Question:
The last month of the school year is always a flurry of special events. What is the most meaningful special/culminating event you have with your classes and how did it come to be?
Replies:
Paula Naugle - New Orleans, Louisiana
I have used several ideas from a fantastic website called Ideas To Inspire(http://www.ideastoinspire.co.uk/) put together by Mark Warner and others. Also I have borrowed all the flip cameras in our school and have my students making videos about their favorite project of the year.
Terri - Bremerton, WA
To keep my kids psyched for learning,in my language arts class we read courtroom cases and then the students put on a mock trial in a real courtroom. They never forget that. I have kids who graduated high school come back and say that was one of the most memorable things they did in school. That makes me feel very good :)
Jayne Haenel - Stetsonville, WI
The last three to four weeks of school, we stop having "school." My third graders become employees of the "Zooland Research Center." They are each responsible for an animal of their choice. They have official ID cards and daily planners to record conferences and meetings. They are responsible for learning and recording information about their animal as well as documenting the resources they use. A Transportation Bill has to be completed. This includes the miles the animal travels to get to our zoo, its method of transportation and cost. The "employees" also create a power point of their animal. The culminating activity is making a three dimensional life-size model to hang in the room. We have an Open House for the grandparents. We also have "Pink Slips" which the employees receive if they are not working hard, miss a a meeting or conference, or are misbehaving. After three pink slips they are terminated and have to go back to regular "school." Needless to say, this doesn't happen. The behavior and motivation are wonderful. I am very busy during the day, but I don't have any lesson plans to write or papers to correct. I love it as much as the students do.
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