Posts with the label End of the Year
Showing posts with label End of the Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label End of the Year. Show all posts
February 17, 2025
Beyond "Class Clown": Celebrating Character in Our Students
The end of the school year is a time for celebration! We reflect on all the learning, growth, and fun that's been shared. Student awards are a wonderful way to acknowledge and celebrate these achievements, but sometimes the traditional categories fall short. Instead of labeling students, let's shift our focus to celebrating the incredible character they've demonstrated throughout the year. After all, who they are as a person is just as important, if not more so, than what they achieve academically.
Fostering Character
Why is character so crucial? Think about it: Knowledge is important, but character is what guides how we use that knowledge. Character traits like resilience, empathy, and integrity are the building blocks of successful individuals and a thriving society. By nurturing and celebrating these qualities in our students, we're equipping them with the tools they need to navigate the world, build strong relationships, and make a positive impact.
So, how can we move beyond labels and celebrate character? Great question! With this in mind, I've created a new set of EOY awards that focus on positive character traits. Let's take a peek!
Doodle Themed Awards
When setting out to design these awards I've been completely inspired by the "doodle." I've added quite a few new resources with this theme, but these awards are most exciting. Each award is based on a character trait vs the more traditional awards we're used to seeing/passing out.
Each award comes in both a color and black and white version. They are also completely editable right in the PDF. This makes adding names a breeze...and what's better...is I've formatted it to auto-populate in both the color and B&W versions!
Student Nominations
Another aspect to this resource I'm really excited for is brining students into the mix! So often it's the teachers who decide which award goes to which child and for what reason. This year, I'm excited to have my students nominate their peers during awards season ;)
This resource includes 2 versions of the nomination form: a full and half page versions.
When presenting these awards, take a moment to share specific examples of how each student has demonstrated these admirable qualities. This personalized approach makes the recognition more meaningful and reinforces the importance of character development.
Let's make this end-of-year celebration a true testament to the incredible people our students are becoming. By focusing on character, we can inspire them to continue growing, learning, and making the world a better place.
May 25, 2024
Graduation Directed Drawings
As I prepare for our end-of-year kindergarten graduation, I begin to prep all of the things students will be presenting to their parents on the big day. There's a writing portfolio I assemble using work samples from throughout the year, their monthly self-portraits and name writing, and other fun pieces from the year.
In addition, students create watercolor self-portraits of them in their caps and gowns. This is an activity where I direct them (no YouTube required) and each year they come out so well! I display them in the hallway for a couple of weeks before I laminate them and present them during our class party.
Why Directed Drawings?
All year long I guide my students to become familiar with themselves. Call it a little SEL mixed with identity. The reason why I incorporate this activity each year is because of a moment in time when students would draw themselves, but not the way they actually looked. Everyone's skin would be "peach" regardless of their actual skin color. Hair would be drawn straight even if they had big curls. Or students would omit things like their glasses.
Flashback: While teaching kindergarten at the French school a few years ago, I was enamored with how my French colleagues (from preschool through elementary) emphasized drawing human forms (known has "bonhomme"). This showed me just how capable students were when given opportunities and direction.
Since then, self-portraits and directed drawings have become a mainstay all year and eventually become something the students present to their families on graduation day.
BOY Directed Drawings
Since the beginning of the year is all about welcoming students and beginning those classroom community lessons, self-portraits are a great way to get students to begin seeing themselves as they are. In kindergarten social studies, students even learn the concept: "I am alike, I am different." This lends so much to what I love to build within my students!
I use personal handheld mirrors (provided initially for phonics/sound wall time) for students to observe their features. During various lessons we use them to focus on things about ourselves that make us alike and different. For example, we all have eyes...that's what makes us alike. But, our eyes can be different shapes or colors...that's what makes us different. We continue with this for a few lessons and then begin practicing self-portraits.
Graduation Directed Drawings
For this activity I model for students each step to creating their directed drawing. We all begin with the same features, then I tell them to add their own to make their pictures reflect what they look like.
General Guide:
- Draw a large oval for the face
- Add straight lines for the neck, a curved line connecting the sides of the neck
- Add diagonal lines to shape the shoulders to the end of the page. Add additional lines to make it look like a graduation gown
- Add facial features such as: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, eyebrows etc.
- Draw a triangle shape at the top of the head. This will be part of the cap
- Guide students to drawing a slanted square as the top of the cap. Add an optional tassel to the side
From there, I guide students to think about how they would draw their own personal features such as hair. Are they wearing earrings or glasses? They are to add these things to their own pictures.
Then I have them use skin-colored crayons to color their face and neck. Crayons also help keep the watercolors from bleeding onto the areas of their skin. When ready, students will finish off their drawings by coloring with watercolors. I tell them their cap and gown has to be blue, but they are to color everything else how they want. Finally, they are to pick a background color and done!
Each year our class receives so many compliments on their graduation drawings. They also make for such a cute keepsake for families. It's fun to see how students incorporate the different illustration skills they've picked up from various directed drawings throughout the year (those "cute" eyes!). I'm always so impressed in how they've all grown as illustrators and it's my hope they'll continue this growth throughout their educational journeys.
I hope this was a helpful and fun idea for your own end-of-the-year celebrations!
