This edition of the Teacher Stuff Newsletter is all about mentor texts! It includes great mentor text books for teaching grammar and figurative language, and it includes some great educational videos and songs too! Double click on the videos so they open to full screen view. If you click on the books, they have affiliate links, which mean I get a small stipend if you order using my link, but at no cost to you. You can also find these books at the library! Don't forget to use the arrow key when you click on the picture above to see older versions of the Teacher Stuff Newsletter. Enjoy!
Are you wrapping up the end of the school year? It gets a little overwhelming trying to finish everything and keep kids from going too crazy! Here are some books and activities to get you through the last week of school and help you remember all the good times you had together.
This is the perfect book to read on the Monday before the last day of school. It goes through the week of the last day of school. You can also watch the read aloud by Ryan and Craig. They are hilarious! This book talks about the last time they do things in their classroom together such as the last read aloud, the last science experiment, the last time they feed the class pet, and the teacher says she'll miss it. It's not too sad, but it starts to prepare kids for summer.
Activity: I like to have morning meeting on each day of the last week of school be an opportunity for students to share what they like about each person in our class. I make a copy of this card for each student, and we choose a few students each day (you'll have to do the math to make sure you have time for every student) to write what it is we like about them. Then during morning meeting, I read each letter aloud. You will need to pre-teach that it must be signed and it will be read in front of the class, so every comment must be a kind one. Every student has found it very special to hear the words that each of their classmates likes about them. You can get the card freebie here: What We Like About You
Although this book is meant to be read earlier in the year as you work toward building that classroom family, it is also a sweet reminder of the classroom family you have become. Change the present and future tense to past tense as a beautiful tribute to your classroom family. Instead of reading, "So let's always remember what a great team we can be," at the end of the year, read this sentence as, "So let's always remember what a great team we were." And just like that, it's a beautiful memory to share with your class in the last week of school.
Activity: Take pictures of your students with their friends. Let each student take 3 pictures with whoever they want in each picture (I usually limit it to 5 students per picture). Have your picture choice be a picture with you and the whole class. You can print them out or post them on Class Dojo or Seesaw--whatever platform you use to communicate with parents. It's a special memory for kids to have of their classroom family.
This sweet story is not necessarily about the end of the year, but it still fits. This little girl is trying to save her favorite memories in a jar, just like grandma's jam. But in the end she realizes that if she keeps everything bottled in a jar, she can't enjoy it right now. This is a great message for the end of the year!
Activity: My friend Vanessa from Moving Mountains in Primary has a great End of Year Memory Jars Activity on TpT. It's a great opportunity for students to record their favorite memories in memory jars.
This is a sweet book that is clearly written by a teacher. It reminisces about all the things they did together that year as a class that matches a modern day classroom. It may start to make the kids a little sad, but it's a great way to remember special memories.
Activity: Have an end of year memory book that kids can fill in about their favorite things from the school year, and let the kids sign each other's books. There are so many to choose from on TpT! You can also give kids an end of year gift. The last line in the book says, "Teaching you was such a treat!" This would go well with an end of year gift sweet treat!
I love this sweet story! It's my favorite book for the very last day of school. It's a perfect way to reminisce about all the fun we've had together. We definitely had tears this year though! I always cry a little when I say goodbye to the little classroom family we have built. This really is the perfect book for saying goodbye at the end of the year.
Activity: During the last week of school, we do a how-to unit with the students, which is really fun. They have to follow directions to create different things. Go Noodle has a whole section of how-to videos, which we used a lot. To go along with this book, watched the video How to Address a Letter. I gave each of my students an envelope and they wrote their name and address on it with the school address as the return address. My friend Vanessa from Moving Mountains in Primary also has an activity End of Year Editable A Letter From Your Teacher on the Last Day of School! I'm using her template to write an individual letter to each of my students and I will mail it to them this summer in the envelope they addressed. An important note: I was shocked how many students did not know their address, so don't wait until the last day of school to address envelopes! Many of my students had to take them home and get help with their address. But I'm excited to send them each a personalized letter!
There are 2 new end-of-year books that were just published in 2024. I haven't gotten my hands on them yet, but they look like they will be great options to add to this list! If you've read them, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think! They're on my list for review.
