End with a Bang!

10 Ideas for Mind-Blowing

Last Lessons

The end of the year is a special time for any class. Students may have a
tough time focusing on getting through the final days of school, but there
is a lot you can do to keep them engaged.

End your school year with a bang by employing some of these creative and fun
ideas for memorable last lessons!
Try These 10 Mind-Blowing Last Lesson Ideas

1
Have a Pot luck or Class Picnic
Having a pot luck or picnic is both a meaningful and relaxed wrap
up to the school year. You’ll want to organize this ahead of time and
make sure students are well aware of what they need to do. Be sure that
students are assigned tasks from setting up to cleaning up to bringing in
food and drinks. This can necessitate some interesting lessons before
the picnic where you can brainstorm a theme and have students sign-up
for what they would like to bring. It’s a fantastic way for multi-cultural
 classes to share some of their food traditions and you may want to
incorporate description and discussion of foods into the day.

2
Yearbook Nominations…Most likely to…
Yearbook-type nominations will really get your class buzzing. About
a week or two before the last class organize the list of
nominations and go through them with the class. You can easily adapt
them for age and level. Some examples could be: best smile, loudest,
silliest, quietest, most likely to go to the principal’s office, most likely to be
president, most likely to be an English teacher, most likely to give next
year’s teacher a headache, etc. On the last day hand out awards, and
ask the students make acceptance speeches! Just be sure that each
student gets awarded for something.

3
Class Reflection
You’ll want to start this project well in advance so that you have
time to put it together. Give the students a set of questions that they
can choose to answer in journalformat. This is good review of writing
techniques. Topics could be: your favorite lesson,the most difficult thing
you learned, or something you will never forget. Then students choose
one of their reflections to rework and refine. Collect their final works and
put them into a booklet to hand out on the last day of class.

4
 Memory Booklets
Memory booklets are pretty simple and easy to put together. Design
a simple blank book that the students can fill in on the last days of school.
You can make it as modest or as extravagant as you would like. You
could include sections for things like, my favorite memory, self-
portraits, autographs, and things we learned. Students then spend the
last day filling in each other’s books.

5
Graphic Tees
This has become increasingly popular and easy to do for a class
project or celebration. Have students bring in plain t-shirts. Then supply
them with markers and paints which they can use to make handprints or
other designs on their t-shirt. The students go around the room and draw
on or autograph each other’s t-shirts. They turn out to be cool keepsakes
and the activity itself is very energizing!

6
Talk Behind Your Back
This is an entertaining way to begin or end a last lesson. Each
student has a blank piece of paper taped to their backs. Students then
circulate around the room and write positive things about each other on
each other’s papers. They can mingle around for as long as it takes.
Then they remove the papers from their backs, and read all the wonderful
comments. It can also create a lot of good conversation and you can
have students verbally praise each other. This works especially well with
 kids, but even adultsfind it entertaining to see what people think about
them!

7
Impromptu Speeches
For a class that loves to talk and share, impromptu speeches can be
really engaging and meaningful! Be sure to set a short time limit to
make sure everyone in the class gets to speak. Have a hat full of random
ideas and good review topics that the students draw. They then speak for
minute. Don’t put too many limitations on this activity and allow them to
have fun with it and run with ideas and language. Be sure that you have
many more ideas than there are students so they can do a second round
if time allows.

8
Games Day
This is a very simple idea. Have the students’ favorite games ready
to go. Then allow the class as a whole to direct the day and choose
which games they want to play at which times. You could also take this
and turn it into some kind of tournament for the last few days of class.
Things like Scrabble, Jeopardy, or English Olympics work well to get the
competition going.

9
Thank you Notes
 This activity is applicable for older or more advanced
students. Have them choose one or two people that they will then
write thank you notes to. Tell them to think about the year and consider
who really helped them get through it and why they are thankful for that
person. They can work on rough drafts ahead of time then shape into
really thoughtful and meaningful hand-made cards. Students then
discuss with the class who they thanked and why. You could also have
them make cards for one another.

10
Sing Songs
If you have a class that particularly enjoys music and learning
songs in English, you could use your last class to sing
songs. Review songs they’ve learned throughout the year, teach them
new ones or have the students bring in some of their favorite songs for
the group! This is a lively and energetic way to end the school year, and
you could even have the class sing a song or two for other classes.

It is so worthwhile to take some time to dream up creative and well-

thought out last lessons.
Your students will leave the class happy and energized and ready for their next
challenges. For teachers it is a significant way to create memories and show your
classes just how much they mean to you!