could be as simple as a lifetime supply of erasers because you were always borrowing mine to the extravagance of an African safari tour because I know you love wild animals. Then have everyone mingle to ‘give’ their gifts and respond appropriately. Once all the gifts have been given, students can explain which was their favourite and why.
Because why not? Ditch the coursebook, put on the party hats, crank up the music (respecting other classes obviously) and revel in the joy of completing another year. Decorate the class with balloons, streamers and the like, and if your place of work allows some yummy snacks always go down a treat – being aware of any dietary requirements. And what would a party be without some good old-fashioned party games like musical chairs, the limbo, an egg & spoon race or mafia? What a way to end the year!
And that wraps up our chosen collection of end of year activities. We hope you enjoy looking back on the year that was, and also look forward to what is to come. Enjoy these last few weeks!
