Top 5 things to do to keep your class engaged the last month of school
Here are some things to keep your students motivated and engaged in class the last few weeks of school. It can be hard to keep their attention when they've checked out for summer break (even though we're only in April!!). Here are some tools you can use to help students feel motivated to finish out the year strong!
1. Balloon pop motivation
Set up balloons at the top of the whiteboard (where kids can’t reach) and the last few minutes of class pop one a day (if they've had a good day). Inside have incentives, such as no shoes the last 10 minutes of class, have a dance party, have free time with blocks and board games, etc. If the class doesn't have a good day that day they don't get to pop a balloon!
2. Games, games, games
Have students bring in their favorite board game to play with classmates at
a designated time of the day. If you need to cover academics during this time, board games are easy to turn into knowledge assessments: put math facts (addition/subtraction or multiplication/division) that they need to solve in order to complete their turn. Sight words are easy to incorporate as well. And if you want something more challenging than reading a sight word, have them read a sentence or in the uppper elementary. grades have them identify parts of speech, or the main idea of a paragraph.
3. Game show day
Divide the class in two teams and play a game of Jeapordy. Put up price points on the white board and have students from either team pick a price point, and answer a question of your choosing.
4. Shaving cream math
An oldie but a goodie! Who can resist a little shaving cream on the tables. To make it an academic activity, practice math facts, or write sight words. When the shaving cream eventually wears off, there's little clean up! It literally just dissovles. It is a good idea to have a few wipes on hand, as it does leave a little residue. It is nice to have wipes to clean off tables and hands afterwards. Kids LOVE this, and it certainly gets them excited about math!!
5. Class Field Day
Chances are your P.E. teacher will schedule a field day sometime towards the end of the year. Why not have a separate one for your class? Pick a random Friday (or any convenient day of the week that doesn't conflict with any other field trips, standardized testing, etc) and set up a hula hoop station, a jump rope station, a horseshoe station, a sidewalk chalk station, etc. Divide your students so each group can rotate through every station once. Each station can last between 5-10 minutes depending on how engaged students are with the activities. You'll likely want to make this a 30-40 minute field day tops and towards the end of the day so students are motivated to do their best throughout the day.
Here are some things to keep your students motivated and engaged in class the last few weeks of school. It can be hard to keep their attention when they've checked out for summer break (even though we're only in April!!). Here are some tools you can use to help students feel motivated to finish out the year strong!
1. Balloon pop motivation
Set up balloons at the top of the whiteboard (where kids can’t reach) and the last few minutes of class pop one a day (if they've had a good day). Inside have incentives, such as no shoes the last 10 minutes of class, have a dance party, have free time with blocks and board games, etc. If the class doesn't have a good day that day they don't get to pop a balloon!
2. Games, games, games
Have students bring in their favorite board game to play with classmates at
Divide the class in two teams and play a game of Jeapordy. Put up price points on the white board and have students from either team pick a price point, and answer a question of your choosing.
4. Shaving cream math
An oldie but a goodie! Who can resist a little shaving cream on the tables. To make it an academic activity, practice math facts, or write sight words. When the shaving cream eventually wears off, there's little clean up! It literally just dissovles. It is a good idea to have a few wipes on hand, as it does leave a little residue. It is nice to have wipes to clean off tables and hands afterwards. Kids LOVE this, and it certainly gets them excited about math!!
5. Class Field Day
Chances are your P.E. teacher will schedule a field day sometime towards the end of the year. Why not have a separate one for your class? Pick a random Friday (or any convenient day of the week that doesn't conflict with any other field trips, standardized testing, etc) and set up a hula hoop station, a jump rope station, a horseshoe station, a sidewalk chalk station, etc. Divide your students so each group can rotate through every station once. Each station can last between 5-10 minutes depending on how engaged students are with the activities. You'll likely want to make this a 30-40 minute field day tops and towards the end of the day so students are motivated to do their best throughout the day.
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