3 Assignments to Keep Students (and Yourself) Engaged at the End of the Year

Across the nation, K-12 academic school years end sometime between the mid-May and mid-June. Toward the end of school, students take a variety of state and/or nationally standardized tests. Some are required (such as the end of course assessments required in 27 states) impacting both students’ grades and, in some cases, their potential for graduation, while others are optional, don’t return results for several months, and have the potential to earn students college credit (and, in the case of a recent national exam, an opportunity to roast certain politicians).

Unfortunately for teachers and students, these tests do not signify the true end to a class, and students can languish for two weeks to a month after their administration, wondering why they have to be at school, and especially why they have to do WORK, when the end-all, be-all, FINAL test (or tests) have past. Teachers, too, feel this crunch, as assistant principals, principals, superintendents, etc. admonish that students MUST continue to attend and LEARN. This edict leaves teachers feeling like:

To combat this feeling, here is my end-of-year advice: turn off the lights and watch movies.

I KID! I KID!

But truly, do consider capturing the students’ affinity for technology and, especially, social media with these three fun (and, sometimes, funny) activities.

1. Literature-related Playlist (AKA The Soundtrack)

Present this activity (requirements here*) as a legitimate opportunity to sit in class and watch YouTube. Students must first read a plot-driven text. Novels and longer plays take more prep time than short stories – which is perfect even before the test in the event you need to differentiate for that student who has opted out of any optional testing. Have the student select a theme or map the plot structure. Then, the student logs into and creates a playlist on YouTube of songs reflecting the theme or a soundtrack following the plot structure. Have them email you a link to the playlist. Here is an example from The Great Gatsby.

This activity can be accompanied by written rationales for their choices, complete with quotes from the text. If you want to grade fewer assignments (AND DON’T WE ALL), make it a group activity. Want to grade during class time? Have students present. Bring refreshments (i.e. have a “food day”) and your students will be as engaged as this cat:

Music. Food. Essentially, your last days have just become a party!

2. Character-based Social Media

An alternative (requirements here*) to the soundtrack assignment also suitable for fiction involves using students’ favorite time-waster: social media. Specifically,this example uses Instagram, but similar ideas for Facebook and MySpace exist. Figuring out how to use the SnapChat story function for this assignment is in the works - but requires quick turnaround on grading since the story disappears within 24 hours.

Whatever the platform, the essence of this project is images and captioning. A student chooses a character from some work of prose or drama (though a historical figure or author has potential too) and creates a social media profile as that character. Then, the student posts images related to that character’s development through time accompanied by captions and/or #hashtags as the platform requires. With more time, assigning characters from the same novel to grouped students could allow them to comment on one another’s profiles!

Written rationales for the images and the hashtags can provide evidence of depth of understanding. Once again, to reduce grading, make the assignment grouped and presented.

3. Memes

A final, and very popular assignment this year, is evident throughout this and many of the true Sustainable Teacher’s blog posts: creating memes! Memes are the 21st century’s bumper sticker. Students spend hours upon hours sharing and talking about memes that strike their fancy. Why not put this love (and their sense of humor) to use?

I require my students to use aphorisms (popular sayings of known authorship for those who aren’t rhetorically nerdy like myself); however, the same effect can be obtained with proverbs or quotes from any of the literary genres. If the students pair the right quotes and the right picture, the results can have hilarious effects:

This particular meme gave me the giggles when it was turned in. The authorship of the previous quote is none other than Ben Franklin. As an added bonus, all of these assignments also give student the opportunity to showcase their ability to cite resources and provide a platform for copyright infringement discussions.

Good luck, fellow teachers. May you keep your sanity and have a little fun as the year races to its close.

Cheers,

Tiffany

Guest blog written by Tiffany Post, AP Language and Composition Teacher at Woodland High School in Cartersville, GA.
*Adapted from the classroom of Tammy Queen