It seems to me that five days after your wedding is the Perfect time to throw a party at school, right? Well, call me crazy, but that's what I'm doing.
When the room parents in my class approached me with a desire to throw a fall party, I was a little nervous-we were not allowed to do things like this at my old school! So, before I talked to my principal about the idea, I decided to turn it into an opportunity to try something I haven't done before-have a writing expo! I was really excited about the opportunity for the parents to plan some fun food and games for us, but I was even more excited to let my students show off the amazing progress they have made in writing this year! My class and I decided to call it a "Publishing Party" because that sounds more fun AND there is some alliteration.
Below are the steps I took to set up our party:
1. Created an invite and
blog post to let my parents in on the idea and give them some advice about their special job as an audience.
2. Selected two pieces of student (published) writing, about a month apart that were both good pieces of writing, but also show growth.
3. Made it inviting by decorating each table, having students make a welcome sign, and creating special name plates for each child.
4. Set up the event as a sharing "museum". Parents will circulate the classroom to visit and interact with my writers. They will give each child they visit a fall leaf that was cut out on the Ellison machine. The parents have some special directions on this to make sure everyone feels included!
5. Left up anchor charts to show checklist and assessment (including samples that show Meeting, Exceeding, and Progressing work) pieces.
After all of this is over we are headed outside to eat and play games! It should be a fun day!
