Engaging End-of-the-Year Activities for Middle and High School

The end of the school year brings its own set of challenges. You’ve wrapped up your curriculum and submitted final grades, but the school year isn’t quite over. Students are still in your classroom, and they’re still yours to teach. You need meaningful, engaging end-of-the-year activities that won’t lead to you playing behavior whack-a-mole those last few days.

Here’s a list of end-of-year activities that work well for middle and high school classrooms. Some are reflective, some review-based, and others more open-ended or project-based. Use the quick-view table below to navigate what works for your time, energy, and goals.

Reflective & Independent Activities

End-of-Year Reflection

Students respond to prompts about their growth, challenges, and learning highlights from the year. Prompts can include: What assignment pushed you the most? What skill are you proud of? What surprised you this year?

In Action: You’ll often get thoughtful and even emotional responses. It’s a great way to end the year on a meaningful note, and it gives you useful insight for the future.

If you’d like to try this activity, check out this helpful resource.

Letter to Next Year’s Student

Students write a letter to a future student taking your class. Prompt them to include: favorite assignments, important rules to follow, classroom tips, and things they wish they’d known at the beginning.

In Action: These letters can be printed and handed out next fall—students love reading peer advice, and it builds a sense of continuity year over year.

If you’re interested in doing this activity with your students, here’s a resource to get you started.

Goal/Grade Reflection

If students wrote goals earlier in the year, have them revisit and reflect on those goals. What progress did they make? What challenges did they face? What surprised them?

In Action: Students often enjoy seeing how far they’ve come, and this reflection ties the year together in a way grades alone can’t.

Course Evaluation

I hesitated to use course evaluations (who wants to open themselves up to student complaints?) until I discovered questions that elicited actionable feedback. The truth is that students are uniquely positioned to offer accurate feedback on a teacher’s assignments, policies, and the overall classroom experience. This can be done via paper or Google Forms using multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

Using ChatGPT for Evaluation Analysis:

If your course evaluation uses open-ended questions, copy the anonymous responses into a Google Doc or spreadsheet and paste the text into ChatGPT. Use this prompt:

“Analyze these student responses for recurring themes. List the top 10 most common trends, highlight any unique or surprising feedback, and identify ideas that could improve instruction next year.“

In Action: You may spot patterns you hadn’t noticed, and you’ll save hours by using AI to sort through them.

To access a ready-made course evaluation and student survey, click here!

Portfolio

Have students gather key assignments from the year and write short reflections on them. Prompts might include: Which piece shows the most growth? Which one are you most proud of? Which assignment challenged you the most?

In Action: This only works if you know students have their work.  If you’ve done binder checks or kept their work organized throughout the year, this is a great assignment because it creates a clear visual of academic progress.

Vision Board

Students set goals for the next school year in areas like academics, activities, and personal development. Using magazines, drawings, or online image tools, they design a collage to reflect their goals, and write one actionable step to start.

In Action: This is on the lighter side and removes your course from their reflection, making it a colorful, energizing end-of-year activity.

If you’d like to try a digital Vision Board with your students, take a look at this resource.

If you prefer to make this more of an art project, here is a paper-based Vision Board activity.

End of the Year Review Games

Tic Tac Toe

Teams take turns answering review questions to place an X or O on a category-based Tic Tac Toe board. Include several boards for different categories (e.g., vocabulary, concepts, historical dates).

In Action: Students stay focused because their team is counting on them. Movement and competition keep energy high.

Trivia or Jeopardy

An oldie but still popular!  Create a review game with categories and point values. Divide students into teams and compete to answer questions correctly. Works best for fact-based content.

In Action: Works well on days when students are antsy but still want structure. Add prizes or incentives for motivation.

Create a Test

Students write their review questions in groups using your key concepts or a provided study guide. Questions can include multiple-choice, short-answer, and longer responses.

In Action: Students review the material deeply by thinking like the teacher. They can even take each other’s quizzes the next day.

Project-Based Learning

Inquiry Project

Students explore a big, open-ended question tied to your subject (e.g., “What makes a government effective?” or “How do we define progress?”). They develop sub-questions, research, and present their findings.

In Action: Great for students who thrive on independence. This works best with clear checkpoints and teacher feedback along the way.

Check out this resource with everything you need for a successful inquiry project for any subject.  (All student handouts are included.)

Problem-Based Project

Start with a real-world problem (e.g., food insecurity, pollution in the local river). Students research their background, past solutions, and develop their own.

In Action: These projects often spark authentic engagement, especially if students see a connection to their own lives or communities.

Cross-Curricular Project

Have students blend your subject with another discipline (e.g., combining math and social studies to analyze data trends). Include research, creativity, and analysis.

In Action: These are ideal for creative students and can lead to really original work. Consider offering topic options or allowing students to propose their own blends.

Wrapping It Up

The last weeks of school can be tricky, but they’re also an opportunity. With the right activities, you can keep students engaged, reflect on the year, and send them off into the summer.

The end of the year is also the perfect low-stakes time to try something new. Students are more flexible, the pressure is lower, and in a few short weeks, they’ll all be gone. If you’ve been curious about trying something more student-centered or creative, now’s your moment.

Try one or two ideas from this list and see how your students respond. And if you’re looking for ready-to-use student handouts for some of these ideas, check us out on TeachersPayTeachers!

What’s your go-to end-of-year activity? Share in the comments—we’d love to add it to our next list!

Brad has taught history at the middle and high school levels for 19 years, almost exclusively in American public schools.  He holds a master’s in educational technology and is passionate about elevating the status of professional educators.