During the last week of school, it’s both meaningful and fun for students to reflect on what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown during the year. I created the School Year Reflections freebie below to use with my students; if you like it, feel free to download it and use it in your own classroom.
My School Year Reflections printable includes seven writing prompts that ask students to reflect on what they learned, to describe the best part of the year, to share about an accomplishment that makes them proud, and so on. I provided class time for this activity rather than sending it home because I wanted my students to write thoughtful and complete answers.
I loved reading my students’ reflections because their words helped me understand what they felt was most important about our year together. Often they would mention a lesson that I had completely forgotten about, and I would make a note to be sure to include that activity the following year. This information also helped me create a more meaningful end-of-the-year Powerpoint presentation to show on the last day of school.
If you create a class yearbook, you could include the forms in the yearbook, with your students’ permission of course. If you’ve never done this, read my Classroom Yearbook project blog post for the full details. Each student creates a page for the yearbook, and these forms could be glued onto the backs of their pages.
Create Your Own School Year Reflections
If you’ve already downloaded my School Year Reflections printable, you might have noticed that the second page includes blank thought bubbles where you can write in your own questions or writing prompts. If you need ideas for reflection questions, click over to the Minds in Bloom blog and read Rachel Lynette’s 20 End of the Year Reflection Questions. You might even leave one of the bubbles blank and ask your students to add their own question or writing prompt and then answer it!
What are your favorite reflection questions to use with your students? Have you used any that are not listed here?
