Planning a Classroom Transformation

-Toy Story, Fall 2019 Planning a classroom transformation can certainly seem arduous. It definitely seemed overwhelming to me before I actually started. And as you may have read in my previous post about transformations, I made a lot of mistakes. Now that I’ve been through it quite a few times, I have come to a pretty solid planning process. Disclaimer. This process works for me, so I wanted to share. But just because it works for me, that does not mean it will work for you. You may have to swap stuff around to find your method, and that’s ok! I hope this can at least serve as a starting point to make things less scary and encourage you to take the leap to do something fun. Usually throughout the year, I think of some themes that would be fun for a transformation and do keep a list of those. However, I don’t like to start with the theme first. I start with the standard or skill. For example, I know that my students tend to struggle to understand and practice measurement. Our big measurement standard in 2nd grade is word problems with measurement, but the struggle with the basics. So, this is a good unit to create a transformation for to help keep their engagement and morale up. In years past, I’ve use Kori Markussen’s (True Tales of a Teacher) Toy Story resources (because they’re amazing) so my planning was much simpler. That being said, I don’t use all of the activities in her resource and I change some of them to fit my classroom needs. My next decision is WHEN in the unit to do this. For some, it’s good to start with a transformation to introduce something. I do this with Jurassic Park and or unit on Paleontology. I like doing Toy Story in the middle of the unit, when they’ve had exposure but can be a bit more independent for some activities. When I did Avengers, it was for our final project in a unit on forces of motion. It really depends on the overall goal of the standard and your students.

-Jurassic Park Spring 2019 (first big transformation)

Next, I start thinking about what is it I need my students to DO. How will they show me that they are successful? Are center rotations the best way to go or whole group? Here’s how my planning went the first time I did Toy Story. Welcome to my brain, friends. It’s a wild place to be. “Ok. They need to be able to measure to the nearest inch and centimeter, understand reasonable measurements, and solve one step word problems including measurements. So, I have learning targets for those standards that I need these lessons or activities to fit. They can practice measuring things or creating things to match a measurement without me because we’ve done quite a bit of practice with that. They can do an activity with that during a station rotation. We haven’t talked in depth about comparing centimeters and inches yet, so this will be done whole group/ table groups. They can do measurements on broken rulers, we’ve done that before, so that will be another rotation. We haven’t started word problems, so this will be whole group and they will do two independently for a quick check of understanding.”

Once I’ve determined the skills I want them to practice and HOW I want them to practice, I work on making activities that accomplish these goals and are themed. This is where I would try to find a theme that will be easy to adapt to the academic results I need. In this case, it was Toy Story because Kori has already done most of the work for me. Other ideas I had before settling on the “easier” one was a carnival, Disney World, and construction. Ultimately, Toy Story seemed the most fun, doable, and easily accessible based on what I already had, décor wise. I bought Kori’s resource and went through and matched where I would use the ones I chose to use and planned the rest of the unit accordingly. I have found that three days has been the sweet spot on length of a transformation. After that third day, it somehow becomes mundane and normal to them and the magic slowly turns into madness. But those three days? Best behavior I get all year if I’m being honest.

Finally, I think about how I want my room to look. I check Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration and if it’s based on a movie, I re-watch it. For Toy Story, I knew I wanted one wall mostly covered, my door decorated, and a few posters/ things hanging from the ceiling. My whole room is not decked out. That is overwhelming to put together and take down, in my opinion. That one wall and some scattered ceiling decorations usually do the trick! I always like to sketch out where I want things to help me get a clear vision. Some transformations may be more involved with decorations than others. You can compare Toy Story, Jurassic Park, and the Avengers to see how I vary the amount of "environment" I create.

Avengers, February 2020 I make my list of things I already have or can likely borrow from someone. I make a Facebook post asking to borrow anything I can and then I make my “to make” and “to buy” lists. I don’t want to buy anything if I don’t have to, so I try to see how much I can make. Sometimes, though, it’s easier to buy it and I’m all for that when in a time crunch. Or if I’m feeling lazy. I do set a budget of how much I’m willing to spend on things. I try to only buy things that can be reused in later years.

Avengers, February 2020 Superhero Themed Word Problems by AKA Miss Wells | TpT (teacherspayteachers.com)

Avengers, February 2020 (I have incredibly talented and selfless friends who helped make this one happen, as you can see above and below.)

I have a transformation planner on my TPT store to help you out! It follows this same process and is how I plan my transformations. Keep an eye out for a video of me actually planning a transformation using this resource. Classroom Transformation Planner by AKA Miss Wells | TpT (teacherspayteachers.com) I hope to see pictures of your own transformations soon! If you have any questions, please email me at akamisswells@gmail.com, reach out on Instagram @akamisswells, or through the email form on the home page of the blog. With love, Erin, aka Miss Wells