"Be different, be bold, be innovative" -Ron Clark, The End of Molasses Classes.
This quote has challenged me in so many ways over the past couple of weeks, as well as the rest of what I have been reading in The End of Molasses Classes. I have been even more inspired to "make it happen" for my students, to "take the plunge", and simply do whatever it takes to make learning fun and engaging! So lets rewind to a read aloud that took place about 4 weeks ago.
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This quote has challenged me in so many ways over the past couple of weeks, as well as the rest of what I have been reading in The End of Molasses Classes. I have been even more inspired to "make it happen" for my students, to "take the plunge", and simply do whatever it takes to make learning fun and engaging! So lets rewind to a read aloud that took place about 4 weeks ago.
Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet has been a book I recently added to my collection that is my favorite! It tells the true story of the puppeteer who was behind designing the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! If you don't have this book, add it to your collection ASAP! There are so many lessons that can be pulled from it! Perseverance, creativity, the list could go on and on.
I had ordered this book to share with my class during the month of November with the intention to do "something" STEM related. I had not decided what this would look like and I was reading the book to my class, it hit me. Why not have students create their own Thanksgiving Day Parade floats? So during the read aloud, I paused to throw the idea to my student teacher. Of course, being the amazing, innovative teacher that she is, she was "YES"! I resumed reading the book, then another idea hit me. Why not have our own Thanksgiving Day Parade? After the read aloud and showing my students the video from last year's Macy's Parade, Anna (my student teacher) and I began bouncing around ideas of what this would look like in our classroom. Needless to say, 1 read aloud + 10 minutes of brainstorming= A Second Grade Thanksgiving Day Parade!
We quickly began to plan up a rubric for students to take home the next day, set the date, made invitations and honestly hoped for the best! I decided that students would create the floats at home with parents. I keep quoting Ron Clark, but y'all seriously, he speaks truth about teaching in his book. I had just literally read the chapter where he talked about setting high expectations for both students and parents. I wanted parents to be invested in this project and have the opportunity to work with their child and be creative together!
The students were PUMPED up about our planned production. Each day, I would talk to them about how their projects were coming together and remind them when they were due. I think most of those sweet second grade babies could say the due date in their sleep, but I was determined that they would be on time and that students would not forget. I also sent reminders to parents every other day about the due date and also about the actual parade date and time. I am sure some of them are glad this is over and that reminders won't be blowing up their Seesaw and Class Dojo inboxes. 🤣
Did I mention that I only gave students 1 week to get this done? Yep, 1 week ladies and gentleman! Let me just say, ALL of my students rose to the challenge and did a PHENOMENAL job! We had everything from SpongeBob to Mickey's Christmas party! Not to mention three students wound up bringing in a Turkey, Christmas Tree, and Santa Float!! I mean, how perfect?? They were the grand finale of course!
So I didn't just want this to be a project where they just made something cute and fun, I wanted to them to present and talk about their floats. I had originally planned for them to talk in the microphone during the parade to describe their floats, let's just say when I mentioned this idea to 17 second graders, they all looked like they could crawl under the carpet. I even had one say, " I am absolutely not talking into a microphone in front of an audience." Part of me wanted to say, "oh yes you are!" The other part of me realized that these 7 and 8 year old babies were terrified and we needed a back up plan. I quickly decided that they would each do a video describing their float using a green screen app . I had already planned for them to write a description of their float during literacy stations, so that part was taken care of.
With the help of our school's amazing technologist, Sarah, the green screen plan went down flawlessly! She is also a rock star and made this experience so amazing!
Many people wanted to know what standards were being addressed, and of course you don't do things just because they are cute and fun. Everything must have a purpose. Well, we addressed writing, communication, and some STEM standards with this project, so it was a win-win!
The actual room transformation for this production was a combination of beg, borrow, and buy 50 feet of tacky tinsel garland, giant plastic glitter bows, and some red table cloths. Let's just say, when you're about to do something outside of the box, people jump at the opportunity to help! From my administration (shout out to both of them for letting me put my crazy ideas into action), school secretaries, my teaching BFF Hope, my amazing student teacher, and my sweet mama, room 415 went from classroom to NYC! The front of the room was none other than our own rendition of Herald Square, complete with our very own live broadcasting booth and news anchor (Anna), Palmetto News Broadcasting- aka PNBC, store front, and red carpet! The kids were so excited about the room transformation and helped out as much as they could! They truly took pride in it all!
The day of the parade, I was a nervous wreck. I mean, we had invited some special guests who we knew were coming, but I had no clue if parents were coming or not. The kids were all present, dressed in their parade finest and ready for the the show to begin at 10:30. At 10:25, down the hallway comes a throng of parents, grandparents, a 5th grade class, and administration! Room 415 was PACKED to the seams and I had to hold back tears! Y'all, that room felt like NYC with the buzzing crowd! Our 5th grade guests even broke out in a chorus of Jingle Bells while we waited on the parade participants to be ready in the hallway. My heart was, is, and will continue to overflow! It was truly a magical experience!
The parade went off without a hitch! Students were announced by PNBC's amazing announcer just like the floats in the Macy's parade, their videos played the background, the crowd cheered and clapped, and the students smiled from ear to ear! At the end, guests took time to talk to the students about their floats and I floated around on cloud 9! The support and encouragement received by all who attended spoke volumes to this teacher's heart!
It was a day that will go down as one of the best! I can't thank all who came, helped, and supported us enough!
Hope told me the morning of the event, "you're about to make magic up in here!" I really feel like it was magic and I pray that this will be something that my students remember for the rest of their lives. I want them to be inspired to be creative, think outside of the box, and take the plunge with their ideas!" After all, isn't that what we teach them?
{The pictures and video from our event our in the video below 😃}
Happy Thanksgiving Friends!
♥Syd
