Containing student excitement (and, truthfully, my own) during the last few days of the school year can be difficult. We (the students and teachers) have worked hard all year, and now with summer vacation on the horizon, staying focused is a challenge. My battery is truthfully on low this time of year, and student excitement is understandably at an all time high. Even with the pressure to continue instruction, I know my students deserve a little fun at the end of the year with activities that will provide cherished memories of this school year.  Here are a few easy prep suggestions for some fun activities to make your end of the school year one to remember. 1. Hold an old fashioned classroom spelling bee. Why not take a day to review spelling words from the year by holding a fun classroom spelling bee. In many classrooms spelling bees may seem a little old-fashioned, but your students will have fun participating in one. Give prizes or brag tags to winners. Try a fun t......

"Mrs. Hanson, we've been studying this for a while now.  Isn't it about time that we do a craftivity?"  Heads around the room nodded in agreement.   That question posed to me during language arts by an eager 5th grade boy was music to my ears.   How cool is that? I thought to myself. He figured out the pattern of  how we usually create a craftivity to culminate a particular unit, and  they are excited to receive a craftivity assignment! Today I am going to share with you 5 of the top reasons why I love to use craftivities in the upper elementary classroom . Top: Context Clues & Figurative Language Bottom:  Main Idea & Themes in Literature #5- Craftivities make great bulletin boards !  Students are extremely proud to display their finished craftivities.  Plus, visitors and passersby know exactly what we have been studying in language arts.  At my most recent school, younger students frequently trudged down t......