End of Year Cadence
(The children repeat each line.)
School is coming to an end. (Stand, march, and slap thighs
School is coming to an end. to the beat.)
Say so long to all our friends.
Say so long to all our friends.
We’ve learned to read and write and spell.
We’ve learned to read and write and spell.
We know our shapes and numbers well.
We know our shapes and numbers well.
We’ve learned to follow classroom rules.
We’ve learned to follow classroom rules.
Getting along is really cool.
Getting along is really cool.
Science, music, art, PE.
Science, music, art, PE.
School’s been great for you and me.
School’s been great for you and me.
And when school begins again.
And when school begins again.
We’ll be happy to see our friends.
We’ll be happy to see our friends.
Now I Can!
Brainstorm all the things your students have learned during the school year. Give each child a sheet of paper and have them draw something they couldn’t do at the beginning of the year that they can do now. Complete this sentence: “I couldn’t _______, but now I can _______.” Make a cover that says “Now We Can!” and bind to make a book.
Time Capsule
Create a memento of the year with a time capsule. Ask each child to bring in Pringle’s can. Have them draw a picture of themselves and put it in the can. Let them write or dictate what they want to be when they grow up and illustrate it. Challenge them to collect a wrapper from their favorite food, something their favorite color, friends’ signatures, and other small, meaningful objects to add to their bottles. After gluing on the lid and decorating the outside, send the time capsules home with a note to the parents asking them to save them until their child graduates from high school.
The Year from A to Z
The amount of time you have left in the school year will dictate how you approach this project. If you have a few weeks, then you could assign several letters each day and have children recall activities that begin with that sound. If you have more time then you could just do one letter each day.
Make blank alphabet books for each child and add this poem on the cover:
We’ve learned and played in many ways,
But now the year must end.
Here’s a book to remember special days,
And all your kindergarten (first grade) friends!
At morning meeting encourage the children to brainstorm activities, friends’ names, books read, songs, etc. that begin with the letters and write them on the board. As an independent activity invite children to draw pictures and write about the different events in the ABC books.
How about some ideas to get you started?
A- apple tasting, art, alphabet, “Alligator”
B- “Bear Hunt,” blocks, birthdays, books, bus
C- computers, caterpillars, counting, cooking, CLIFFORD
D- dinosaurs, dancing, drawing, “Days of the Week”
E- easel, exercise, eating, exploring
F- friends, fall, first day of school, “Five Little Monkeys”
G- GINGERBREAD MAN, games, graphs, gym
H- Hundred Day, Halloween, holidays, handprint
I- ice and snow, insects, “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “I can___”
J- jack o’ lanterns, journals, jump rope
K- KISSING HAND, kites, kindness, “Katalina”
L- letters, library, “Lettercise,” lunch, LEO
M-“Macarena Months,” music, math, magnets
N- nests, nursery rhymes, names, numbers
O- oceans, outside, “Over in the Meadow”
P- pizza parlor, P.E., puzzles, painting, “Peanut Butter”
Q- quiet time, quilts
R- reading, rainy days, running, rabbits, “Rime Time”
S- singing, spring, shapes, senses, science
T- “Tooty Ta,” turkeys, teeth, tests, TACKY THE PENGUIN
U- upside down, under, umbrellas (April showers)
V- Valentine’s Day, VERY BUSY SPIDER
W- word wall, writing, winter, “Wally Acha,” weather
X- “X” marks the spot (treasure hunt), X with body
Z- zoo field trip, zigzag art, “Z” end of the year
*Use the name of the school, teacher’s name, etc.