[00:00:00] Kirsten: Hello there and welcome back to the Social Studies Teacher Podcast. Today we are going to be talking about something I'm sure we all look forward to each year, and that is the last week of school. By this time of year, both you and your students are probably counting down the days until summer break, but instead of letting the week drift into chaos,

[00:01:10] why not keep students engaged with some fun and meaningful social studies activities? In this episode, I'm gonna be sharing with you five simple, interactive and low prep social studies activities that will help wrap up the school year with a nice little neat bow while reinforcing some key skills.

[00:01:28] These activities work for upper elementary students and can be done in short time blocks, making them the perfect thing to do for the unpredictable last week of school. So let's dive into some easy, engaging ideas. The first activity idea I have for you is to think about where they live. So that is the name of the activity because I mean, do your students actually know where they live?

[00:01:56] This can help students solidify their understanding of geography. By having them identify their home address, their city that they live in, county, state, country, and the zip code. It's very surprising. You may or may not be surprised how many students don't fully know these details, even at the ages of nine through 11 or 12.

[00:02:19] So here's how to do this. You can create a worksheet or a blank chart with different levels of geographic information, you can have a street address, city, county, state, country, zip code, or even just do it in the order, such as if you're going to mail a letter where you've got the street address, city, comma, state, zip code, country, and somewhere adding in the county as well, but have students fill out their own chart or you can make a class display with everyone's locations if you wanna do that.

[00:02:53] Challenge them to find their location on a map, either using an Atlas, classroom wall map, or Google Maps. Take it even further by having them compare their locations to others in the class. Who lives in the same city or same county or has the same zip code or street, depending on where they might be living geographically.

[00:03:17] So this simple but practical geography lesson can connect directly to students' lives. It's very helpful. Also, just in a very worst case scenario situation, it's good for them to know where they live. Plus, it is a very great way to review key geography skills before summer break. Activity. Idea number two is classroom time capsule.

[00:03:39] This is a reflective activity that also teaches historical preservation and even primary sources, if you wanna throw that in as well. Students are going to be documenting their school year, leaving behind a snapshot for future students or even their future selves. So here's how to do this activity. You can give students a worksheet or a journal page with prompts such as

[00:04:05] my favorite memory from this school year was, or the biggest thing I learned in social studies was, and even one event from this year that future students should know about is blank. You could even pop in, you know, different current events that happen during the year, such as maybe, oh yeah, in November, in this school year, the presidential election occurred, or this activity occurred,

[00:04:31] we did this really great fun school event. Have students add drawings and newspaper clippings or classroom photos if possible. Then you're placing everything in a sealed envelope or a container labeled. Do not open until blank. You could say, do not open until 2026. Or even if they are in elementary school and you have access to their fifth grade teachers, you can say, do not open until the year that they graduate from elementary school. And store it in a classroom cabinet,

[00:05:03] or you can pass it to next year's teacher to share in the future. So you could do this either way where you're passing it along to the next teacher. This is great if you have a smaller school and there's only maybe one or two classes in that school. Or you could do it so that the current class that you have is leaving a message to the class that you're going to have next year.

[00:05:27] So they may or may not see it next year, but if you do this, if you continue doing this, the current class will look forward to seeing the previous class from last year that you had, as well as being to create a time capsule for the future class that you might have next year.

[00:05:44] That's something really fun and it ties historical record keeping and gets students thinking about how we preserve history for future generations. All right, the third activity I have for you is called historical figure Headbands Game. So this is just a fun way to review key figures in history that you might have taught throughout the year in a fun and lighthearted way.

[00:06:08] So here's how to do this. It's super easy. You can write out, just literally get some sticky notes and write the names of famous historical figures on index cards. And you could even print out paper if you wanted, you know, print out photos of them, like online and kind of glue it on the sticky note or glue it on the index cards.

[00:06:29] Some examples include George Washington, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. Susan B. Anthony. And you can have students pair up or form small groups. One student is gonna place a historical figure card on their forehead without looking at it or somebody else can do it.

[00:06:50] But basically the other students are giving clues about the historical figure without saying their name. So one example is like they could say you were the first president of the United States, or you helped enslaved individuals escape to freedom. And the student with a card on their forehead tries to guess who they are based on the clues.

[00:07:12] Rotate turns and keep playing. Another alternative to play this is putting it on their backs. So you'd have to make enough for each student, but you would write the names of the historical figures, or you can have just like a photo of them with their name and print it out, cut it out, and everybody gets one.

