April 30th, 2024

As the school year comes to a close, it can be challenging to keep students engaged and motivated. However, with some creative end-of-the-year projects, you can keep your students on task and excited about their learning. In this three-part blog post, we will share a few easy-to-implement project ideas, how to continue to deploy learning studios while the students are working on projects, and some creative AI tools that can help unmotivated students work through their projects.

Part One: ​Five Ideas for End-of-the-Year Projects.

1. Collaborative Reflection Project: Have your students reflect on their learning from the past year and create a collaborative project as a class. This could be a mural, a video, or a presentation that showcases their best work and demonstrates what they have learned.

2. Personalized Learning Plan: Encourage your students to set goals for the summer and create a personalized learning plan. This could include reading lists, online courses, or other learning activities that align with their interests and goals.

3. Community Service Project: Give your students the opportunity to make a positive impact in their community by organizing a service project. This could be a park cleanup, a food drive, or another initiative that addresses a need in the community.

Click here to grab a copy of the poster!

​4. Passion Project: Allow your students to pursue a project that aligns with their passions and interests. This could be a research project, a creative writing piece, or something else entirely. By giving them the freedom to explore their interests, you can help them stay motivated and engaged.

5. Digital Portfolio: Have your students create a digital portfolio that showcases their best work from the past year. This could include writing samples, artwork, or other projects that demonstrate their growth and progress.

By incorporating these end-of-the-year projects into your curriculum, you can help your students stay engaged and motivated while also providing opportunities for them to reflect on their learning and pursue their passions.

Part Two: Deploying Projects with Learning Studios

As you prepare to execute an end-of-year project, consider creating learning studios to help break down the project into manageable parts. Chunking the project will enable the students to manage their time more efficiently. Additionally, the teacher can still conduct small groups to ensure that the students are grasping the standards aligned with the project and to authenticate the learning process. You can find sample learning studios and ideas in the project checklist. For the project template, click on this link.

Small Group Instruction During Projects 

Explore the different small group lessons that support the end of the year projects. 

Independent practices activities that allows for implementation of the standards and time for the students to research and work on their project outlines. 

Click on the photo to grab a copy of this checklist and the checklist template. 

The Digital Content Studio provides choice in learning options that connect the standards and the end of the year project together. 

Click on the photo to grab a copy of this checklist and the checklist template. ​

Place the End-of-the-year project as part of the Future Ready Studio.  Remember to chunk the project to help keep the students motivated and to encourage collaboration. 

​Part Three: AI Creation Tools

It's difficult to write a blog post or newsletter without mentioning the incredible AI tools that make learning easier. Today, I want to highlight creation tools that can aid in Differentiated Instruction for all students, encourage them to try new things, and assist with project creation.

Pictory.ai 

One thing I appreciate about Pictory.ai is that students can easily transform their writing, reports, or scripts into professional-looking videos in a matter of minutes. In today's world of short videos, I think students would enjoy taking a portion of their project and turning it into a short clip or reel that they can share with classmates, friends, or even family members.

Click the Photo to download the PDF! 

Riffit

Riffit is an exciting tool that allows students to turn any written text into a hip-hop, country, or rock song. This fun application is perfect for the end-of-year project, as students can transform their essays into catchy, musical compositions to share with their class or friends. With Riffit, students can unleash their creativity and become the next mix master!

Slidesgpt

As an instructional coach with years of experience in the classroom, I have observed that slide presentations are the most popular project format used by students. While the content of the project is the most important aspect, the design elements can help to enhance it. However, some students struggle with organizing their ideas and putting them down on paper, which is where SlidesGPT comes in handy. With SlidesGPT, creating an end-of-year project becomes easy and convenient. Give SlidesGPT a try and see how it can help you generate a starting point for your project.

Magic Studio with Canva

If students are struggling to start their projects, they can use Magic Studio from Canva. First, they should write down a few keywords that they want to focus on for their project. They can then use Magic Studio to create posters, brochures, slides, and more. Magic Studio will help them transform their initial keywords into a polished project.

Storly.ai

​Take creative writing to the next level with this story creation generator, storly.ai. Storly.ai uses AI-generated prompts to help students to create stories to share.

Snorkl.ai

​While the students are working through the end-of-the-year projects, design check-ins with snorkel.ai to ensure that their project is going as planned and to authenticate the learning.