Mark the end of the year with graduation-themed activities, tailored to your students' interests and maturity level. For example, for a fun twist on caps and gowns, pass out colorful "butterfly wings," made from decorated cardboard. Have each student pass through a small pop-up tent, designated as the pupa, to mark their passage from third grader to fourth grader. Extend the theme outdoors with a variation on flag football in which students reach for the butterfly wings. Tie in a science lesson with a lesson on butterfly life cycles. Instead of any testing on the material, hold a game show-style quiz.
Adapt recent material to a fun treasure hunt activity for an end-of-year event that's as entertaining as it is informative. Hide clues around the classroom or, if weather permits, around the school's ball field or playground. Break the students into teams and require that each group work together to solve the clues. To create the clues, pull material from past quizzes and tests. For example, for a geometry-related clue, write: "I am like a square, but only two of my lines are parallel and two are the same length. Count out the letters of my name and you'll find me on that shelf of the bookcase." If students correctly identify a rhombus, they will look on the seventh shelf.
Have students partner up to create illustrated comic book versions of the past year. Alternately, divide students into larger groups so that each individual is responsible for a smaller section of the story. To tie the whole class together, you can even divide the year into months and assign each group one month-long segment in the full story.
Let your students express themselves and work together to create end-of-year performances in the style of television shows or commercials. At the beginning of the day, break students into small groups and have each group write, co-direct and star in their own segment. In the afternoon, have the groups perform while taping the whole thing. Send the whole program to students so they can enjoy their performances in the future and have a memento of the class.