[00:07:31] They cannot see it and it's taped on their back. And they also are going around asking questions, and they have to figure out who they are. And while they're figuring out who they are, other people are asking questions as well. So it's a fun way to kind of mix and mingle and find out which historical figure they are.

[00:07:53] And same idea where they cannot say their name. They have to, you know, give clues or they can ask questions. So they could say, was I a president? Did I live during the civil war? Or, was I a part of the Texas Revolution in some way? So that is a fun thing that you could do that is pretty lighthearted and it's memorable.

[00:08:19] It's a great way for a low-key but meaningful review at the end of the year. Number four is a summer road trip plan. So this is another way to combine geography is planning a summer road trip.Even if students are not traveling this summer, this activity can help them apply map skills, budgeting, and geography knowledge in a fun and creative way.

[00:08:45] So here's how to do this activity. Have students choose a US destination that they would love to visit, something that's on their bucket list. Give them a blank map of the United States and have them plot their starting point and destination. Think about which states they would drive through.

[00:09:03] Estimate the total miles traveled, and also pick a fun landmark or attraction to visit along the way. And even challenge them to create a simple travel budget. How much would gas cost, how much for hotels or food? They can research on, a major airliner or expedia.com if you want them to do that

[00:09:25] or even, TripAdvisor looking up hotels and restaurants in the area that they would wanna try based on different cuisine or what's highly rated and different activities they would want to do as well. So. Just kind of to recap that, give them a US destination, give them a map of the United States,

[00:09:44] they've got to plot their starting point, destination, where they would drive and where they would stop, estimate total miles traveled, how long it would take, what they would do there, and then challenging them. Give them a budget, maybe $5,000 or $3,000. Thinking about what would they pay for?

[00:10:03] Where would they stay, what food would they eat, what activities they would do. So you could really make this just the United States, or you can expand it to maybe a destination to the world that would be a little bit more complex. So it might be good to start with just what they're, you know, familiar with, with the country, or if you've done Texas history or your state's history, you can always just say, pick a destination in our state that you would want to visit.

[00:10:29] You can go from there. This is a great way to combine math, geography, and research skills while also getting students excited about travel, even if they may not be going there for the summer. The last activity that I think would be really fun is to interview a classmate or family member. We want to bring social studies and storytelling together, and what better way to do that is with a fun interview with a family member or a classmate.

[00:10:58] Students are going to act like historians or be historians, literally be historians and interview somebody about their past experiences. Whether it's a classmate or a teacher, maybe you might volunteer yourself or a family member. So here is how to do this activity. Pair students to interview each other about their school year, or you can assign them to interview a family member about a past event.

[00:11:23] Give them a set of guiding questions such as what was your favorite memory from this school year? What was school like for your parents or your grandparents? What important historical event do they remember? How has life changed from when they were a kid? To now? Have students record their responses in a journal or even on video, they could do a video interview

[00:11:49] if technology allows, you could even do like a Zoom call if that's something that is possible. And then you could hold a storytelling showcase where students share one cool fact they learned from their interview, one or more, one or two or three facts, and you can have them write it out. This is a really great activity to help students practice interviewing and listening and critical thinking skills, while also making those real world connections to history.

[00:12:18] So to wrap up these five fun and easy social studies activities to wrap up the school year, we've got number one, where do you live? Just a quick personal geography review, knowing their address, state, city, zip code, all the fun stuff. Number two, classroom time capsule. Preserving those memories and history and passing it along to the next grade level or to the next class that you have.

[00:12:44] Number three, historical figure headbands game. This is a fun way to review historical figures. Number four, summer road trip planning. You've got a fun geography challenge where they've got to pick a destination of their choice and they have to find how much it would cost, which states they would go through and all that good stuff.

[00:13:04] And then number five, interview a classmate or a family member. This is a great storytelling and history connection project. That could be just in your class where you pair up students, or it could be expanded to family members that they may be able to interact with and talk to at home. All of these five activities will help keep your students engaged, reinforce key concepts, and make the last week of school meaningful without requiring a ton of prep on your end.

[00:13:31] Before you head into summer break, I would love to hear from you. I wanna know which of these activities would you try or maybe not try and do you have a favorite end of year social studies activity that is your go-to something you cannot leave the school year without doing so, I'd love to hear about it.

[00:13:50] Send me a message on social media at the Southern Teach, or you could even leave a comment on my blog under this same post that you're listening to here@thesouthernteach.com slash blog. So thank you for tuning in. As always, happy teaching. I will talk to you again next week.