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.
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
End of the Year Review Game // The Owl Teacher
Ending the School Year with a Slideshow // Mikey D Teach
Word Work End-of-Year Celebration // Reading by Heart
“This Year is In the Bag” Reflection & Share-a-Bration! // Tarheelstate Teacher
Making Memories at the End of the School Year // Love Learning
Tried & True Solution for End of Year Teacher Tired // Tried and True Teaching Tools