June classroom activities for summer learning

June arrives with a lot going on at once. The calendar fills with celebrations, cultural observances, and end-of-semester energy, all while teachers are trying to keep learning meaningful through the last days of school and into summer programs.

These June classroom activities are built for that stretch. Each one connects to a real moment in the month, works across grade levels, and is ready to use the same day you open it. Whether you’re finishing the school year or running a summer program, you’ll find something here.

Juneteenth: an illustrated history book

Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States. It’s a significant date in American history and a powerful opportunity for students to engage with primary sources, personal narratives, and storytelling.

For this activity, students use Book Creator to create their own illustrated book about Juneteenth. They can combine images, handwritten text, audio recordings, and drawing tools to tell the story in their own voice. The result is a student-authored book they can share with the class or school community.

Try it as:

• A research and writing project
• A paired reading and response activity
• A community publishing project shared across the grade level

You can also use this Black Innovators activity by Ken Shelton to acknowledge the contributions of Black Americans this month.

June classroom activities for personal stories

Pride Month and National Immigrant Heritage Month — all of June

June holds two observances that share a common thread: the power of personal stories. Pride Month celebrates identity, community, and belonging. National Immigrant Heritage Month honors the stories students carry with them from home, family, and culture. Together, they make June one of the strongest months of the year for authentic storytelling.

In Book Creator, students create their own personal story book. They can write about who they are, where their family comes from, the people who shaped them, or the community they belong to. The format is flexible by design. Some students will write a narrative. Others will build a photo book, a comic, a family recipe collection, or a recorded audio story. Book Creator supports all of them.

This activity works especially well for:

• Multilingual learners and emergent bilingual students
• Social-emotional learning units on identity and belonging
• Family engagement projects and community publishing
• ELA units on memoir, personal narrative, or biography

Teacher tip: Give students a simple prompt to start: “Tell the story of something that makes you, you.” From there, the format is their choice.

World Ocean Day: a science investigation journal

World Ocean Day is a strong anchor for science content in June. Students can use this Book Creator Water Filtration challenge to investigate the ways they can protect the ocean. The journal works whether students are exploring ocean ecosystems in class, watching a documentary, or completing independent research. It gives them a structured place to collect evidence and communicate their thinking.

Want more summer science? Our summer camp resources for K-8 learners include engineering challenges and digital art books for camps, enrichment programs, and classrooms.

Father’s Day: a card for someone who supports you

These Kami templates give students a simple, structured way to write a thank-you card for someone who supports them. It works best when framed around appreciation broadly, not just one family structure.

Inclusive prompt swap: Encourage students to think about “someone who helps you learn, grow, or keep going” rather than limiting the frame to a specific family role.

Use the Kami template: Father’s Day card templates

Summer reading: journals, author studies, and more

Students who read consistently over the summer arrive in the fall stronger. These resources make it easier for teachers to build a summer reading routine students will want to keep.

Epic reading response journals (Book Creator): Students use these journals to respond to what they’re reading in Epic, combining text, images, and voice to reflect on characters, themes, and their own reactions.

Watch the webinar: Earlier this spring, Kami and Epic came together for a live session on building a summer reading experience students want to participate in. The recording is worth sharing with any district using Epic.

Read the full guide: Summer reading resources: journals, author studies, and more

Memory books: students document their year

The end of the school year is worth marking. These templates give students a way to look back, celebrate growth, and carry their memories forward.

Yearbook (Book Creator)

Students create a class yearbook using Book Creator. They can add photos, write superlatives, reflect on their favorite memories, and design pages collaboratively. The finished product is something the whole class can read and share.

Kami memory activities

Kami has a set of templates that let students capture and reflect on their year in different ways. Use one, or offer all three as a choice activity so students can pick the format that fits them.

• Digital memory jar: Students write their favorite memories on individual slips and collect them in a digital jar. Works well as a closing circle or a quiet bell ringer on the last day.
• Polaroid frames: Students add a photo or drawing and write a short caption for the moment they want to remember. These make a great display piece or take-home keepsake.
• Roadmap timeline: Students map out key moments, milestones, and achievements from their year on a visual timeline. A strong reflection activity before moving to the next grade.

We Want to Hear From You!

Have a brilliant idea for more May classroom activities? Or perhaps you’ve created a masterpiece in your own classroom that you’d like to feature?

• Request a Resource: Let us know what to build next!
• Contribute to the Library: Share your creations with our community here.