Five Things Your Students Can Do to Help With End of the Year Clean-Up

As the year winds down, I like to recruit my students to help with my end of the year check off list.  I always have things that I like to clean out or do to before I wrap up the year.  I like to leave my classroom feeling clutter-free, organized and clean.  Recruiting students to help is a great way to keep them busy and it gives them a sense of ownership for their classroom they are going to say goodbye to.

1.  Clean Out Pens

This is always a favorite task.  I have my early finishers go through all of my markers (Crayola, dry-erase, sharpies,highlighters, etc).  The test them out to be sure that they still work.  They toss the ones that are almost empty or do not work.

2.  Repair Book Hospital Books

I train some of my responsible students on how to be a book Dr.  They take books from our class book hospital and they repair them.  Disclaimer, I pre-select the ones that they repair.  Some books are beyond the students doctor level, they require a teacher Dr. (me).  I invented in a packaging tape dispenser a few years ago and it is a life saver when it comes to book Dr. work.

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3.  Sort Random Paper

I always accumulate a pile of random colored construction paper.  When I open packs and have some left, I get lazy and have a pile that I just add to.  So by the end of the year, I have a random mixed up pile of colored construction paper.  I have a few of my early finishers sort out the paper into piles of the same color.  They really could sort anything for you.  You always have students who want to help!

4.  Organize the Classroom Library

I have my classroom library pretty organized and I train my students early on how to keep it that way, but they are always stray books.  I recruit some of my students to go through every tub and make sure the correct books are in  each tub.  If there are any labeling stickers missing or falling off, they set them aside for me to fix.

5.  Shaving Cream Desks

A great way to clean off all of the dirt and grime from desks is shaving cream.  Grab some from the dollar stare, spray some of each of your student desks and let your students have at it!  They love it.  It’s a few minutes of crazy laughter and chaos, but you will have clean desks.

Do you have your students help with end of the year pack-up?  What are some activities you have them do to help you out?

Here are five ways students can help with end of the year classroom clean-up.

 

 

 

4 Comments

  1. I teach kindergarten and toys get mixed up into different toy bins. I separate my class into several small groups and give them bins. They take out the things that don’t belong and put them in the correct bins. They love to sit and talk and sort and find the correct bins to put the toys in. I tell them that it’s their mess and they clean it up. I’ve never had a complaint or issue and everything is sorted and put away for the next school year

  2. I have my 2nd graders help take things off the wall and bulletin boards, sort papers to go home, deliver found objects to their original homes (books to the media center) and move all the furniture to the tile!

    Primary on the Prowl

  3. My fourth graders clean the covers of their text books, insides of cubbies, inside and outside of desks, and book boxes with sanitizer wipes before we pack them away for summer. It saves me hours of work before school and takes under an hour of the last day of school.

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