FREE ABC Countdown to Summer for Distance Learning

A free ABC Countdown to Summer to use while distance learning.

One of my favorite ways to make the end of the year fun and memorable was to do an ABC countdown with my class. My students and I loved having something fun to look forward to each day as the year wrapped up. This year may look a little very different, but you can still count down to summer in a fun way with some creativity.

I took my regular ABC Countdown and changed it up a bit for distance learning. It’s the perfect resource that’s easy to implement to add a little fun at the end of the year!

Why You Should Do an ABC Countdown to Summer

Even though students are learning at home, they probably are used to doing something fun towards the end of the year. With a countdown activity, you can give them that sense of normalcy.

Distance learning is hard. It’s different. One way to keep students motivated through this difficult time is to give them something to look forward to. I don’t know about you, but May was always a month that both flew by quickly and was a time that was difficult to keep students engaged. When I started this fun countdown, it helped students in the classroom be motivated to stay on task and do their work so they could do the next activity.

Finally, the ABC Countdown to Summer is a great way to stay connected to your students.

How to Use the ABC Countdown to Summer Through Distance Learning

1. Download the FREE ABC Countdown to Summer HERE. Share it with your students (and their parents) so they know what to do each day. Remind them that they can improvise when necessary.
2. Have students use the FREE ABC Countdown Journal to write about what they do each day. This is a great way to have your students squeeze in some extra writing time, too!
3. Use Zoom meetings to check in with students and have them share what they did that day. If it’s an outfit type of day, have them snap a picture to share with the class!
4. Use FlipGrid to create video discussion boards when you want students to share about their countdown activity for the day. This is great because they can also watch their classmate’s videos.

Helpful Resources

Some of the countdown activities include virtual tours. You can choose a visit from this list of online resources or find your own! There are a ton out there, but I wanted to make sure you had a few at your fingertips.

I also included a website with free read alouds in case students don’t have access to books at home. You can also use Loom to record yourself reading books to students as well.

Museums Offering Virtual Visits

• National Museum of Natural History
• Indianapolis Children’s Museum
• Smithsonian Nation Air and Space Museum
• NASA

Virtual Zoo Visits

• Houston Zoo Live Webcams and in-depth visits with animals on their Facebook Page
• Dallas Zoo’s Bring the Zoo to You Video Series
• San Diego Zoo Live Webcams
• The National Aquarium

Free Books Read Aloud

• Storyline Online

Hang in there, friends! I know it’s hard, and I see you all doing your best. I hope this freebie will help make the end of the year a little more fun, joyful, and impactful for your students.

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Free Resources in This Post

• ABC Countdown for Distance Learning
• ABC Countdown Journal