Keeping it Together at the End of the Year

Around this time of year, I start hearing a lot of “Ugh, the kids are just so DONE!  They are lazy and don’t want to learn.”
While this is not always true, often we teachers keep getting told to “do something meaningful” with the students and “keep them engaged” as the year wraps up.  So how does one accomplish this with students who are tired and sick of being tested?  Here are some ideas:
Projects:  
Projects like the Epic History Timeline are great for working on history for the final exam.
If Mythology is something that is on your final, there are zillions of great myth projects.  My students have taken a great liking to the Myth teaching project that I have them do. Working in groups of 1-4 people, they need to pick a myth, research it, write it up in their own words in English, make a visual, make a handout, and teach their myth to the class.  For upper levels, you can have the students translate their myth into Latin and make a Latin visual as well, and even present it in Latin!
If you want a grammar related project, try having the students write a grammar related song and make a music video or have a sing-off.
Composition projects are always terrific for grammar review.  Give the students a topic, or an idea, or StoryCubes, or a few animals and tell them what grammatical structures they need to use in their composition.
Review Work:
Often, getting the students to make the grammar review sheets for the final exams is excellent for keeping the students engaged and practicing their Latin.  You can have students work on their own or in groups.  I really like to make the students who need some practice on a grammatical concept make the review sheet for it.  It takes oversight and guidance, but it really makes the students focus and own their learning.
Games:
Here are some great ideas for review games!
I hope these help for keeping everyone, students and teachers alike, going at the end of the year!  I am always looking for new ideas! What are some ideas that you all use?

More from the CANE blog

Links for the week of 9 September

Dr. Kristina Killgrove speaks about a Roman Dinner at a Science Cafe in Pensacola: http://www.poweredbyosteons.org/2012/09/invitation-to-ancient-roman-dinner.html (If the talk ends up online, we’ll link to it.)

Links for March 7th

At best, they’re in grave danger.  At worst, they’ve already been destroyed.  Will the ancient monuments of Syria and Iraq survive ISIS? Undeterred by the