Do you ever start to get mixed emotions when the school year is coming to the end? On the one hand you can't wait for summer vacation, but on the other hand you're gonna miss your class. Well, kids get the last day blues too! They're excited for all the fun they'll have in the summer but they know they will miss their friends and teacher. If you're looking for a way to take away those worries, here are some fun and easy ideas for making the last day of school fun for everyone!
Last Day Blues Read Aloud
If you're looking for the perfect book to end the school year, Last Day Blues by Julie Danneberg is your answer. The story follows Mrs. Hartwell and her class as the kids worry she’ll be sad without them all summer. They come up with a sweet gift to cheer her up, but the twist? Mrs. Hartwell is just as excited for summer as they are! It’s funny, heartfelt, and the perfect way to wrap up the year with your class.
End Of The Year Writing Ideas
Last Day Blues lends itself to so many great writing ideas to end the school year! You can have kids practice narrative writing, making a list or even some how to writing to finish off your writing lessons for the school year. Here are 3 ideas to choose from:
- On My Last Day Of School – After reading the story, make a T Chart with 2 columns that say – ” I Will Miss…” and “I Can't Wait To…”. Ask your class to help you think of things they will miss about school and things they can't wait to do in the summer. Have students help you write some of the ideas on the chart and then send them off to write their own ideas. Let students use this writing template to write one thing they will miss about school and one thing they are looking forward to during summer vacation.
- What Will My Teacher Do This Summer? – In the story Last Day Blues all the students thought their teacher would be sad, lonely and bored over summer break. But we teachers know better than that! A fun writing idea is to brainstorm with your class some of the things they think you will (or should) be doing during summer vacation. You might be surprised with some of their ideas! Then send your students back to their desk to use a simple writing template to write their own narrative of what they think their teacher will do this summer.
- Retell the story Last Day Blues – Another easy writing idea for the last days of school is to have students use this template to retell the story of Last Day Blues. This is the perfect way to practice procedural writing one more time before you send your class off to break. Be sure to have them use the temporal words first, next, then and last as they retell the story Last Day Blues.
Last Day Of School Treat
It's always fun to end your year with a fun activity and this sweet treat is one they'll surely love! In the story Last Day Blues the teacher, Mrs. Hartwell brings the students cookies as a treat. A fun activity to do with students during the final week of school is to make a batch of cookies and write the steps. Tell students that you will be making cookies together. and then bring all of the ingredients needed to bake cookies.
Have students help you pour and mix the ingredients for cookies and then place them on a baking sheet and bake in your school cafeteria oven. If this seems like too much for the last week of school, just bring in some plain sugar cookies and then let kids frost their own cookies. All you need is some canned vanilla frosting, food coloring and sprinkles. Mix up a few different colors of frosting and let kids go to town decorating their cookies with frosting and sprinkles. They'll love it and while they're doing that you can finish some end of the year paperwork at your desk!
When they are all done, you can have your class use this writing template for how to bake cookies or make a cute cookie craft. It's a simple way to have a fun and easy last week of school that your kids will love!
Ready to make your last week of school one your students will never forget? Grab everything you need with this book companion for the story Last Day Blues. This resource includes;
- Lesson plans
- No prep writing templates
- Anchor charts
- Craft
- A poem from their teacher
- Plus a last day of school coloring page and crown!
Save These Ideas For Later!
Take a minute to save these ideas to your favorite end of the year Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi, I'm Molly, the creative mind behind Firstieland. With over 35 years of experience in early childhood education, I'm your primary support for resources that will save you time and make learning feel like play. Learn more about my mission for Firstieland here.
