Aloha School, Aloha Summer: Ways to End the Year on a High Note

The last three weeks of school...my family knows, it's go time.  And now that my daughter is older and is involved in extra curriculars, plus nightly homework, we are beyond busy during the last weeks of the year.
Taking care of all the loose ends at the end of school and keeping your students moving forward in their learning, takes some planning in advance.  Otherwise you will find yourself completely spent by the time you say your final goodbyes to all your sweet students.

One way you can help get yourself organized, is by setting up some end of the year totes during the last couple of weeks.

The totes I set up were complete, donate, put away, toss.  In each tote I placed items or notes for myself to deal with as soon as possible.  My goal was to take care of everything in the totes before going home that day (although some items stayed in the totes for a few days).  

But even if the tote wasn't cleaned out before I left for the day, having everything I needed to do together in one spot really helped me stay focused on getting my end of the year tasks complete.

By the way, if there was something in the tote I needed to complete outside of school, like getting gifts for the students, I took a picture with my phone to reference when I was out running errands.

This system really helped me get things accomplished before the last day of school.  And while I was  not able to walk out the door after our end of the year teacher luncheon, I had all my "have to's" finished and had a chance to work on some bigger organization projects.
Click here for a FREE copy of the labels I used on the totes.

If your school is anything like mine, there are a ton of special days and activities during the last weeks of school.  All this fun can make the class time a bit challenging.  

To keep my young learners focused, they worked with end of the year/summer themed literacy and math centers.  These centers served as a great review of many skills we practiced during the year.  I could really see how far my young learners have come.

Pictured below are a couple of the literacy centers students worked with during the final weeks.

 You can click here if you'd like more details.

We also kept busy with the companion set of math centers.  Pictured below are a couple of centers from this packet.

You can click here if you'd like more details.  These end of the year literacy and math centers offered a good deal of flexibility and quality skill practice during the last weeks of school.


In addition to our center work, another end of the year project I love is my Graduation Glyph.  We've made these glyphs for the past few years and they always turn out so cute.
Like with all glyphs, students answer questions to determine details about their project.

We used our glyphs for some data collection to help complete our end of the year memory booklets.  When we finished, students autographed each others' booklets.  (They loved this part.)

If you would like more info about my Graduation Glyph {A Fun End of the Year Craftivity and Memory Booklet}, just click here.

One item, always on my end of the year to do list, is getting students a small gift.  I usually go the book route.  Scholastic Book Clubs is a great resource when you are trying to outfit your entire class with the same book.
 Last year I added a personalized bookmark to each book.  I used the same book mark again this year.  If you would like to use these FREE bookmarks with your students, click on the picture below.

Another end of the year tradition is our class awards.  We used to do our awards is our school auditorium with the entire grade level together.  But, we've changed to a more intimate setting and do them in our classrooms with just our students (and of course their families).  I like this setup better, because I have a chance to speak about each student and give out personalized awards, instead of just grade level completion certificates.

For me, it's very meaningful to recognize each student for their unique abilities and strengths.  Having a class awards day is a perfect way to wrap up our year together.

For more details about the end of the year awards I used with my students, you can click here or on the picture below.

Not seen in our awards day pictures is a cute (last minute) banner I put together for our classroom.  Although I was trying to get everything cleaned up and organized for the summer, I thought we needed a little something to decorate with for the event.

To make this banner, I printed and cut the letters to spell congratulations.  I hole punched the letters and strung them together with yarn.  Then, voila! a banner for awards day. 

If you would like a FREE copy of the pattern to make this CONGRATULATIONS! banner, click here.

Finally, I'd like to share a gift tag I made for the cookies we gave to my daughter's special area teachers before she left for summer break.  After posting a pic on instagram of these gift tags, I've had several requests to share them, so...here you go.

You can use them for a wide variety of sweet treats for friends, coworkers, teachers, and students.  These tags are also editable, so that you can add your own special message at the bottom.

If you would like a FREE copy of my Have a Sweet Summer gift tags, click here.

The end of the year is a time to keep your students plugged in, take care of loads of paper work (insert eye roll), make the people around you feel appreciated, and even schedule in a little fun.  Hopefully some of these ideas and resources will take a some of the work off of your shoulders.  Even if you are feeling overwhelmed with all things end of the year, remember you've almost made it to the summer break finish line...you can do this!

