It’s that time of year once again when we begin to wrap-up the school year. There are so many great ways to do this in a meaningful way. Here are five engaging options for Google Slides to end the school year.
Activity #1: End of the Year Digital Scrapbook
For this activity, students can create a digital scrapbook of memories from the school year. Anything you would put into a traditional scrapbook can just about be digitized and put into a Google Slides scrapbook. This is a nice way to capture memories without the burden of a physical photo album. Students can record their favorite memories from the school year, a theme song for the school year, favorite pictures, and more. They can put whatever they want into the scrapbook to personalize it. They can even go back to it year after year and ADD to it so that by the time they graduate high school, they will have a huge digital scrapbook of their high school years (or even further back).
Possible Items to Include in a Digital Scrapbook:
Favorite picture from the school year
Letter to next year’s incoming class
Quotes from the school year
FAV Tik Tok video
FAV meme
Headlines from the news
Activity #2: End of the Year Digital Time Capsule
This is one of my FAVORITE activities for the end of the school year. We all know what a traditional time capsule is, and those are STILL so much fun to make. But, they can also not be as practical to “return to” if they are kept by the teacher or buried at your school. So, try this out instead. Have students compile a digital time capsule instead of a physical one. Students can put whatever digital content they’d like to put into the time capsule in the form of links, photos, and writing. They can then set a reminder on their calendars or phones to “open” their time capsules in five years and take a trip down memory lane. They are SURE to be surprised when they receive that alert in five years to go back to Google Drive and open up this file!
Possible Items to Include in a Digital Time Capsule:
Current picture
A list of favorites
Letter to future self
#1 song on The Billboard Charts
#1 Movie at the Box Office
Activity #3: My Dream Summer Vacation Planner
For this activity, students plan their dream summer vacations. They brainstorm where they want to go and what they want to do there. This is a nice activity that enables students to dream while also thinking through the practicality of vacation budgeting and planning. This will probably be the first time that many students have ever planned a vacation on their own, and they will see just how much goes into it. They can research transportation, hotels, restaurants, museum ticket costs, and other expenses in order to arrive at an overall budget for the trip… and maybe one day, they will be able to take this vacation in real life!
Items in a Vacation Planner:
Budget worksheet
Itinerary
Picture board
Activity #4: Summer Reading Planner
Another activity that is great for the end of the school year is to get ready for summer reading— on the beach, at the pool, or at home. The end of the school year is a great time to research books to read. In this Google Slides activity, students brainstorm different genres of books to read such as fiction, nonfiction, and biographies and then narrow their lists down to three books for summer reading. They also reflect back on why these three books made the final cut.
Genres to Brainstorm:
Fiction & Nonfiction
Biographies & Memories
Comic books
Classic novels
Poetry or essay collections
Activity #5: School Year Reflection Journal
It is essential and imperative to reflect back on the school year to assess individual student performance. This activity requires that students journal about the school year, reflecting back on the skills they’ve gained and their goals for the future. They can also reminisce about their favorite memories from the school year. It’s just another way to encourage students to think about a growth mindset as they see how far they’ve come and where they have yet to go.
Key questions to include for reflection:
What is something you did this year in school that you will remember for the rest of your life?
What is something you did this year that made you proud?
If you could change one thing from the school year, what would it be and why?
You can find all of the above activities included in ONE single bundle right here, or use these ideas to create your own activities for the end of the school year.
How do you like to end the school year? Please leave us a comment. We’d love to hear from you!
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About the Author
Meredith is the founder and creator of TeachWriting.org and Bespoke ELA. She has taught high school English for 10+ years in Dallas, Chicago, and New York City and holds a M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University. She has always had a connection to the written word-- through songwriting, screenplay writing, and essay writing-- and she enjoys the process of teaching students how to express their ideas. Meredith enjoys life with her daughter and sweet Yorkie named Teddy.
