End of the Year Reflection Activities for Upper Elementary and Middle School

The end of the school year is an exciting time for students. Last days are filled with fun activities, field days, performances, and more. It’s also a great time to reflect and remember student achievements. Here are some activities you can do with students to celebrate this year’s milestones and accomplishments.

Illustrated Timeline

Take a walk down memory lane with a timeline activity. Students can fill the timeline with important lessons, activities, awards, and events that took place throughout the year. Click the link below to download a free printable and digital template to use for this activity.

​Free Timeline Template | Printable & Digital

Reflection Survey

A survey or questionnaire will give students an opportunity to reflect on achievements and challenges. When finished, add them to student portfolios or share with parents. I’ve listed a few questions below that will work well for your survey. Click here for more.

• What was your favorite thing about this school year?
• What was your least favorite thing about this school year?
• What was one challenge or obstacle you faced this year?
• What is something you were proud to accomplish this year?
• What is something from this year you will miss?
• What is something you learned this year?
• What are you looking forward to next year?

Student Speech

Give students one more opportunity to practice speaking and listening skills. Use the reflection survey mentioned above to help students create a one-minute reflection speech about the year. An end of the year award speech also works well for this purpose.

End of the Year Award Speech

Thank You Notes

This is a great time for students to acknowledge friends, family members, coaches, and teachers who were encouraging, helpful, and/or supportive this year. This activity will give students a chance to reflect and practice writing skills. If you need thank you notes, I like this set on Amazon. It includes 100 thank you cards with different colors and designs.

Class Book

Students can work in groups to create a class book. Assign each group a different activity from the year. Students can write about the activity, draw pictures, interview each other, make videos, etc. When finished, groups can present their book pages to the class in chronological order.

“Year in Review” Brochure

Inspire creativity and reflection with a brochure activity. Each brochure panel can represent something different about the school year like field trips, projects, books, friends, sports, advice, etc. Click the link below to see how you can design your own brochure for this project!

​Editable Brochure Templates 

“This is a great resource. It is very user friendly. I was able to create a customized brochure template for my students in minutes. Lots of options!! I plan on using this resource for years to come. Thank you!” Jessica D.

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