Next week is the last week of school for students and I have been working on figuring out how to transition the end of school year activities that we normally complete in the classroom to a digital platform. I wanted to share some of the books and activities that I have come up with so far in case any of you are looking for ideas or resources!
I left so many of my books in my classroom and haven't had a chance to grab them yet, so I've been looking for some of my favorite end of year books online to use for virtual interactive read alouds.
I always read First Day Jitters during the first week of school, which is by the same author as Last Day Blues. This book has always been a favorite of mine, so I'm saving this one for our class meeting on the actual last day of school. If you don't already have epic!, you can sign up for a free account and this book is available on there! so I'm going to share my screen and read this with the kids next Friday.
MY TEACHER LIKES TO SAY
Another book that I am going to read to my kids that is also available on Epic! is My Teacher Likes to Say by Denise Brennan Nelson. This is a book written in rhyme from the perspective of students that catalogs the many sayings of teachers. After reading the book, I'm going to have my students complete the activity below where they will write down the many things that their teacher likes to say.
THE END
Another book that I've seen many teachers recommend online is The End by David LaRochelle. This story is a backward fairytale, so after reading it I'm going to have the kids write about this school year in reverse order just like the book. You could also have your students complete this activity using any story that they are familiar with.
I also found this teaching guide for the book that was helped me plan my interactive read-aloud. I haven't been able to find this book online, so I'm planning on ordering a copy from amazon and/or using one of the many videos of other teachers reading this book aloud on Youtube.
HELLO! HELLO!
The book Hello! Hello! is new to me, but I saw the description on Scholastic's website and thought it would be perfect for wrapping up these past few months of online learning and spending too much time on electronic devices. Here is what Scholastic has to say about this book:
I haven't found this book on any free platforms yet, but it is available on the Apple Book Store, Barnes & Noble NOOK, and Amazon Kindle, so I'm planning to buy this one as well. After we read the book, I'm going to have the kids write about some activities that they plan to do this summer that do not involve electronic devices.
I WISH YOU MORE
One last book that I'm thinking of sharing with my kids is I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This book is a sweet list of well wishes that would be perfect to read as you send your kids off on the last day of school.
There is a great video read aloud of this book on Youtube, so I'm thinking about just sharing the video with my class but not assigning any kind of follow up activity. If I have time I may buy this book and record a read aloud in my own voice to make it more personalized!
If you want to grab a free copy of the activities that I created to go along with these books click here.
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