Spy School

As a culminating activity for our Cold War Unit, I created Spy School in my classroom. The amazing Hope King of http://www.elementaryshenanigans.com/ and a teacher at the Ron Clark Academy created this activity, and I adapted it for my curriculum.

The day before Spy School, I gave each student a set of directions (see picture above). Giving these little teasers is a wonderful way to get students excited about what will be happening in school the next day. I also posted this on our team's facebook page. You should have seen the parents' comments. Creating excitement is a simple way to motivate your students and their parents.

To enter the classroom, students are told to put on their sunglasses, are sworn to secrecy,  and they must pass the finger scan. (You can download this app for free. I used the one called mood finger scan. The kids loved this part.) Mission Impossible was playing in the background. The stage has now been set, and the kids were mesmerized by what they were experiencing and the lesson hadn't even started. 

In the room, the desks were put together in groups of 4. I had hung blue yarn from the ceiling and tied it to desks and chairs to have the effect of lasers. The black lights helped create this effect. Next year, I will add white yarn too. In some areas of the room you could not see the "lasers." To move around the room, students had to duck and crawl to make it safely to their area.

At each set of desks there were different activities. Students were given flashlights to help see their papers. 

At one of the stations students were given the book, The Dark Games. This book provides details about espionage throughout history. We focused on the chapter about The Cold War. Students were fascinated by the information. After reading and discussing, students were given a copy of one page from the book. There they created blackout poetry. Here students draw a box around words that grab their attention. When you read only the words in the box, it creates a poem. Students then color a picture over the remaining words. 

At four stations, I placed activities I downloaded from http://www.spymuseum.org/education-programs/educators/lesson-plans-activities/minute-by-minute-the-role-of-i/. Here students had to decipher primary source documents. 

At the last station, students created codes. I used http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/secret/secret.html to download cipher rings. Two years ago, I also had a station where kids had tablets and went to https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/games/break-the-code to practice decoding online. This past year, I did not have access to this technology due to state testing.

Putting each of the activities into confidential folders added a little more excitement and that didn't cost me anything. The only expense I had was to purchase yarn ($3 at Walmart) and I already had black lights ($10 for small table size at Hastings and Amazon). 

Our principal even got in on the action. You have to love when the excitement of a lesson spreads!

This is one of my all time favorite activities. The kids learn so much information and have a blast while doing so. You can't beat that!

Tricia

Hole-In-One

Several times this year, I pulled out the "golf clubs" and reviewed Language Arts concepts. This was an easy way to review the content without using a worksheet or textbook.

I found the plastic golf clubs and balls at Dollar Tree. I bought 15 of them and will use them forever. I also purchased blue, yellow, and red solo cups. The students were also given an answer document and tally chart for this activity.

I created a PowerPoint review. Each slide had a sentence and three possible answer choices: blue, yellow, and red. Each student recorded their answer and then we shared our thoughts. When I revealed the answer, each student that recorded the correct answer was able to putt. The students also kept up with how many times they were able to get the ball into the cup. 

When I incorporate these activities, I never have behavior problems. The students want to do the fun stuff. When you set high expectations and create an environment where students thrive, why would they want to act out?

Dollar Tree always has toys like this. Keep your eyes open. You never know what you will find that you can use in your classroom.

Enjoy!

Tricia

May The Force Be With You

Room transformations are so much fun and raise the level of student engagement. Who wouldn't want to participate in a light saber "fight" during English class?

To wrap up our unit on adjectives, we had a Star Wars day. I bought blue and red pool noodles from Dollar General. I cut them in half and used black electrical tape 

and grey duck tape to create the handle. I made 26 for around $16 bucks. Not bad!

The other thing that I bought to make this activity come to life was fabric from hobby lobby. I bought tan and cream fabric and made sheaths for the students to wear. I also bought twine to wrap around their waists. The twine did not work. I shred and ended up all over the floor. I will choose something else for next year. This purchase was more expensive. To me, it was worth it, but it is definitely not something you have to purchase.

The important thing to remember about room transformations is that you must tie it into your content. If you don't, it's just fluff and no one has time for that.

With Star Wars music playing in the background, I flashed a topic on the white board like color, size, shape, emotions etc. The students worked with their partner to create a list of adjectives for the given topic. After the list was checked, the number of adjectives they got correct was how many times the students could use their light saber. There was a time limit and when the next topic was presented all "fighting" came to an end.

Step 1: Brainstorming

Step 2: Action

When the kids are engaged, it makes the learning stick! Even the Assistant Principal wanted in on the action.

Star Wars was an easy room transformation and one of the kids favorite we did this year. If you have done a Star Wars lesson, I would love to hear from you!

May the force be with you,

Tricia