The last weeks of school are a unique kind of chaos. Your students have completely checked out, state testing is behind you, and there is no way you are starting a new novel with three weeks left. As a middle school teacher, I find that the month of May in an ELA classroom requires a different kind of thinking.
You need activities that feel fresh, keep students actually engaged, and do not require you to reinvent the wheel. These are the end-of-year ELA activities I come back to every May, and I am including a free printable reflection journal that your students will love working on.
Last Day Blues Reader's Theater / Read Aloud Companion
Last Day Blues by Julie Danneberg is a fun picture book that works well as a short read-aloud, even for middle schoolers, who probably get the punchline better than most.
Mrs. Hartwell's class spends the entire story scrambling to find the perfect gift to cheer her up on the last day of school, convinced she will be devastated at saying goodbye. Your students will have a blast voice acting the different roles and laughing together without even realizing how much reading practice they are getting.
I built a reader's theater script and literature toolkit around this book specifically for upper elementary and middle school students. This is the kind of end-of-year ELA activity that feels like a reward but still covers standards. Your students will be reading, discussing, and writing right up until the bell rings.
Check out the Last Day Blues Reader's Theater and Literature Toolkit on TPT.
Sports Close Reading Passages
At this point in the year, learning engagement requires thinking outside the box. I have used these athlete informational text passages for years, and it might be the easiest sales pitch you'll ever make to your sports-obsessed students.
My Sports Reading Bundle includes close reading passages and comprehension activities built around athletes your students already recognize: Patrick Mahomes, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Lamar Jackson, Travis Kelce, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and more. It also includes baseball passages covering topics like the history of bobbleheads and the seventh inning stretch, which you can use as examples of text structure and author's purpose.
The best part is that you can use these passages in multiple ways. Try them for independent work, center time, small group, or even sub plans if you need coverage in those final weeks. Fifteen reading selections means you have more than enough to fill however many days you have left.
Grab the Sports Informational Text Close Reading Bundle on TPT.
FREEBIE: End of Year Reflection Journal
This Memories of My School Year for BIG KIDS is a printable PDF that is so much fun for students! This 13-page NO PREP memory book contains the perfect reflection journal for your students to complete on those last days of the school year. Let them relive the memories while you don't stress about the planning. Your students will love sitting and reflecting on the events and fun of the school year!
The Day the Colored Pencils Resigned Reader's Theater
If your students have read The Day the Crayons Quit at any point in their school career, this one will be a crowd pleaser! My reader's theater script, The Day the Colored Pencils Resigned, builds off the original tale but is designed for middle-grade readers.
This is another one you can pair with a read-aloud of the original book for a longer lesson. Both stories share an important reminder about trying your best, but with genuinely funny characters and plot twists. Your students will have a blast while covering fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and CCSS standards throughout.
Find The Day the Colored Pencils Resigned Reader's Theater on TPT.
Summer ELA Activities Bundle
For teachers who need gap-fillers for multiple days or are teaching summer school, my Summer ELA Activities Bundle gives you everything in one place. It includes summer-themed close-reading passages, journal prompts, baseball close-reading passages with comprehension questions, and a digital and printable summer job-application activity that students really enjoy.
The job application activity is a great unit to reimagine writing practice with real-world writing skills in a format students care about. They get to practice audience awareness, formal language, and persuasive writing without realizing it. It works well as an end-of-year writing project or as a portfolio closer.
Check out the Summer ELA Activities Bundle on TPT.
Experiment and Have Fun with End-of-Year Planning!
The last few weeks are a great time to experiment with lesson plans and activities you might want to use next year. With testing over, you can focus more on engagement metrics than standards when evaluating new learning formats. Some of my best ideas have come from tweaking concepts I tested in the last days of the school year!
Enjoy these final weeks with your students. Keeping them on task will actually make the time go faster, but it doesn't mean you can't have fun! Find the balance that works for you and enjoy your last days together.
