6 creative activities for the end of the school year

In just a few weeks’ time, hundreds of thousands of TESOL teachers across the world will be celebrating the end of school and the start of a long-awaited summer holiday.  And it’s not only teachers who will be celebrating the start of their holidays, but students too.  For some teachers and students, these last few weeks will be one of sadness, as they meet for the last time. So why not end the school year on a high, make the last few days a little bit more special with these activities and give them memories that will last a lifetime.

1. The best activity ever

There’s a reason why this activity is called the best one ever.  Not only is it a great productive skills activity, it is incredibly empowering and uplifting.  I’ve done this with many classes of all ages from 8 years old to adult, and the feedback has been exceptionally positive.

This would be a good activity to save for the last class. It involves everyone, including the teacher. You will need a pack of small Post-It notes for each student, or enough tape and small pieces of paper. Pre-teach the word ‘compliment’ and elicit what types of compliments there are. Explain that each student will write genuine and real compliments for every single person in the class, including the teacher (who will also write one for every student) on one Post-It per person and stick it on their back. The compliments must be about real things and be personalised, and ANONYMOUS (e.g. I love your smile / You are very kind / You make me laugh / Your writing is beautiful).

Students do this all at the same time, moving from person to person. At the end, when all have finished, get them working in pairs to take turns to take the post-its off each other, reading them aloud to their partners. They can then take all the post-its home as a reminder of how they are seen in the eyes of their classmates.

2. Teach the class

This is a great activity to revise and recycle language. Assign topics or ask learners to choose one to teach the rest of the class. Give them time to review their topic and prepare a fun task or game to do with the class. If you want to go a step further, hand out review templates for the class to grade each other and remind them to keep the language positive and any criticism constructive.

3. Survival letters

Ask students to write letters of advice with ‘survival tips’ for the incoming students you will teach next year. Ask them how they would advise others on surviving and thriving in your classroom, what were the hardest parts of the course, etc.

4. Thank you letters

This activity involves a little forward planning because the teacher will need to write letters to each student in class beforehand. The letters should be positive and personal, evaluating the strengths of each student, memorable moments in class, reflecting on the year, perhaps with a plan for developing key areas, before thanking students for being a participant in their class. In return, invite students to write similar letters to each other or the teacher. If letters are written to the teacher, it makes for a nice twist on a class evaluation. For younger learners, try praise postcards instead. There are plenty of free templates available online.

5. End of Year Discussion

Write discussion questions on slips of paper, cut-up and shuffled, and have students work in small groups to discuss the questions before eliciting feedback. Make sure the questions relate to the course or class, e.g. What was your favourite moment from this year? What did you like least? What could be improved in class? What advice would you give others? What were your favourite kinds of activities? Lead a feedback session and have the class comparing ideas.

6. Class awards

Make a bunch of paper certificates, one for every student in the class, with fun and tongue-in-cheek titles such as Most Cheerful, Bookworm, Most Curious, Awesome Attitude. Be enthusiastic and get the class motivated by telling them they have ALL won an award. Make a big deal of having music, cheering, clapping when you announce them. You could have a red carpet in the class for them to walk (take pictures for parents) and making a ceremony of handing out awards. Alternatively, if you have a more able class and access to an IT room, get the class involved in coming up with their own awards (1 per pair) and designing certificates for each other and the teacher before conducting the awards ceremony.

Above all, end of school activities should be about fun and celebrating a year of hard work – stay positive and cheerful, wish them well, and end with a big group hug, sing-song or class cheer!

About the Author

Sharon Maloney

Sharon has worked as Director of Studies for English for Asia and a teacher trainer on the Trinity CertTESOL course. She has over 14 years of teaching and teacher training experience in TESOL. Sharon specialises in teaching young learners and creating material for teachers and students, as well as running professional development workshops for local teachers of young learners in Hong Kong and Macao. Her qualifications include a BA, Trinity CertTESOL, Cambridge Post-Graduate DELTA, and MA TESOL.

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