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End of The Year Slideshow: Ending the School Year with Fun Memories

You might call me a big sap. I LOVE end of the year memories and the activities that accompany it, and I’m a sucker for good music and great photos. At the end of each year, I put together a student slideshow of amazing moments from our year together. I love it, the kids love it, and the parents love it. It’s almost like a yearbook that’s been put in motion.

The Steps of Creating the End of the Year Slideshow

I send out a form to my students via Google Classroom. Here’s a sample copy of the form that you can use right away!
I email the parents and ask for a Kindergarten picture (or similar age) to include on the slide – it’s fun for them to see how much they’ve grown!
I take pictures. All year. Lots of pictures.
Next, I take the survey results, the Kinder picture, and then a picture from my library to create one slide for each kid.
Then, I curate a list of songs that the kids love, AND I throw in some sappy songs that make all of the adults tear up a bit.
Finally, I invite the parents in on the last day of school, and we all watch the slideshow together.

Here’s a sample of what the slideshow ends up looking like:

Yes, it takes some time. I won’t lie to you about that. But I have each slideshow saved on my computer, and it’s always fun to go back and watch the memories each year.

free end of year activities for upper elementary

We want your end of the year to have a celebratory bang! Check out these other ideas for your upper elementary students and let us do the planning for you!

End of Year Must Do: Teacher, Student, and Parent Reflections // Think Grow Giggle

Beach Ball Boogie STEM Challenge // Kerry Tracy