How to Keep Math and Literacy Engaging When Students Are Checked Out -

It’s May. You’re tired. Your students are tired. The days are longer, the routines are looser, and no matter how great your lesson plans are, it feels like everyone is checked out for summer.

The good news? If you keep some routine in place and incorporate some fun into your days, the kids will stay engaged.

Let’s talk about some easy ways to keep math and literacy fun and meaningful when kids (and teachers) are mentally on summer break.

Play Games to Review

When attention spans are short, games can do what a worksheet just can’t. Grab attention and hold it.

You can play games, do activities like scavenger hunts, or have fast-paced vocabulary review.

Your students will think they’re just playing instead of reviewing skills.

Some of my favorites for this time of year are:

Bingo games that have a fun twist to review math skills you’ve taught all year.
Scavenger hunts that get kids moving and reviewing skills like context clues.
Blooket is a free website where teachers can create or use ready-made question sets to host fast-paced, game-style quizzes that keep students engaged while reviewing skills.

Boost End-of-Year Test Prep Motivation

Reading test prep is a big part of the end of the year. You’re reviewing all the strategies you’ve taught so they’re fresh in your students’ minds before they take their assessments.

But by this point in the year, both kids and teachers are tired. Traditional, boring test prep just isn’t as effective anymore.

This is especially true for reading, where students are expected to tackle long passages and answer questions that require deep thinking.

Instead of sticking with the same old routines, turn test prep into a motivational activity by adding a game element as you review reading skills.

A little competition or a fun challenge can make test prep feel a lot less dreary.

Give Kids Choice

Giving students options in what and how they review the skills of the year can instantly boost buy-in.

Instead of assigning the same task to everyone, try:

A reading or writing choice board with activities like “Write a letter to your future self,” or “Create a new ending for your favorite book.”
A math menu where students choose between fact fluency, puzzles, or word problem challenges.

Depending on how many tasks you come up with, you can create a menu for the week or the month and prep everything all at once.

Then you don’t have to worry about coming up with lessons or activities every day.

Avoid Lengthy Lessons

At this point in the year, attention spans are short, and that’s completely normal.

Instead of trying to force long lessons, aim for quick, focused bursts of learning that keep students moving and thinking.

15-Minute Mini-Lessons
(Review + quick activity + fast wrap-up)
Partner Work
(Turn-and-talks, buddy games, or partner problem solving)
Whiteboards and Sticky Notes
(Fast answers, exit tickets, or quick-write prompts)
Outdoor Learning
(Read outside, solve math problems with sidewalk chalk, or hold a vocabulary scavenger hunt)
Create Math Stories
(Have students write short stories where characters solve math challenges.)
Movement Breaks
(Switch spots after each task, quick brain breaks between mini-lessons)

Low-Prep Activities

This time of year is busy for teachers. (More than usual anyways.) You need resources that are easy to prep and require minimal explanation.

Now’s the time to do low-prep, high-engagement activities that let your students practice important skills while you save your energy for the million other things happening this time of year.

Here are some low-prep ideas:

Print-and-Go Games for Review
Choose math or literacy games that you can just print and set up, like a breakout scavenger hunt. You just print the task cards and recording sheet, set up the activity, and let students go.

Literacy or Math Centers That Don’t Require Reteaching
Stick to centers with directions your students already know. Rotate in fresh content (like new word sorts, quick comprehension passages, or task cards), but keep the structure familiar so kids can work independently.
Partner Activities That Keep Students Accountable
Think partner reading challenges, math problem races, or collaborative writing tasks. Pair students up, give them a clear goal, and let them help each other stay focused, without needing you to constantly manage every step.

Keeping kids engaged at the end of the year doesn’t have to be complicated.

Playing review games, offering choices, keeping lessons short, and leaning on low-prep activities, can help you make the last weeks of school meaningful and manageable.

You can grab any of the resources mentioned in this store in my TpT store or in my website shop.