There is no denying that the easiest way to keep students engaged is to have themed days in your classroom. Typical days I participate in through the school year are Polar Express Days, Snowed-In Days, May the 4th Be With You, The Ocean Festivals, The Thankful Festivals, and a Fall Festivals. The Fall Festival is where our team teaches the same fall lesson with a craftivity to the entire kindergarten as they rotate to each room. There is always 100% engagement when themed days are utilized in the academic setting.
ESCAPE ROOMS
Escape rooms for elementary students are the latest educational themed day craze. It is amazing to see kids working together to problem solve, find clues and the excitement it brings when they actually “escape the room.” Most escape rooms use a video as a hook. Here are the escape room themes I use in the primary classroom:
Sight Word Mystery
Numbers 1- 10
Comprehension
Save the Turtles
DINOSAUR Themed
Alphabet Mystery
Veterans Day
SPY DAY
Another great day which involves math, science, reading, writing and critical thinking skills is a SPY Day. This themed day motivates and rewards your students while sneaking in learning. Students dress up like secret agents, are given a mission to find a stolen object, walk through lasers, learn how to lift fingerprints, memorize a new alias and work as a team to discover clues to solve the mystery. Allowing the kids to dress like secret agents, really gets them engaged.
I keep the lights off and have them do their work with flashlights. I also invite parents to participate in the fun. When students see their parents having fun, they can’t help but be more positive about learning. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have extra help these days too! I’ve never had one themed day where there was a child not participating. It’s a lot of prep work for the teacher, but well worth the work. So, if you want your students engaged in learning, try to make learning fun by introducing a themed day. Click the picture below to find the printables for this themed day.
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