Rounding the Final Stretch

I can't believe it.  My first year of teaching is coming to a close!  Only four days left!  It went by so quickly and while part of me is starting to get nostalgic and mushy, another, REALLY BIG part of me is ready to say sayonara! I've been spending a good part of the last few days cleaning up my room and packing things away.  I've also been trying to come up with the perfect end of the year gift for my dear friends.

I've decided to do a few things.  First, I used my points from the Scholastic book orders to order all of them a new book.  At least I'm encouraging them to read, even if they don't do it!  I am also taking a few ideas I found from other blogs and making each of them a word cloud with adjectives describing them on Wordle.  Today I gave each student a class list and had them write an adjective for each person.  I can't wait to see how these turn out.

We did our award ceremony today and each student received a certificate honoring their special talents and abilities!  Third grade is never the year for a promotion ceremony, but I decided that I'm going to print out promotion certificates and give them out on the last day of school.  My friends are so worried about going to fourth grade! I attached the document I created in case you're interested in customizing it for your own.

Promotion to Fourth Grade Certificate

What is something fun/special that you do for your friends at the end of the year?