Friday, May 04, 2012

May the "Fourth" Be with You!

Happy Star Wars Day, everybody!

The little boys in my class love Star Wars (well, Lego Star Wars and I think something called Star Wars Clone Wars?).  They dress up as Darth Vader at Halloween and all that.  How could I *not* plan some Star Wars activities for May 4th?

All week, after telling them about "May the fourth be with you" and Star Wars Day, they have been getting increasingly excited for the big day.  It's really, really cute!  So, I cannot let them down!

The only problem is... I only have a cursory knowledge of the Star Wars universe.  I have seen the original trilogy many, many times -- though it's been years now since my last viewing of those films.  I never saw the new films (episodes I, II and III).  I'm definitely not big into the Star Wars fandom, but of course I know some of the general, pop culture influencing, references.

However, I wasn't going to let that stop me from doing something fun for my kids at school.  So, I reached out to friends on Facebook, and their humorous responses did not disappoint.  Quin had a fun idea that I told some of the boys about today, and they got so excited over it!  Weather permitting, we're going to go outside tomorrow for Daily Physical Activity and play a hide-and-seek / tag sort of game that the kids have now named "Droid and Go Seek", and essentially half of the kids will be the hiding "droids", who ARE "the droids you're looking for".... hehe.  Anyway, my grade twos seem to love this idea!

I'm letting my kids bring Star Wars books, costumes, and even Star Wars Lego from home tomorrow.  They can have some time to share what they have, and we can share some of their books with the whole class.  I'm going to give them a bit of time to play with their Star Wars Lego, hopefully just before going outside for the other game in the later afternoon.

I found some printable ideas at StarWars.com, so there's a literacy game where they use the letters in a Star Wars phrase and have to make as many other words out of those letters as they can.  There are also colouring pages, and I found a cute Yoda popsicle stick puppet template that we may or may not try (I might adapt the Yoda art into something slightly different).

Either way, this is a really fun experience and a way to bring a huge love of the boys in my class into the classroom for a day as a special feature.  They have just been so motivated over the concept of Star Wars Day coming, I'm just so glad I took the plunge this year and decided to recognize it for them.  This is how we motivate our students, we need to be flexible and allow them to share and celebrate their personal interests.  There is still an educational component (and, it isn't going to take up our WHOLE day), but also there's good, old-fashioned fun in this.  And frankly, I think school always needs an element of FUN!

Not trying to toot my own horn too much, but ... I mean, there must be a reason why I have so few behaviour problems in my classes each year?  Even when I have the so-called "behavioural" students?  Hmm!


May the "fourth" be with you!

5 comments:

  1. I honestly think that you are the best teacher ever! Can we transfer my kids to your school?! You ROCK!

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    1. Thank you! I really appreciate you sharing a link to this post, too. It was such a fun day!

      I'd love to teach your kiddies! Too bad my school is so full that no one out of area has a hope in heck of transferring in, we have over 830 students already, a new addition added four extra classrooms a few years ago... and yet, there are still teachers in every nook, cranny and crevice at our school (including teaching grade seven in our staff room!). They are actually adding two portables over the summer... it's insanity! It's a good school, but crazy enrollment!

      You can settle for having me babysit, I'll continue to expel knowledge as I do it. ;-)

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  2. Great idea, I love it! We had a Star Wars party at home last night, watching a movie, playing with light sabres and had lots of snacks. We even built a tent in the living room to enjoy!

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    1. That sounds awesome! It's so fun to take advantage of these crazy "special days"... especially when the kids are so excited to share what they know about something they love!

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  3. that is so sweet! I am A HUGE Star Wars fan! when i saw this i was moved. I hope to get some friends together next year and do something like this.
    Thanks for your inspiration

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