As we approach the end of the school year, our focus shifts to planning for the Extended School Year. Whether you’ll be guiding familiar faces or meeting a new group of students, your foundational strategies can stay largely the same. Below you will read about different subjects to work on during ESY, routines you should keep the same, and keep scrolling for a FREE SCOPE & SEQUENCE to help you organize for ESY!

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IF YOU HAVE NEW STUDENTS

Or you are subbing in a classroom that is new to you, you are not alone. Many teachers face the challenge of working with new students during ESY, making it difficult to find the right activities in a short timeframe. Use this opportunity to get to know your students with engaging, relationship-building activities.

Below are some interest questions with visuals and real images designed to spark conversations about recreation, leisure, and future goals, like where students want to live or who they want to live with. These activities can also serve as informal assessments for transition planning.

Here are some activities you can use remotely:

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KEEP WORKING ON THOSE IEP GOALS

Remember, the core purpose of ESY is to prevent regression – and while adding summer themes can make sessions more engaging, the real priority is supporting student growth. If you can mix in some fun, that’s wonderful, but don’t worry if familiar routines are the best path to progress.

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STICK TO A MORNING ROUTINE

Start your meeting or day off by going over the date, and weather, checking in on how your students are feeling…etc.  Check out another blog post to get ideas on activities for your morning routine here.

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CURRENT EVENTS

Keeping up with current events is a powerful way to connect learning to the real world, and it works year-round. While CNN10 is a fantastic option during the school year, it usually takes a break over the summer. Don’t worry – there are still plenty of great resources for reading and discussing current news. Click the post below for a list of recommended sites.

Kid & Student Friendly Current Events Video & Article Websites

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HOUSEHOLD CHORES

Many everyday chores are perfect for building essential life and job skills, offering a practical alternative to work experience during summer breaks. These tasks are not only great for practicing motor skills, but they also help students develop the ability to follow multi-step directions – a critical part of independent living.

For those assigning these tasks as homework, be sure to provide parents with the visuals and materials they need to effectively support their child’s learning at home.

Help your students build essential life skills with classroom jobs or household chores posters and comprehension worksheets. These tools offer simplified descriptions, including the job’s purpose, required skills, necessary tools or supplies, and a self-assessment scale. They also come with a symbol-supported task analysis version, perfect for students who thrive with visual supports.

Pair this with the Life Skills Homework Choice Board Freebie to give students the freedom to choose a new skill to practice each day or week. This approach not only builds independence but also helps students discover their strengths and preferences.

 

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HOME & COMMUNITY VOCABULARY (AKA LIFE SKILLS VOCAB)

Check out functional vocabulary activities here.

If you don’t typically teach life skills, ESY is the perfect time to throw in some independent living skills lessons!  Before you dive deep into any lesson, make sure your students have the foundational skills and are familiar with the vocabulary words associated with each area. Some areas include:

cooking, kitchen, cleaning, grooming, community signs, workplace signs, grocery store items, and more!

 

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READING ENVIRONMENTAL PRINT

If your students have mastered identifying vocabulary, move on to the functional reading of common environmental print.  These are things you commonly see in the community or in the home that involve reading in order to retrieve important or necessary information.  Environmental print can include:

reading utility bills, nutrition labels, pay stubs, restaurant menus, weather forecasts, grocery store ads, recipes, advertisements, and more!

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COMMUNITY SKILLS

Right now is an ideal time to reinforce the skills that make Community-Based Instruction (CBI) meaningful. Practicing these abilities in the classroom first can build the confidence and independence students need to thrive in the community. Some great skills to focus on include:

• Home & Community Safety – Identify signs in the community or workplace as well as their meanings. If your students are at a higher level, you can do lessons and discussions on internet safety, travel & community safety, and home safety. Here are some digital activities to use in this area:

• Etiquette (Behavior do’s & don’ts) – Practice the different scenarios and social skills students will encounter in the community!  You can have discussions about what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior, hold mock scenarios over video conferencing, ask “How would you respond to this…”, or “What do you do when you are ready to make a purchase…”, etc.
• What to do when you purchase a product (put items on a conveyor belt or counter, give the cashier payment, wait for change…etc)
• Here are some digital activities to use in this area:

• Finding Items on a Shopping List – This skill is more than just finding the item on the shelf. Students should also practice functional reading of aisles to help find those items

• Money Skills- Money skills are an important aspect to independent living.  Not only do students have to be able to identify types of money and their values, or how to budget, but also all of the hand and social skills that come with handling money.  It’s one thing to do worksheets that have word problems involving money,  but being able to transfer those skills in the community is a whole other skill to master.  Here are some ideas to practice these functional skills in the classroom to prepare your students for the community and beyond!

Functional Money Skills in the Special Education Classroom

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Field Trips & Virtual Field Trips

ESY is the perfect time to get out in the community!  Check out these CBI ideas:

Community Based Instruction (CBI) Ideas for Special Education

If you are unable to go out in the community, here are some virtual alternatives you can do in class (or to help prep for community outings!)

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Summer Themed Activities

Doing school in the summer is already hard enough to keep student engagement – make it fun by including fun summer themes to your lessons while also keeping it functional! Here are some resource recommendations with a summer twist! BROWSE SUMMER ACTIVITIES HERE.

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Travel Themed Resources 

Planning a trip and traveling involves so many important life skills such as functional reading, math, geography, social skills, etiquette and more! BROWSE TRAVEL RESOURCES HERE.

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End of Day Routine

Similarly to the morning routine, stick to an end-of-day routine that the students are used to.  End the school day on a positive and productive note!  If you’re a teacher, you know the end of the day is rough – students are tired and their attention spans have had enough from activities all day.  Check out some ideas for Activities to Add To Your Classroom End Of Day Routine which include reflecting on what you guys did that day.

8 Activities to Add To Your Classroom End Of Day Routine

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Get summer-themed resources in a MONEY-SAVING BUNDLE:

Thanks for reading!

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