Classroom transformation- A transformation is where you add items to your room to turn it into a new learning space and experience. By doing so, you create a new and engaging learning environment for your students to learn in.
Students all learn in different ways. My class learns the best with hands on experiences. I knew this would be a fun and creative way to reinforce concepts that we have been practicing all week. We have been doing test prep since January. The main focus of this classroom transformation was using context clues.
There are a bunch of resources online to help you find resources and activities for doing classroom transformations. I did a combination of making up my own/using online resources. If you are someone who wants to do a classroom transformation but aren't creative/don't have a lot of time to plan one, the internet is your best friend! I planned mine last minute, which is why I used some online resources. I love being creative and this summer I hope to create my own resources to make for transformations next year!
In this blog, I will give you a step-by-step guide on how I transformed my classroom into a detective agency!
Prep
First things first, when creating a transformation, you have to make sure your theme matches the concept you are teaching. I chose to do a detective agency because detectives have to use clues to solve a mystery. You have to use clues to help you figure out what unknown words are/mean. We were also focusing on homographs and you have to use context clues to help you figure out which definition they are using.
I used this anchor charts to help reinforce the concept all week. I forgot to take a picture of my anchor charts, however I use pinterest to create all of mine! The ones on Pinterest look a lot better though.
I made modify versions of these Anchor Charts! Anchor Charts are helpful because they allow students to have a quick reference and easy access to learning concepts you are focusing on.
Next, I had to get materials to help transform my classroom into a detective agency. I bought caution tape, magnify glasses, and a detective hat and magnify glass. The tape I got from Walmart. I got each of my students magnify glasses on Amazon here:
And Detective hat here:
Of course you do not have to buy this things, however they will enhance the experience!
I work at a Health and Science Academy, so all my students had lab coats that we used as detective coats. My students loved this extra touch and really got into being detectives with these coats!
One of our City Years is an amazing artist and she made our Mystery Inc. door
Here are the resources I used:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Top-Secret-Mystery-Lesson-Templates-3710398
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Context-Clues-Activities-2940065
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Context-Clues-Task-Cards-2832480
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Homographs-Multiple-Meaning-Words-Activities-1771973
Setting the Scene
Now that you have the resources, you need to plan your mystery! I only had 3 days to plan this, so our mystery was nothing to intense. We had to solve the case of the missing mechanical pencils! My students have fallen in love with mechanical pencils. So I bought a pack and told them how when I came into school, they were gone. We had to solve a whole bunch of activities in order to get clues that would lead us one step closer to the culprit. First things first: we had to turn into detectives. One of the mystery things I got from TPT had certificates that I gave to each of my students.
My students had a lot of fun coming up with Detective names!
Some even got really creative "Detective Fries Big Mac Coca Cola Ms. Mathews Where's my Cheesecake" lol.
Once they had their detective names, we got our first clue. Along with their first clue, we got a letter that welcomed us into the agency. I forgot to take a picture, but this is what it said, "Detectives,
Welcome to the agency! We are so glad to have you join this
team. We have a new case that we need your help solving.
A little while ago teachers have noticed things disappearing
from Trevitt Elementary. Things from rulers all the way to desks! Your teacher
has called us and informed our agency that your class has been the next victim.
Someone has stolen….your mechanical pencils!
Whoever stole the penicls, left us with a bunch of clues.
But in order to receive your next clue, you have to solve a bunch of puzzles
and riddles. You all have been working on context clues and homographs. These
skills will help you solve the clues and figure out who the culprit is!
When you find out who did it, you will be rewarded with an
edible surprise! Inside this envelope, you will find your first clue, some
details on the culprit, and your activity! In order to get the “key” to unlock
your next activity, you must solve the first one. I have also provided you with
certificates to officially welcome you into the agency, coats and magnify
glasses. Have fun detectives!"
Detective Agency
Each clue we got after they completed an activity. I made all the clues and each of them answered, "Who, what, When, and Where". Who stole the pencils, when did they steal it, where did they steal it, and what did they steal.
The first set of activities had to deal with homographs. We did a Homograph pretest where they were able to work in partners and draw both examples of homographs.
One group decided they're drawing skills weren't up to par and wrote out everything haha
Next, I had a set of homograph cards all around the room and students had a piece of paper that had letters that matched the card. They had to go around the room and read each sentence on the card and choose which homograph was in the sentence.
Last, we played a game where we each had a stack of homograph cards. They read clues about the homograph and had to guess what the homograph was. If you had that card, you read the clue that was on your card.
My students loved this game the most!
After we got our next clue. Our next set of activities that went with this clue was all about Context Clues. We reviewed our Context Clues anchor chart and then they all got a piece of paper that had definitions of ways to find context clues.
We then played a game on the carpet where I read a sentence and we had to figure out what the underlined word meant by using context clues.
I used my Elmo to project the cards on our smartboard. I underlined the context clues that would help you identify what the unknown word was. This specific card, they used examples. Students would record their answers on a sheet. I would go over the answer and explain what context clues they used. There are also cards where instead of figuring out the definition, students had to figure out which context clues was used.
After this game, we got our 3rd clue with our final set of activities. The last set of clues were centers. There are about 6/7 centers and I only used 3 because of time.
I used the writing, art and matching center.
Art Center:
Students had a sentence about snooping: The little brother was caught snooping through his sister’s room. They had to use context clues to figure out what snooping meant and draw that!
Students had to write a detective story using 3 words from the word bank.
Students had a bunch of sentences and definitions and had to match them together.
Engagement
My students absolutely loved this day. I was so nervous because they had to do a lot of work, but the idea of being in a detective agency made them not really care. Not one of them complained about any of the activities. They were going around asking everyone if they stole our pencils. They were trying to piece together who it was. There was a moment when they didn't believe in our Detective Agency: Mystery Inc. I had us call my mom and she pretended to work from their. They were sold! I had so much fun putting this together and was impressed with it. I only had three days to plan. I am planning our next classroom transformation right now for April! I am hoping that one will be a lot better because I will have more time to plan.
The importance of doing classroom transformations is to help tap into the students who might need that extra hands on opportunity to learn a concept. It is fun and easy to do and please reach out to me if you need help with where to start on transforming your classroom!
You are so creative. The students are so lucky to have you. If they only knew how much hard work and effort you put into making learning fun for them.
ReplyDelete