Making the Most of Time During the Last Weeks of School: Ideas, Freebies, and Resources

It goes without saying, the end of the year is CR A Z Y.  The kids are off the chart excited (the diplomatic way of saying WILD).  There are grades and assessments to complete.  There are records and other paper work to be tended to.  There is a classroom to clean out, organize, and shutdown for the summer.  Plus, there are all those special, fun days that you put off until all the major testing is over.
Whew...I've been on summer break for about a week and I'm still breaking out in a little sweat thinking about the last few weeks of school. ;)

After 16 year is the classroom, there are a couple of tips I have for ending the school year with your sanity intact.
First, start working on all your extra stuff early.  Do not wait until the last minute to try to organize field day, put together end of the year gifts for your students, do grades, and finish permanent record cards.  Take care of as many details as you can before you hit the last couple of weeks.
My second tip is to keep your students busy, busy, busy.  You may have already covered all of your essential standards.  Your students may be struggling to fully focus.  But, you need to keep them moving ahead in their learning.  Plus, from my experience, students behave much better when they are engaged and have tasks to complete.

Here are some fun end of the year/summer inspired activities we did during the last weeks of school...
I love having student work on display.  I have a spot in the hallway where I hang student work and I also put display pieces in my classroom.  At the end of the year, it can get a little too hectic to change out student work, so I put together a simple summer writing craftivity that took little to no time to prep.
Students wrote about their plans or things they would like to do this summer.  They really got into this assignment.  In the end, we had a colorful display to remind us that summer break was just around the corner.

If you would like to use this writing craftivity with your students, you can click on the picture below for more details.

We also worked on some (hot off the press) literacy and math centers.  For the past couple of years, I've intended to round out my literacy and math centers with sets that are end of the year and summer inspired.  However, since the end of the year is the way it is...I have ran out of steam before I completed my project.

But, this year was different.  I stayed up late several nights and managed to finish up these long awaited resources.  To tell you the truth, it was pretty fun putting these sets together.  They served as a great review of many skills we practiced during the year.  I could really see how far my young learners have come.

Pictured below are a couple of the literacy centers students worked with during the final weeks.

These literacy centers (and nine others-there is a bonus 11th center as well) are part of my Excellent Endings {10 Literacy Centers for the End of the Year} packet.  The centers in Excellent Endings include work with adjectives, synonyms/antonyms, syllables, pronouns, verbs, sight words, vowel teams, contractions, and more.  You can click here if you'd like more details.

We also kept busy with the companion set of math centers, Excellent Endings {10 Math Centers for the End of the Year}.  Pictured below are a couple of centers from this packet.

There are a total of eleven math centers in my Excellent Endings {10 Math Centers for the End of the Year}.    (This packet also includes a bonus 11th center.)  The centers in Excellent Endings include practice with fact families, place value, geometry, time to the half hour, double digit addition/subtraction, fractions, and more.  You can click here if you'd like more details.

These end of the year literacy and math centers offered a good deal of flexibility and quality skill practice during the last weeks of school.
In addition to our center work, another end of the year project I love is my Graduation Glyph.  We've made these glyphs for the past few years and they always turn out so cute.
Like with all glyphs, students answer questions to determine details about their project.

We used our glyphs for some data collection to help complete our end of the year memory booklets.  When we finished, students autographed each others' booklets.  (They loved this part.)

If you would like more info about my Graduation Glyph {A Fun End of the Year Craftivity and Memory Booklet}, just click here.

Besides keeping my kids occupied, (like I mentioned before) there are quiet a few responsibilities that get added to teachers' plates at the end of the year.  One responsibility we have at our school is to put together a little something for our classes during Awards Day.  

This year we had the option of doing awards with our students in our own classrooms, instead of in the auditorium with the entire grade.  We opted for doing awards in our classes and I went to work making some new superlative awards for my almost second graders.

It was nice to reflect back on the year and about my students' accomplishments, personalities, and interests.  All the students loved hearing about their special awards and why they are so deserving.  We had a great time.

I created the awards in full color and in ink saver, backline.  I went back and forth on which version to use.  In the end, I decided to go with the ink saver on some bright and colorful paper.

My End of the Year Student Awards are also available at my store.  They are editable and include girl and boy versions of all of the awards.  You can click on the picture below for more information.

Student awards and end of the year gifts are definitely tasks that you can get an early start on.  For this year's gifts, I gave each student a book and personalized bookmark.  

Scholastic books is a great resource when you are trying to outfit your entire class with the same book.  I was so excited to see this Ready Freddy Second Grade Rules on sale for $1.  #score

Many of my firsties were pretty proud to be leaving for the summer with their very own chapter book.
If you would like a free (and editable) copy of the bookmarks I gave to my students, you can click here.

I hope some of these ideas and resources are a help to you as you wrap up your school year.  If you get an early start on some of your extra responsibilities and keep your students involved with meaningful activities, the end of the year will way less stressful.
Thanks for stopping by.

