Camping Classroom Unit at Summer School...Class tour

Ok, this is how our school district does ESY (Extended School Year): a school is chosen that is sort of a central point for the district, our district is HUGE by the way, mile wise. Then all the students who were signed up for it attend that school with the exception of the more remote locations, they have their own.  We have preschool through high school there all at one time. It is amazing to see, all ages and types of students under one roof!

This year my classroom theme is Camping around Alaska! The Teacher Assistants assigned to my classroom are awesome and jumped right in with ideas to make this the best Summer School classroom ever!

This week we set up the classroom for the 5 week session. The first three days,  the unit is introduced, the routines and expectations are reviewed, we get to know each other.

This year I really lucked out. It is always a surprise which classroom we will be assigned, as well as how much space you are allowed to use. This time, the room is in transition, the previous teacher moved out completely and the new one has not moved in yet...meaning we had practically the whole room available to us!

Campfire area: calendar, counting, story time, whole group activities.

 The Bear Station: meeting with the teacher in groups of 2, working on objectives. (added a small table since this picture)

 The writing tent: writing, fine motor tasks.

 Check in area: turn over tent card and check your job for the day.

Reading Tent: literacy tasks, reading

 

The Cabin: sensory bin, puzzles, and other fun stuff!

 

 

 The Moose Station: independent stations or you might think of them as TEACCH stations.

 

 Science Table: This is where we display and explore what we find outdoors on hikes, also include items related to the week's camping place. Other items not pictured: magnets and a balance with weighted pieces.

 

 

After some trial and error, we came up with the station rotation schedule. There are three adults, and each class session has 5-6 students. We split them up in groups of 2. Each group is assigned to the Bear Station, Writing Tent and the Reading Tent. When finished with the initial station, they can choose to go to the Cabin, Science or the Moose stations. After about 5 minutes, we rotate again. At this time, I have a 30 minute slot for rotating and it is a little short! Our entire session is only 2 and a half hours long. The buses were running late last week, I think they will be on time next week, so we will gain some time.

 

The next time I will share our schedule, routines and an art project or two!

 

Paula

 

Building a cabin with cardboard

I want this to be the most fun summer school class ever! Following the "Camping around Alaska" theme, our centers will be things like tents and camp chairs. Instead of sitting at a typical calendar area, we will sit around the campfire!  With that in mind I started looking closer at this big TV box sitting around our back porch since November, we were reluctant to let go of it, we just knew it would come in handy. I got to thinking "Wouldn't it be cool to have a cabin as one of our centers", it could be just a "front" of a cabin, with a door they could crawl through. I didn't want to spend anymore money then absolutely needed.


To begin, light the mosquito coil so I won't get eaten alive on the back porch!

Materials: BIG box, brown paint, medium size brush, black paint or black marker, scrap wood.

Next, cut the box apart.  Paint it brown.   Let it dry.



I started applying the "logs" with black paint...didn't look right. Switched to a black marker...better. My hubby and I looked at it, didn't look all that "log like". Drew ovals in ....better, added "tree rings", even better!
I noticed that it was already developing a weak spot above the doorway, uh oh...will it last 5 weeks,(the length of summer school) maybe with some duct tape reinforcement? My hubby disappears awhile into his "shed", he returns with a piece of scrap wood, light weight, cuts it and viola! reinforced and attached with staple gun.

I think we can have some fun with this! 

Let me know about some of your home made recycling projects, leave a comment and a way to see them. I would do a linking thing if I knew how, so for now just leave your blog address, I would love to see more ideas.

Thank you, Paula