May 20, 2024
End of the Year Reflections
It's almost time to say goodbye to this year's group of kinders! I can't believe how much time has just flown by, but I'm very excited for the summer ahead (and so are they!). So, to get in the summer spirit in these last couple of weeks we spent a moment thinking about what we're most excited for.
I found this cute sunglasses template online and created a quick worksheet. After reading our story (see below), we brainstormed the various things we're excited to do over summer break. Many students thought about the traveling they'd do or simply being able to sleep in. From there, they drew pictures in the frames reflecting those ideas.
I did a quick modeling of how to turn the body template into features of myself. Luckily we've done a ton of self-portraits this year, so students were very familiar with how to do this.
And Then Comes Summer
The read-aloud I chose for this activity was the story And Then Comes Summer by Tom Brenner. It is such a beautiful story about a group of kids and their experiences during the summer break. Simple things like enjoying popcicles from the ice cream man, playing tag, or going to the beach. It was a great way to help students visualize their summer plans and make connections.
This was such a simple activity and perfect for those end of the year days with students. I hope this inspires you as you enjoy your last moments with your own class!
June 2, 2019
How To Be Successful In School | End of the Year Prompts!
How to be Successful in ____ Grade!
I am so excited about this writing prompt resource for the end of the year. After testing has finished and the school days begin winding down, I’ve found it so important to keep our little learners engaged and practicing the very skills we worked hard to teach them.
These prompts ask students to reflect and share their year in the form of a ‘How To’ piece of writing. They are writing for the students who are coming up in their grade the next school year and sharing their advice on what made them successful and how these new students can be too. The final product can be hung in the halls the following year to greet the new class or be made into a bound book for the classroom library. They can even be sent home with your kiddos!
Here’s what’s included!
Kinders Who Write!
When I taught Kindergarten my first year teaching writing, as well as reading, was a major objective. At times it really seemed like a challenging goal - to get these little people writing - but by the end of the year I was amazed at the level of work my little kinders were putting out!
The end of the year is no different than the first day. It’s important to keep our little ones writing and practicing those skills and even into the summer months. This download is differentiated for these little kindergarteners with simple, but easy to follow, prompts and guided lined paper both for brainstorming and publishing. I even made the introductory sentence traceable for these little guys using common sight words they would have learned throughout the year! Easy peasy!
Engaging Primary Writers
Our kiddos in first- sixth grade are given prompts that require a bit more detail to their answers. This is so that when they go to begin their first drafts they have some meat to include in their paragraphs. For example, they are asked various questions like reflecting on a meaningful memory from the year or their favorite topic that was studied.
Each brainstorming page comes with boy and girl templates as well as the option for 2nd-6th grade to use guided lines or regular lines for their publishing paper. I like providing choices for my young writers and I’ve seen that many can determine for themselves when to use the guide lined paper or not.
I hope you all have fun with this activity and find that it helps keep your kids engaged and writing up until the last day of school! Be sure to also check out my other End of the Year resources here on the blog and over at my shop!
May 14, 2018
End of the Year Awards!
It’s already May, which means this is when many teachers are beginning to plan and prep their end of the year festivities - including their student awards. The end of the year is an exciting time, for both teachers and students alike. It’s a time where the school year starts to wind down, testing is either close to finishing or just getting started, and students begin their month of review material. In the middle of all of this are the coveted student awards.
Every school does something a little different, but for my old school we always had our grade level awards held inside our classrooms and invited our student’s families to be a part of this special day. Although prepping these awards (and the subsequent class party afterwards) can be tiresome, it’s nonetheless exciting to recognize each of my kiddos and the hard work they’ve put into the school year. It’s also a great time to gather parents and have them acknowledge their child’s hard work as well.
You’re Invited!
For any party one needs good invitations! This download comes complete with editable invitation templates that are easily copied and sent off with your students in advance. It’s a simple invite that outlines the ceremony date, time, and location. You can also hand sign it yourself before copying! This allows parents to easily tack onto their fridges and keep an easy reminder at home or to share with family members.
Close to every award under the sun!
There are a lot of reasons for a child to be recognized on awards day - and it goes beyond just ‘class clown’ or ‘best dressed.’ I’m sure those are acceptable things to acknowledge, Lord knows we have those students in our classrooms, but I think it’s really important for our kiddos to know they have contributed to the class and themselves in meaningful ways - not just because they’re funny.
In my awards resource you will find a variety of superlatives that can relate to your students. From the ‘Lover of Learning’ to that child with an ‘Inquisitive Mind,’ you’ll be able to easily find the right award for each little learner.
Also, most of the awards are complete with a boy and girl template! I wanted to make sure that each award is customized for the needs of most classrooms. However, you may use these printables in any way you want - boy, girl, or both!
These awards also come in a .zip format which includes a PDF for those wanting to just print and write in their own names - or if you’d like to edit them, to include your own fonts by using a text box over the PowerPoint version.
Either way, these awards are virtually the easiest thing for you to prep!
Preparation hasn’t been easier!
We all know that with the end of the year comes a lot of busy work to keep our kids’ minds engaged all the way up to the last day. This also means teachers are looking for resources that take minimal effort in preparing - I mean, we’re just as ready for the summer as our students!
So this resource couldn’t be more easily prepped!
That’s it!
With the prep work out of the way for your class awards you can spend your cherished time on other more important things! So hopefully this resource will make your days easier!
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