The end of the school year is almost here…can you believe it? Our classrooms begin to buzz with a different kind of energy – a mixture of anticipation, celebration and anxiety. The end-of-year activities play a vital role in closing the chapter on one year while revising, practicing and strengthening what our students have learned. Here you’ll find a list of activities that you can use with your students.
END OF THE YEAR FOOD PARTY
LEVEL: A1
MATERIAL: Plates and pencils
DESCRIPTION: Bring some disposable plates to class. On each one write the “theme” of the dish you want your students to create (e.g. breakfast, Christmas dinner, Lunch, Birthday party, TexMex…). Let your students choose a plate from your desk. They’ll draw/paint the food for the dish they want to present. Each student will have 2 minutes to present the dish.
MY YEAR IN 6 SONGS – PLAYLISTS
LEVEL: A2
MATERIAL: Mobile phones, internet connection, pen and paper
DESCRIPTION: Ask your students to reflect on their school year and to write 6 events, places, people, moments that have been particularly significant for them. Elicit ideas, information, vocabulary.
Give them some time choose a song that can be related to each event on their lists. While creating the playlist, they will write 4 sentences for each song to explicit the connection between the song and the event/person/place. Listen to some songs and some paragraphs in class….you’ll have great fun!
BOARDGAME
LEVEL: ANY
MATERIAL: Board, card, dice
DESCRIPTION: Customize a template on canva to create the board game you want.
G = GRAMMAR
5 SEC = VOCABULARY
BOOKS =LITERATURE
JOLLY = FUNNY ACTIVITY
Create the cards with questions, activities, quizzes, games….
Print everything out, go to class and HAVE FUN!!
Board games are perfect to revise all the topics studied throughout the year in one session!!
END OF THE YEAR MUSIC LESSON
LEVEL: B2-C1
MATERIAL: BBC LEARNING ENGLISH website, phones, paper
DESCRIPTION: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/my-song-my-home
Ask your students to choose one song from the list and to watch the corresponding video. They’ll answer the questions and learn some new words taken from the lyrics.
After watching the video, ask your students to prepare a similar presentation (1/2min) of a song that means a lot to them. While playing the song, they’ll present, describe the song and explain why that particular song is important to them.
GRAPHIC ESSAY
What is a graphic essay? A graphic essay is a type of visual writing that combines traditional essay content with images and graphics to create a visually engaging and informative piece.
LEVEL: B2
MATERIAL: pen, paper, scissors, glue, pictures, computers, newspapers…
WEBSITES FOR A DIGITAL GRAPHIC ESSAY: Canva, Google docs, Adobe Acrobat, Piktochart,
DESCRIPTION: Come up with an essential question for the essay so that the students can relate to the topic and write something about their own experience (The most powerful moment of the year/That moment of the year when I felt….) . Write the title on the board and give your students some time for brainstorming. After writing the short essay, your students will select some pictures/illustrations/emojis that represent the mood of that part of the essay. They will add a couple of pictures/illustrations/maps to help the reader going through the text.
EXAMPLE OF DIGITAL GRAPHIC ESSAY
EXAMPLE OF NON DIGITAL GRAPHIC ESSAY:
STAYCATIONS ARE THE NEW VACATIONS
LEVEL: B2
MATERIAL: LIM, internet, phones
DESCRIPTION: As a warm up activity speak about your students’ plans for next summer holidays. You can give the following word cloud to help them with vocabulary.
Introduce the term “Staycation” and explain the meaning. https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2020/09/04/the-surprising-reason-staycations-are-the-new-vacations/?sh=7ce848af140a
Read the newspaper article and try to find 5 reasons why your students should spend their holidays in the same place where they live or immediately close to it. Now ask them to be influencers for a day and make a video with some advice for a staycation in their cities. Watch the videos in class…you’ll have great fun!