Fun End of the Year Activities
Most teachers are out of school now and enjoying their summer. I, however, still have 12 days left. I teach at a “non-traditional” or year-round school. We are only allowed 5 weeks for the summer and school must begin on August 1st. The majority of the time, I LOVE this calendar. We get extra weeks off during the year, to make up for not getting many during the summer – 2 weeks in October, 1 in February and 2 in May. Usually the weather is MUCH nicer during those breaks, and they break up the year nicely. Waiting for three more weeks until school is out, when all the other schools are out is the most difficult time of the year. But it will be here soon enough for me.
In order to pack up my room, take everything off the walls (painting!) and clean all furniture, my students will be completing music activities without my constant instruction and observation. This will allow them to review concepts learned this year in fun ways (and be in a group with friends!) while I am completing the end-of-the-year time consuming, tedious stuff. Here are a few things my students will be doing:
This week, I will be setting up stations around my classroom. In groups of 4, students will rotate to these stations every 7 or so minutes and complete each activity. Here are several examples of activities I may have set up around my room:
You can find information about these activities on musical sites, like Music in Motion, and some are available on Amazon. These are also great activities for a sub!
The last full week of school, students will be making their own musical bingo card with musical symbols and terms I give them. Then we will play bingo and students that get bingo will either get to choose a “smarties” candy because “they are smarties in music!”. Or, they can choose a “dum-dum pop” because “they ain’t no dum-dum in music!”. At the end of class, if the majority of the class has had a great day, the students that did not receive a treat will also get one. The students that get bingo are allowed to eat the candy in my classroom (as long as they throw the trash away). The students that receive their treat at the end must take it out of class and eat it during lunch or when their classroom teacher gives them permission.