Virtual End of Year Activities For Distance Learning

The 2019-2020 school year has certainly been an interesting one. Our students have had to do school in a way that most have them have never done before – online. As this year comes to a close, many of us are still doing crisis distance learning and wondering how we will celebrate with our students in a meaningful way. Last year, I posted a video that included five online activities I do with my students at the end of the school year. If you’re interested in viewing it, you can do so HERE. This year, I wanted to highlight a few more virtual end of year activities that can be done for distance learning.

Spirit Days

Spirit days are a wonderful way to not only get students excited but to build community as well. Let’s face it, this school year has been tough for everyone and we could all use a nice distraction as we wrap up the school year.

My school is an online school and students log into classes each day. When we do a spirit week, we will post the theme days ahead of time so students can prepare and plan. Then, they will log into classes on each themed day dressed as a character, representing a colour, or whatever the specific instructions for that day are. Each online session will begin with a short sharing time where students who want to talk about what they did for the spirit day are able to.

Here are a few ideas to get you started with this virtual end of year activity:

Some schools do not require their students to log into online sessions regularly during this time of crisis learning. That doesn’t mean you can’t still do a virtual spirit week with your students! Instead of having students share in an online class, simply provide a place for them to post some pictures of themselves doing an activity or posing in an outfit. Google Classroom and/or Google Slides would be a great tool to help facilitate this.

Class Party

Why not have an online class party as the culminating event at the end of a spirit week? Or just have a day set aside as a class party day. There are lots of interesting games to be played online together. In previous years, I have done activities like Pictionary and Kahoot which are very easy to organize and do with students.

Scavenger Hunt

Another activity that my students really enjoy is a form of a scavenger hunt. The class is placed into two teams (my middle school students love boys vs girls 😋). One person from each team takes a turn during the round. The teacher will name a common household item (eg. spoon, cup, book) that the team representatives will search for. After the count of 3, both students will quickly locate the item and return back to their computer with it. The first individual back with the item wins a point for the team.

Whisper Game

The whisper game is another fun activity that my students have enjoyed in previous years. You can play this with different teams and compete for points or you can do this as a whole class activity. The teacher will have different phrases that he/she will say to the class, but their microphone will be muted so the students will not be able to hear the phrase. Instead, they will need to guess what the teacher has said by reading their lips.

The truth is, most party games can be modified to suit an online setting, it just takes a little bit of imagination. A few more ideas for your class party might include:

• Bingo
• Never Have I Ever (student appropriate version would have them bringing a treat like Skittles or Smarties to eat instead of the adult version of drinking 😁)
• Would You Rather
• 2 Truths and a Lie

Class Awards

I’ve done a mixture of different types of awards in my classes before. I’ve done academic achievement awards as well as fun character description awards. The truth is, no matter the type of award, students love receiving them! I like to include a variety of different types because this allows me to be able to highlight the different achievements of ALL my students. Achievements are not always academic in nature and students deserve to have their hard work recognized and validated, whatever it might be.

Some of the awards will be paper certificates that I create using Google Slides and then share with students after it has been awarded. For other achievements, I purchase medallions and trophies from a local business. I will show the students the trophy online when I award the achievement and then will mail out the medallion or trophy for them to have. This has been a part of my program in the past that students have looked forward to.

Awards Ceremony

At the end of the year, I often like to plan a special online awards ceremony for my students where I will virtually present their certificates, diplomas, and trophies. I try to make it a special event by setting up a table in my background that displays all the awards to be presented. I will also put together a special awards-themed Google Slide presentation for the day and be ready with red carpet music and an applause sound effect to play during presentations.

Good-bye messages on FlipGrid

In the past, I have done different types of good-bye messages to students. I have written them emails, mailed out hand-written notes, or filmed a good-bye video that highlights the year and all the things I will miss about each student. However, since using FlipGrid in my classes this past year, I realized what a great tool to use for class good-bye messages. Here students can post videos saying good-bye to their classmates and/or teacher. FlipGrid provides the ability for a teacher to moderate videos so no inappropriate content (ex. bullying) can be posted for others to see.

Digital Escape Room

Digital escape rooms are so much fun! My students have loved the ones I’ve put together for them in our online classes. They’re even more fun when they are planned for virtual end of year activities. There are a number of different ways these can be done online. And there are a number of different tools you can utilize to create them. BreakoutEDU is a great place to start. However, there is a cost involved. GSuite tools are a fantastic FREE way of creating your own. If you’re not sure how, I’ve put together a blog post HERE that uses Google Forms and Google Slides. I will be posting another tutorial soon that shows how to create an escape room using Google Sites.

Bazinga!

I am always on the lookout for activities that will help me make the learning process fun and interesting for my students.  A couple of years ago, I came across this great idea for a review game to play with them called Bazinga. Since I teach my students online, I’ve modified the game slightly to suit our particular needs. It is not only a fantastic review tool but a great game that students get excited about. You can learn more and download my free Google Slides template HERE.

Kahoot!

And finally, what end of the year party would be complete without a game of Kahoot? My students absolutely love this game. At our end of the year party, I will do a summer fun facts Kahoot or one that challenges their knowledge of their teacher – Who Knows Ms. R Best?

The great thing about all of these different virtual end of year activities is that they work online AND in a regular brick and mortar setting. So, no matter where you find yourself next year, these virtual end of year activities can always be used in some way.

What virtual end of year activities are you using this year? Let’s chat in the comments below!