Elf in the Classroom (Ideas and Free Activities)

At dinner tonight my daughter started up a conversation about holidays and explained that Christmas is her number one.  I was not surprised in the least.  Then she proceeded to tell me that getting visits from our family elf is one of her favorite parts of Christmas.
Our Ms. Joy arrives tomorrow and so does my class elf, Anderson.  At the moment I have an"E" written in Sharpie on my hand.  That E stands for elves...the elves that I better not forget about or else.
I should probably just keep a Sharpie E on my hand for the next 24 days, just in case.

If your class gets a visit for an elf, here are a few activities (old and new) that you might want to use with your students to take advantage of all the elf-induced excitement.

First up is a fun Elf Glyph.
These glyphs make a very festive display.  As part of this project, there is a little data collection/analysis activity, if you want to extend the activity a bit.  A writing prompt is included as well.
Elf Glyph:  A Fun Holiday Creativity is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  You can click here for more details.

Next up is an elf themed scoot (or write the room or math center).  My firsties have been working on fact families.  I made this simple activity for students to complete in small groups.
You can click on one of the picture below for a FREE copy of Elf Friends: A Free Math Activity (Practice with Fact Families).

Another elf inspired goody for your classroom (or even for home) is my Diary of an Elf:  A Free Writing Activity.  Your students can get in some extra writing as they chronicle the adventures of their elf with this daily journal.  

For a FREE copy of Diary of an Elf, click on the picture below.

I have one more elf freebie before I wrap things up.  It's my Elftastic Rhymes.  This quick, print and go sort features rhyming words for the book The Elf on the Shelf.  I like to use it after I read the book to the class.  

Students read each set of words and determine if they rhyme or not.  If your students are anything like mine, they can always use more practice with rhyming words.

For a FREE copy of Elftastic Rhymes, click on one of the pictures below.

I hope you've picked up some ideas that will help incorporate elf into some of your learning activities.  If you have a favorite elf in the classroom idea, I'd love to hear about it :).

Thanks for stopping by.

All Things Green: Fresh Finds for March (Including FREE Literacy and Math Activities)

Can I just say how happy I am to see a little sunshine.  February was brutal.  It made me even more grateful for March's longer days, tiny buds, and early flowers.  Plus, spring break is next week.  

Before we left for spring break, we did plenty of green inspired learning.  One resource we've used (and will continue to use throughout the month) is my Oh So Lucky Literacy {10 Literacy Centers for March}.  With these centers, we're reviewing many skills that we've worked on so far this year, verb tenses, parts of speech, rhyming words, synonyms, antonyms, and syllables.

Students also practiced sentence sorting (determining if sentences are statements or questions).  We've worked on this type of activity in different centers over the few months.  It's encouraging to see how much better my young learners are at sorting sentences in this way.

We also did a favorite writing activity, How to Catch a Leprechaun.  These assignments are so fun to read.  It's a great way for students to practice using sequencing language in their writing.

For a FREE copy of my How to Catch a Leprechaun handout, click here.

We made these St. Patrick's Day themed glyphs to hang outside of our class.  Students answered various questions to create their glyphs.  Then, to get in a little math practice, we did some data collection and analysis, based on our glyph display.

This was the first year we made this particular glyph and they turned out terrific.  

If you are interested in making this project with your own students, click on the picture below for more details.  My Lucky Lad {A St. Patrick's Day Glyph} will be on sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers store through St. Patrick's Day (Tuesday).

Many of our math centers for March are green as well.  We've been using my Oh So Lucky {10 Math Centers for March} to review and sharpen our math skills.  

Students have been working on time to the half hour, fact families, missing addends . . .

number comparisons, fractions, addition, subtraction, balanced equations, place value, and more.  

These type of activities offer the ongoing review that my students need.  Before I started using math centers on a regular basis, students would forget that they learned certain skills.  But, with math centers, they can have that much needed review all year long.

Speaking of review, we did a little green themed nonstandard measurement write the room during math at the end of the week.  I printed two sets of these cards and placed them around the room.
I then divided the class in half.  One group rotated through one set of cards and one group rotated through the second set of cards.
I set it up this way because there are only ten cards to measure.  I wanted the students to work independently.  With our class size, two groups measuring at the same time worked out perfectly.

Students measured each picture with their clover rulers.  My more advanced students had to use a standard ruler on each picture as well.
If you would like a FREE copy of Lucky Day Measurement, click on one of the pictures.

March is passing by so quickly.  So many things going on, both in and out of the classroom.  I feel like if I blink, it is going to be April.  If that means pretty weather, green grass, and more sunshine, I'm a happy lady.

Oh, one more green goodie you'll want to check out is a awesome spring giveaway over at Primary Powers.  More than 20 fabulous products for your classroom and 10 winners.  Be sure to visit and enter.