5
End-of- the- Year Activities – Part I
Closing the
school year is always complicated because we have too many reports, tests to
mark, test to re-take, conferences with parents and the list goes on.
This post
will help you to think of 5 different ways to close this school year
1.
Going on Holidays
It’s always
motivating to start talking about holidays because that way you feel they are
closer to you, so anxiety reduces and the atmosphere is happier. However, you cannot spend 40 minutes just
“talking” about this topic, let alone if you still have a month ahead.
You can
adapt this activity on how much time you have before the last day. I thought you could work on a problem-based
activity. The benefits are many:
For the
teacher:
☺ You can adapt it to any vocabulary
item that you have studied and you want to recycle and teach a new one.
☺ You can add as many steps as you
want in order to fill your schedule. BE CAREFUL!!!! Don’t make it too long because it’ll bore the
students and they will stop participating.
☺ You can see your students actually using
the language and not just repeating chunks that they have learnt.
For
learners:
☺ They can work on activities that
look like something they would do outside the classroom.
☺ They can work with authentic
materials.
☺ They can apply the four linguistic
skills.
The problem
might be from something easy as “We are going to Hawaii, what should we pack?”
to something more complicated as “We have this budget where can we go and have
the longest holiday for the lowest price”
No one
knows your students, better than you do. The sky is the limit. BE CREATIVE!!!
2.
Celebrations
In your
class, there may be students from different origin, religion or belief. This
can give you many ideas. Most of the cultures have some kind of end- of-the-
year ritual or tradition, so you can devote some time to these celebrations
(like Christmas, Hanukah, or whatever you celebrate)
I thought
of writing down in cards some facts that we knew about them and then sharing
them and discussing if they are facts or myths.
I love food,
so I love it when students bring something and share it with the class; like
“show and tell” but more like “eat and tell”. Everyone loves this activity!!
(First, check allergies!!!)
3.
New year
The end of
the year gives us the possibility to balance all the experiences we have gone
through and plan new objectives.
You can do
the same thing with your class; it can be personal or related to school. I’ve
found that personal issues are sometimes harder to tackle because not every
group wants to devote some time to that, let alone sharing it. So, what I’ve
found useful is thinking of academic/ professional objectives.
If they
write them down, they can check them by the end of the following year – which
usually never happens because they lose them.
Some years
ago, with a group of students we wrote letters to our future self and we kept
them in a “trunk” (it was actually a beautifully decorated shoebox). At the end
of the year, we read our own letter and we wrote a reply. It was very moving.
