21 Great End-Of-Year Writing Activities

It’s tempting towards the end of the school year for teachers and students to fall off their normal schedule.

But it doesn’t have to be that way in your classroom.

To keep students engaged, try a few of these fun end-of-year writing activities.

Using these activities, students will reflect upon their year, retell favorite memories, revisit SMART goals, share future plans, and write for various other purposes.

Here you will find a collection of engaging end-of-year writing activities and ideas that you can implement in your classroom to keep the end of the school year running smoothly.

End-of-Year Writing Activities

Following you will find a variety of fun end-of-year writing activities that students of all ages enjoy.

1. Autograph Yearbooks.

A super fun end-of-year writing activity is to have students autograph yearbooks.

Allow a day for students to sign yearbooks. Encourage them to write kind notes or positive messages to classmates instead of just signing their signatures in the yearbook.

You might want to show some examples of what this type of writing looks like.

2. Conduct an End-of-Year Poll or Survey.

If you’re looking to integrate math into your end-of-year writing activities, this activity is for you.

Students will conduct a poll or survey.

Ideas include…

  • favorite school event of this school year
  • best science experiment completed this school year
  • favorite field trip from this school year
  • favorite food item from the cafeteria

After choosing an idea, place students in pairs.

Pairs will go around collecting data from classmates and then create a graph from the information. Graphs must be labeled approximately.

Students write a summary that interprets the results. Pairs will then share their graphs with the class.

3. Make a Summer Reading Top 10 List.

Students make a top ten list of recommended summer reading books for the upcoming students.

They will write a summary or book review of each book.

4. Write End-of-Year Letter to Future Students.

Ask students to write an end-of-year letter to the students who will be moving up to their grade level.

Suggested content:

  • What advice do they want to give to the new students?
  • Are there any specific study strategies they need to know about?
  • How can the new students be most successful?
  • Any important strategies they need to learn?
  • What will they be learning?

5. Respond to End-of-Year Reflection Prompts.

One of the easiest yet most powerful end-of-year writing activities is responding to reflection writing prompts in writing journals.

These questions prompt students to reflect upon their year in a positive way.

6. Write an End-of-Year Story.

Have students compose an end-of-year story that includes all of the story elements. Afterward, they can share their stories in the author’s chair.

7. Put Together or Revisit Your Time Capsule. 

There are two ways to approach this fun activity.

The first way is to revisit a time capsule created at the beginning of the school year. After observing the artifacts, students write about how much they have changed.

The second approach is to have students create a new time capsule.

They bring a shoebox from home (The shoebox serves as the time capsule.) and place 5 to 8 artifacts inside that represent moments from the school year.

Artifacts don’t have to be objects. They can be things such as taking one’s height, weight, foot size, writing samples, etc.

Now students write on notecards a description of each artifact, explaining why they have chosen that particular artifact to be placed in the time capsule.

After placing items and descriptions in the time capsule, students close them. They’ll revisit them a year from now and repeat the process!

8. Share a Favorite Memory.

In their writer’s notebooks, students journal about a favorite memory from this school year.

end-of-year writing activities
favorite end-of-year writing activities

9. Draft a Letter Persuading Teacher.

Students will showcase their persuasive writing skills with this activity.

They will draft a letter convincing the teacher to allow them to take their school devices home over the summer.

10. Compose End-of-Year Poem.

By the end of the year, students have been exposed to various writing genres including poetry.

To nurture their creative side, ask students to compose a poem about the end of the year. They can choose between sonnet, limerick, haiku, free verse, acrostic, etc.

11. Write a Letter to Your Future Self. 

Frame this activity by asking students what goals they want to have accomplished in 1, 5, or 10 years.

They’ll write a letter to themselves, telling about all the great things they have done. They may also want to include special memories of things done at their current age.

12. Compare and Contrast End-of-Year to Start-of-Year.

Students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the end of the year with the beginning of the school year.

13. Prepare a Survival Manual for Grade Level.

Students create a how-to guide for students who are moving up to their current grade level.

This guide will share important information such as classroom rules, expectations, morning routines, strategies for studying, etc.

Students include anything that they feel will help new students be successful.

14. Make and Write About End-of-Year Selfies.

This is arguably one of the most popular end-of-year writing activities for students.

For this fun “selfie” activity, students design a cell phone, draw a favorite memory from the school year, and then write about it.

Grab the templates for End-of-Year Selfies here.

15. Draft an End-of-Year Thank You Note.

This end-of-year writing activity is great for recognizing individuals in school communities who receive little recognition.

Students write kind notes to the custodians, lunch workers, bus drivers, parent volunteers, and anyone else in the school who may not be as “visible”.

They’ll thank them for their service and for helping them in some way.

16. Brainstorm a Metaphorical Recipe.

This cool writing activity ignites critical thinking.

Done individually or in pairs, students write a metaphorical recipe about a subject.

You may want to model how to do this activity before sending students off to write their own.

Ideas for metaphorical recipes include…

  • a recipe for how to be successful in this grade level
  • a recipe for showing respect
  • a recipe for being kind
  • a recipe on how to be a good reader

Example: A recipe for being a good student

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of self-belief
  • 1 cup of discipline
  • 1/2 cup of motivation

Directions:

  1. Mix self-belief with discipline.
  2. Add strong study skills.
  3. Sprinkle generously with motivation.
  4. Add a few dashes of a growth mindset.

17. Explain How to Use Anchor Charts.

By the end of the school year, students have had lots of practice using anchor charts for learning.

They should now be able to write a how-to manual that demonstrates how to use one effectively.

Grab a how-to manual template.

18. Recall a Personal Experience.

In their writing journals, students retell an experience from this school year that helped them to have a growth mindset.

It could be an embarrassing, nervous, proud, angry, or exciting moment.

They will explain how this experience taught them something about themselves.

19. Write About End-of-Year Best Things.

Students write the three best things about the end of the school year.

20. Draft an End-of-Year News Article.

Students will practice informational writing.

They will choose an end-of-year event like Field Day, talent show, field trip, etc. Then they will write a news story about it using the 5Ws + H.

  • Who participated in the event?
  • What was it about?
  • When was it?
  • Where did it take place?
  • Why did it happen?
  • How did it turn out?

Download a 5Ws + H template.

21. Devise a Strategy for Reaching SMART Goals.

This is one of the most powerful end-of-year writing activities.

Students devise a manual of tips that show how to reach SMART goals in a strategic way. They will outline all the steps.

Final Thoughts: End-of-Year Writing Activities

Now you don’t have to worry about students becoming unfocused and unmotivated towards the end of the school year.

Using these engaging end-of-year writing activities, students will be motivated to finish the year strong.