End of the Year Letter Writing Activities for Students

The free end of year letter writing activities for students below are perfect for those final days of school. Whether you’re packing up your room, move to another classroom, building, or district, or finishing that final stack of grading, the end of the year can be stressful and hectic. Keep your students engaged by giving them purposeful and simple (i.e. easy, no-prep!) writing activities. Plus, give yourself some time to complete those last-minute items on your teaching to-do list.

End of Year Letter Writing Activity 1 | Letters to Self

For this letter, students write a letter to their future self. They can include goals, hopes for the future, motivational quotes, and lessons learned from the current year. Think of it as an effective pep-talk when they start the next school year. One aspect of this activity that makes it effective for next year is not holding students’ hands through the writing process. Let them direct their writing, using brainstorm sessions, outlines, and drafts as they see fit. When they read the letters next year, any mistakes or missteps will serve to emphasize the importance of the writing process and a springboard for improvement. After writing and peer editing, keep them for next year. You can set them aside if you have the same students, send them to their teacher(s) next year, or email / mail them at the beginning of next year. The students’ authentic audience will be themselves.

End of Year Letter Writing Activity 2 | Letters to Next Year’s Students

This letter writing activity is especially fun for students – this year and next year. Each student writes a letter of advice about your classroom to an incoming student. Resist the urge to give any limits but remind students it needs to be school appropriate. You might find that many letters take on a “How to Survive Class” lens! The letter to next year’s students was always a hit in my own classroom. Students loved to read advice from their older, wiser peers. Some were short, some were long, some hilarious, and some serious. It was illuminating to read students’ thoughts about the year and their experiences. Purposeful writing does require an audience. And using next year’s students as that group is the perfect way to motivate even the most reluctant writers. Save and print out the letters, and you already have one activity done for the first day back to school. Have more students than letters? Just copy some extras and provide a few students the same one. Have less students than letters? Give each student two letters and have them identify important similarities. Not only is this letter writing activity great for the end of the year, it also creates a perfect introductory activity for next year. Win-win!

End of Year Letter Writing Activity 3 | Thank You Note

Students can research the elements of a thoughtful thank you note, compose one to a parent, guardian, teacher, friend, or any other person, and deliver it. It’s simple; it’s no-prep; it’s meaningful. Another winning combination for any classroom teacher. A lost art? The erosion of manners? An antiquated obligation? No matter your views on thank you notes, the end of the year is the perfect time for students to thank those that made a difference in their lives.

Interested in implementing these activities? Or have a great class doing so? We’d love to hear about it! Comment or drop us a line to tell us how it went.