Hey there, teacher friends!
Keeping Students Engaged Over the Summer, It’s definitely a hard topic!
As the school year comes to a close and summer break approaches, teachers may worry about their students losing the momentum they have built up during the academic year.
However, with the right approach, teachers can help ensure that their students stay engaged and motivated throughout the summer.
In this post, we’ll discuss some strategies teachers can use to keep students engaged during the summer period of school.
Exciting Community Outings and Learning Opportunities
There are many ways to keep students engaged over the summer while incorporating community outings and learning opportunities.
Visiting a local museum, participating in a community service project, taking a nature walk, attending a farmer’s market, touring a local landmark, or attending a cultural festival are all great options.
These activities can provide students with opportunities to learn, however sometimes this is not always possible.
I have created a task card set for class to learn about different community places this summer period. This is great for helping special education students learn about important places in their community, whilst still being in a classroom environment.
Encourage Summer Reading
Reading is a great way for students to stay engaged and learning during the summer months.
Encourage your students to read for pleasure by providing them with a list of recommended books, hosting a book club, or creating a summer reading challenge.
You could also ask students to keep a reading journal where they record what they read and reflect on what they learned.
Create a Summer Writing Project
Another way to keep students engaged over the summer is to create a writing project.
This could be anything from a daily journal to a research project on a topic of their choosing.
Encourage students to share their work with their classmates or even create a class blog or social media page where everyone can share their writing.
Set Up Online Learning Opportunities
Online learning opportunities can provide a great way for students to stay engaged during the summer.
Consider setting up a class website or blog where students can access learning materials, participate in online discussions, or complete quizzes and assignments.
You could also provide links to educational websites like TedEd or use your class Dojo messaging to its full advantage.
Outdoor Activities
Take science experiments outside, study the local ecosystem by collecting samples of soil, water, and plant life, or observe the behavior of insects and birds.
Plant a school garden and learn about plant life cycles, soil composition, and gardening techniques.
Take physical education classes outside, including team sports, yoga, or fitness activities.
Take art and music classes outside, with outdoor drawing or painting sessions or outdoor music performances.
These outdoor activities can provide a fun and engaging learning experience for students while also taking advantage of the natural environment, and help students develop a sense of curiosity, creativity, and appreciation for the outdoors.
Click on the link to find out more about this visual Community Task Card Bundle
Bulletin Board Shops
We love using our bulletin board – life skills shop tasks in class. ????️
They are sooooo visual in learning simple addition and calculating prices of items. We have real life bulletin board images with prices (various shops created each month) and display them on our classroom whiteboard. This gives life skills to our classroom and has students order from a real classroom shop! ???? A great activity for this summer!
Click on the link to find out more about this visual Summer bulletin board
Thank You! ❤️
Thanks for hanging out with us! We hope you found this post helpful to both you and your special students.
Be sure to check us out when it comes to special education teaching resources and ideas, The Special Education Studio is where it’s at.
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