Where has the year gone?! You may be saying this to yourself as you look at the calendar and realize another school year has come to a close.
The last month of school and especially the last week of school is often a mix of emotions. By this time, you and every other teacher are ready (and deserving) of a BREAK! However, many teachers also feel a bit sad saying goodbye to their students.
While every teacher has their own way of saying farewell to another group of students, one way we always loved was by reading a special book together: A Letter From Your Teacher on The Last Day of School by Shannon Olsen.
A Letter from Your Teacher Books
This book is the sequel to Olsen’s first book. A Letter From Your Teacher on the First Day of School. Another book that we love!
A few things we love about both of these books is that they are written by a fellow educator. Therefore, the essence of the book reflects many of the thoughts and emotions that all of us have felt – both at the beginning and the end of the year.
Moreover, we love the unique way in which these books are written. Rather than a fictional story, each of these books is structured as a heartfelt letter that the teacher reads to their students.
The first book is a letter that welcomes students to a new school year. The letter acknowledges the nervousness and excitement that often accompanies the start of a new school year. To help connect with the students, the teacher shares their own personal anecdotes and reflects on their own first-day experiences.
Now having made those connections, this second book is an opportunity for the teacher to help students reflect on their year together. The teacher does this through a heartfelt letter that serves as a farewell and a reflection on the group’s shared experiences throughout the academic year.
Although these two books are a perfect pair to start and end the year, they do not have to be used together. So, even if you didn’t begin the year with A Letter From Your Teacher on the First Day of School you can still easily use the second book for the end of the school year.
A Letter From Your Teacher Read Aloud
If you have been part of The Core Coaches community for a while now, then you know we are big believers in keeping the learning going up until the very last day. It’s one of the reasons we have created so many engaging end of year activities like our 10 Days to Summer Survival Kit.
Therefore, we encourage you to not only read Shannon Olsen’s book to your students but to take time to explore it in depth. To help you out, we created a complete read aloud to use.
Just like all of our read alouds, this read aloud has lesson plans that cover 3-5 days worth of learning. The perfect number of lessons to take you up to the last bell.
In addition, this read aloud can be used digitally or as a printable. Therefore, continuing to provide you with the choice of how you want to engage your students in the lessons.
Moreover, just like all of our resources – everything is ready-to-teach! So, all you have to do is print or upload the activities and then enjoy spending the last week with your students (minus any stress or extra prep time).
Reading Activities for A Letter From Your Teacher
- Comprehension questions
- Whole group response to text activities
- Response to text worksheets
- Writing pages
- Vocabulary cards and worksheets
- Quiz
- Retelling puppets
- Craftivity template
End of Year Read Alouds
Whether you choose to read A Letter From Your Teacher on the Last Day of School with your students on the last day of school or a couple of weeks before, we know that your students will enjoy spending time reading this book with you to close the year.
If you choose to read this closer to that last day of school and find you need additional books leading up to that time, check out some of our other read alouds. Below are some of our favorites for the end of the school year.
In addition, we have shared some of our favorite titles to begin the school year. There is definitely NO rush to start planning back to school.
Go and enjoy your summer! And, when you are ready to start thinking about that first week of school – come back and explore some of these great titles to kick off the year with.
Kid’s Books for the End of the School Year
- Last Day Blues
- When It’s The Last Day of School
- What Do You Do With an Idea?
- Fly Guy Presents Sharks
- Not Quite a Narwhal
