
The end of the year is such an exciting time. I’m so proud of my students and the growth they’ve made. I’ve come to love them each for the unique things they bring to our classroom… and I‘m so ready for sleeping in and sunny days at the beach! The end of the year reminds me of the back-to-school buzz that happens each August, and I can never decide which time of the year fills me with more anticipation.
That’s why I’m so excited to share my newest little creation with you. It’s a cute classroom ABC book template that ties the end of the year to the beginning of the year. I’ve made these books with my students for several years, but just now cleaned the pages up enough to share with you {I’m slowly but surely going through my resources!}.
I have my current third graders write a page (or two) to next year’s incoming third graders. Students can share favorite classroom events (museum field trips, auctions, Fultzopoly), things they’ve learned (multiplication, genres), or classroom routines (no name jar). The choice really is up to each student. Then I assemble the pages into alphabetical order and bind the book.
Each student takes his or her last turn in the author chair to read a page to the class. After that, I tuck the book away and save it for my new class. They love hearing it on the first day of school! It leads into classroom routine discussions and excitement for all the things they’ll get to do as third graders. After that, I put the book in our “student author” basket of our classroom library for students to enjoy rereading throughout the year.
I know the end of the year wiggles can get a little crazy, but this project is one that always helps hold it together in those last few days of writing workshop. If you want to grab my templates, you can find them in my TpT store.
Ahhh… Summer is in sight. Hang in there, teacher friends!

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Amber 🙂
Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher
Whast a great idea!!!
Kim
First Grade Journal
Great idea!!
Super cute! Love this idea!
Ms. Smith
Adventures of Ms. Smith
Thanks! =)