With my looping class, the end of year varied. Mid-loop, I had kids stock their browsing boxes (remember, I had the littles) with three of their favorite books for the first day of school. We always set summer reading goals and talked about extending our lives as readers, writers and mathematicians over the summer. We had a Pod Party (we were grouped in K-1-2-3 configurations called family pods) with rotations through funsy outdoor activities followed by a monster picnic. Oh, and we made a banner for the hallway proclaiming that were second graders now, lest anyone think we were staying in first grade since we didn't change rooms.
At the top of the loop, my students wrote letters to their third grade teachers telling their new teachers about the their passions, their families, their strengths and weaknesses. I was always so lucky in that their new teachers took the letters very seriously. My two shark boys were greeted this last fall by a teacher wearing a shark t-shirt. She was in like Flynn! And, of course, another pod party. Mathematically, we always ended the year with game week. As second graders, we had had a 'golf tournament'--a card game requiring strong mathematical thinking. Above all, we were learning and I was teaching to he end. Lori On 5/21/07 9:20 PM, "Bill IVEY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi! > > I find myself periodically and without warning tearing up as we near the > end of the school year; our middle school has its last class day on > Thursday, and the Moving Up Ceremony and Six Flags trip on Friday, and I > am really really going to miss these kids. In preparation for the Moving > Up Ceremony, I did an activity based on one my sister-in-law did when my > nephew graduated from sixth grade. I passed out a sheet on which were > written these prompts: > My favourite part of the day was... > I'll always remember... > This year, I learned... > When I first came to SBMS, I... > But now, I... > Next year, I... > > I collect in all the sheets, and turn them into a sort of poem about the > year in which I incorporate words from all the students (I'll tack on an > extract from the first draft after my signature for anyone who's > interested). > > What are your own favourite end-of-year activities? > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > ****************** > (...) > > I¹ll always remember the days I spent here, my friends I made, MOCA, that > you need different committees to form an event, Field Day, Spearth Day, my > time at the barn, my new friends, the SBS-Berkshire game, the good times > we had in Humanities, the 7th and 8th grade, the members of the middle > school, my friends. > > This year, I learned everything I wanted to; I learned a lot. > > I learned about life in Stoneleigh, a lot of useful things, and how to > fold paper cranes. > > I learned how to be a better person. > > I learned many things in all subjects, about how my classmates learned, > and how to make teachers laugh. > > (...) > > Next year, I can¹t wait to be able to meet new people. > > But, I¹ll always remember when we had so much fun at school. > > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach & Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 57555 http:www.tcsdk12.org ph. 605.856.2211 Literacies for All Summer Institute "Literate Lives: A Human Right" July 12-15, 2007 Louisville, Kentucky http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
