Testing is over!!! ? And it is smooth sailing to the end of the school year. But what do you have your students do these last few days or weeks?! You don’t have any “curriculum” left to teach them, because that all had to be done before those dreaded tests came around. So how about some fun-filled units, whole group games, activities, and much much more to review content already learned! We polled some expert teachers to see what they do for end-of-the-year review activities for their students. They gave us 15 amazing activities and ideas. You have to use #12 during the last week!!! ?
Review Activity 1 – “I Have …, Who Has…”
This game is great, and all of your students have to pay attention because they never know when their turn is going to happen. Choose the topic that you want to review and then create the game cards. An example would be addition and subtraction: “I have 8. Who has 4+9?” Then the student who has 13 would go next. “I have 13. Who has 17-5? And the game continues on.
⚠️ Just remember that the first person starts with the “Who has…?” part of their card. And that the game has to come full circle, so the last person should have the question that corresponds to the first person’s answer.
2 – STEM Story Challenges
These fun challenges will keep your students engaged and learning until the last day of school. And bonus… there is little planning, prep, and teaching on your part. You are just there to facilitate learning and answer any questions that your students may have. Watch as your students are able to integrate problem-solving with science, engineering, teamwork, and math skills. These are great fun activities to use as review for your students.
3 – Battleship
If you have a Smartboard, there is already software that helps you create a Battleship grid. As students answer your questions correctly, they get to choose a square on the grid. If the class is able to sink all of your ships, they win. This is also a great game to play if you have virtual students as well.
Review Activity 4 – Around the World
Begin with all students standing behind their chairs. The first two students to start the game stand next to each other. Ask them a question. The first student out of those two to answer the question correctly gets to move on. The student who didn’t sits down in the chair. Play continues with the students answering incorrectly having to sit down. When one student finally makes it back to their original chair, they are the winner of the game.
5 – Directed Drawings
So many students got into Art Hub for Kids this year! We decided to take those Directed Drawings a step further and add a writing component, vocabulary, and word work. This bundle includes 100 different simple 6-step drawings with writing practice, vocabulary review, and word work activities. Your students will be begging you to do one every day!
6 – Sparkle
Most teachers use Sparkle as a spelling review activity. Have a list of words ready and get your students to sit in a circle. The “first” student is given the word, for example, ‘swing’. They start spelling the word ‘S’, then the next student will say ‘W’, the third student ‘I’, etc. Once the word has been spelled, the next person in line must say ✨SPARKLE✨. The person next in line to that person will then sit down. If at any time, a student says the wrong letter in the word, they must sit down and the next student will pick up where they left off.
You can also use a variety of Editable Spelling Activities to review spelling, vocabulary, and phonics words. There is definitely an activity for everyone, and with it being editable, you can easily assign different lists to different students.
Review Activity 7 – Sink or Float
This is a Sight Word review activity. The class is divided into two teams. Two students are shown a sight word on a card or the smartboard. The first one to read the word correctly can either “sink” (have a student on the opposing team sit down), or “float” (stand a student up on their team). The first team to have all of their team members sitting down loses.
8 – Summer Review Activities
Send your students home for the summer with a comprehensive packet of ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies activities. Your students can get ready for the following grade over the summer, while you satisfy those parents who you know are going to ask you about a summer packet. Or, you can use the activities the last few days/weeks of school to review with your students.
9 – Blooket
This is a free app that can be played on iPads, the smart board, virtually, or in the classroom. You can create a review game on any topic… ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. Your students will love the animated animals, and you can play along or against them as well.
Review Activity 10 – Guess Who?
This review game is a great way to end the year. You aren’t really reviewing any academics, but instead practicing oral language skills, asking and answering questions, and social-emotional skills. A student is chosen to be “it”. The rest of the class is allowed to ask the star student up to 10 questions about themselves. Once those 10 questions have been answered, the star student chooses who will be “it” the following day and so forth.
⚠️ Just remember that not all of your students may be comfortable being “it”, so allow them the option of saying “thanks, but no thanks.”
11 – Trashball
Trashball is used best for math review—put up a problem and students answer on a piece of paper. If they get it right, they get to come to the front and crumple their paper (after they show you their correct answer) and try to shoot into a “basket” (trashcan). They can choose to try for one, two, or three points based on how far back they stand. One point should be close enough that no skill is required, three should be mostly luck, and two is the skill spot. Have them fish their paper ball back out to reuse each round so you’re not wasting paper. Divide into teams beforehand, and keep track of points on the board.
12 – Kahoot!
This is a favorite among students and families. It’s a free website where you can create any type of review game for your students. You have options for which type of questions you want to use (multiple-choice, true/false, puzzle, or fill in the blank). You get to choose how many questions and the amount of time students have to answer each question. It is very easy to play as well… simply assign and give your students the code as you can play in teams, as a class, or as individuals.
Review Activity 13 – 10 Clues
For reviewing vocab words, play 10 Clues. One kid sits with his back to the whiteboard/smartboard and you write a word on the board behind where they can’t see. The class gives up to ten clues about the word, Pyramid game-style, and then the student guesses.
14 – Connect 4
Connect 4 is fun too. Give each person (or team, but have LOTS of teams!) a pad of post-it notes making sure each team has a single color no one else has, and students answer questions on their whiteboard. Students (teams) with correct answers can put a post-it on the board, building an array. Their goal is to get four of their color in a row, so as they build the array from the middle out they want to be thinking not only of getting four themselves but blocking other players as well.
You want lots of teams/players or it’s too easy. You can draw a grid on the board first if you want, but can also teach your students to make straight rows and columns, and adjust as needed while they play. They have to put their post-it touching at least one other after the very first note is on the board. Everyone plays at once so there’s lots of movement and the board quickly changes.
15 – BINGO
There are BINGO board games out there for many academic skills. Shapes, letters, beginning sounds, sight words… the list goes on and on. This has always been a favorite in my class, and I’m sure yours too.
No matter how you choose to review, remember to make it FUN!!! The end of the year should be memorable, and you can make it that way (while sneaking in some academic review as well ?). Please drop your favorite end-of-the-year review activities for students in the comments below. We all would love to hear your ideas!
Written by – Janessa Fletcher
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