As the end of the school year approaches, I know how hard it can be to keep students engaged and motivated, while also ensuring that you meet all the necessary requirements. To make the end of the year easier, I wanted to share a few tips/ideas that may help you make the most of the last few weeks of the school year.
1. Creative Activities & PBL
Use creative activities and PBL to keep your students engaged. Rather than relying on traditional lesson plans, consider incorporating activities that allow your students to express themselves and explore the material in different ways.
For example, my 10th graders loved making an informative and persuasive video essay using TikTok or other similar (like CapCut or Instagram) platform of their choice on a pre-approved topic of their choice.
Does it SOUND like I am just having them play around on their phones making videos? Maybe.
BUT, what I am also doing is having them practice credible researching skills, honing persuasive language, and fusing digital, print, and verbal literacy!
They first had to create a proposal on what they wanted to focus their video on and get it approved. They then had to do some research on NPR, complete a rhetorical analysis of what they found on NPR, and then craft their message before making their video. They then had to incorporate corresponding images and sounds to add in to aid in their message.
You can find materials to try this for FREE by clicking HERE!
PBL and Comic Book Heroes
There is also so much deep learning and fun applications to be had when you teach Comic Book heroes! Their history is deeply fascinating and they have always been a champion of social issues.
Here is what other teachers loved about this option!
Great project for different grade levels looking at hero’s journey, biographies, and comic book heroes.
— Rebecca T. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I used this in my Sociology class as a final presentation and it went really well. Students enjoyed using heroes and villains as a means to understand methods and perspectives.
— Lisa P.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You can use my Comic Book unit for the last couple of weeks and have students extend that learning by creating a modern comic book hero that is tackling a modern problem.
2. Murder Mystery
The Solve podcast is an interactive podcast that puts the listener into the role of detective in a murder mystery. These crimes are based off of real life stories. With this tool, you can take your student’s inference and evidence gathering skills to a whole new level!
There are always 4 main suspects and you go through the clues each one gives to determine who the true murderer is.
I like to break my students into small groups of 3 or 4 so they can actively collaborate and debate as we go through the episode. As the mystery unfolds, students collect evidence and infer on who the killer is. So, you are keeping it academic by practicing those inferencing and argumentative skills!
There are two episodes that are perfect for the classroom and will have your students craving more:
Season 1 Ep. 6- Old Hollywood Hotel
The morning after she arrived in Los Angeles, famous influencer, Eloise Pham, was found floating in the pool of the historic Old Hollywood Hotel. Now it’s up to you to interrogate her family, friends and fans to figure out who would extinguish this rising star.
Grab resources HERE to do this activity today!
High school senior, Hazel Blackwell, was applying to her dream college when she uncovered an underground ring of admissions fraud. Who found out about Hazel’s intentions to tell, and killed her before she could blow the whistle?
Also, here is what this 12th grade teacher shared as well:
My students loved this resource!!!! I teach high school seniors and we are starting the novel And Then There Were None. Coming off of poetry, I wanted to get them thinking differently. I had 100% involvement. Students that never speak in class were finally talking. One actually did not let me play the end and wanted to present the ending to the class. He never does anything remotely like this. Thank you so much for this lesson.
— Amy W. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grab a resource to get started now HERE!
3. Growth Portfolio
Give your students the opportunity to reflect on what they’ve learned this year. Set aside some time for them to write about what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown as readers and writers.
I highly suggest having each student choose one thing they wrote for your class this year that makes them feel proud as a writer. Then have them write in 100-200 words on WHY this one piece reflects who they are as a writer and why they are proud of it.
Conversely, you can also have them choose a piece that they feel didn’t do well at the time, but they learned a lot from doing it!
4. Movie Analysis with a Twist!
Movies are always a great go-to when motivation is low and you just need to keep going, but we can still add some great purpose behind it!
For example:
Song of the Sea
The movie Song of the Sea can bring this study to a whole new level while also teaching literary elements of parallel plot, symbolism, and flashbacks. It follows the story of a 10-year-old Irish boy named Ben who discovers that his mute sister Saoirse, whom he blames for the apparent death of his mother, is a selkie who has to free faerie creatures from the Celtic goddess Macha.
You can use this mini unit to also introduce some of the Celtic mythology reflected in the movie as well as several handouts for students to analyze all those literary elements used as well!
Critical Lenses and Disney Movies
Combining literary lenses and Disney movies is always a good idea!
By taking something that your students “already know” and have them look at it in a whole new way is both challenging and fun. You can try some ideas like:
- Gender norms in Snow White. Students can observe and discuss how the portrayal of the characters challenge or support gender stereotypes and what those underlining observations may reveal about our culture.
- Rapunzel is perfect for discussing social class issues and power struggles. With the Grimm’s brother Rapunzel and Disney’s Tangled, I like to introduce my students to the Marxist criticism lens.
- Use Disney’s The Princess and the Frog to discuss cultural issues! Would you love to get your hands on a FREE handout to get started with analyzing this movie in class with your students? Click here!
I have 2 units that can offer you lots of support and flexibility with this!
5. Genius Hour Project
Allow your students to explore topics of interest. Set aside one day a week (or whatever feels comfortable) for them to explore their passion project. The final product could be ANYTHING!
A podcast episode
A short story
A fan film of a book they read
You can also check out this post I wrote on how my ENTIRE class wanted to do a passion project of turning the book Sky in the Deep into a fan film!
These types of projects can be incredibly rewarding to your students and (honestly) easy to grade if you are more-so focused on the process of collaboration and creation.
Final Thoughts
The final weeks of the school year can be challenging, but I hope that this post has given you some wonderful ideas to not only make it through, but to also enjoy it! These activities are not only great for the end of the school year though, so you can always tuck these into the back of your mind for whenever you need it.
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