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End-of-Year Reading & Writing Activities

  • May 4, 2018, 2:46 p.m.

The end of the year is upon us. Just in case you are running out of steam, here are some ideas for May/June to keep students engaged in reading and writing.


1. Research Projects

Projects are a great way for students to be reading for a purpose and for meaning!

Start with an investigation question. What topic does the student want to know more about? Let students get creative and choose their topics and presentation types. Students will conduct research and write a short speech for their living museum debut. Be sure to have students generate a hypothesis about the topic question. Decide how students will present their findings. Some ideas for this might be to do a unit on famous Americans and end the unit with a Living Museum.


2. Book Clubs / Book Trailers

Students can participate in book clubs. Each student will complete a specific role or job to contribute their perspective to the group. This is a great opportunity for students to discuss their reading. Each student or club can create a book trailer to get others excited about the book they read. Have students each complete a role to contribute to the movie making. See an example of a book trailer here!


3. The Classroom News

Turn your classroom into a news room. Have students work in news room jobs (i.e. journalists, producer, film crew, weather crew, editor, reporter, etc.) Watch videos of the news to get ideas for what type of stories the students can write about. Get students writing and presenting their stories just like a real newsroom would. Have students choose the stories they want to report on. Film the official class news and broadcast it to parents. Consider using a green screen so that a picture of the topic can be projected behind the reporter.


4. Reader's Theater

Have students read dramas and act them out on stage. Spend a week reading and preparing for a performance. Have students get into discussion circles to discuss the meaning and inferences made about each drama. Invite others to come see your kids in action! Find free scripts here!