Endings and Beginnings

The last week of school is upon us and this year I've taken a new approach.  Instead of ending the year with those inevitable filler activities, we decided to utilize the last days of the year to get a jump on the fall. 
I know that next year I will begin the year with a unit on Andy Goldsworthy and the Land Art movement.  I also know that I will be doing a beginning-of-the-year grid drawn portrait project with my older students   So instead of my usual "filler" activity for our last classes, I decide to show the Goldsworthy video "River and Tides". (Love it.)  The video does a great job of introducing concepts related to Land Art.  It also freed up some time for me to photograph my fourth graders.   They'll use the photographs for their portrait project next year.

The kids LOVED the video.  We viewed it in chunks with lots of breaks to discuss the material presented. It feels great to end the year by getting a jump on next year and we're all really excited about trying out these ideas in the fall.

But now it's nearly summer and we're looking forward to that as well.
Thanks for viewing and special thanks for your input and comments.
See you in September.