Dream Room Design Project

Last week I was here:

Doing this:

And it was fantastic.

This week I was doing this:

With them:

 And it was also pretty fantastic :)

My class is has reached that really sweet spot where they're independent enough to work on a extended project. Being the first week back from spring break, I felt like it was perfect timing for just such a project. We started by designing our dream bedroom. I told them that my biggest wish at their age was to have my own phone in my room. Considering that most of them actually have their own phone in their backpack, they thought that was a weird thing to wish for. Then I told them about my black and white tv with actual dials that changed channels and I completely lost them. And then I took some Geritol followed by a chaser of Centrum Silver and we continued...

Over the course of a week, we used the planning page to design our room, create a paint swatch, and choose the flooring. We listed everything we would or wouldn't want in the room. Then we made a triangle diorama and created the room that we designed. They went way above and beyond!

It was so cool to see their plans come to life! We had lots of great discussions about how the final project changed from the planning page. They talked about why they left some things out when they made the actual project and why they added some things they forgot about while planning. They were completely engaged and engrossed! 

On Monday we're going to write about our rooms with lots of detail and descriptions. Now that they can actually see it, that should be the easy part.  This project was an extension of  the planning sheet which is part of my 50 Printables for Enrichment or Early Finishers, but the free preview for the unit has this sheet in it as a sample activity - which you can download here. 

As for the rest of the pack, I make copies of about 10 pages at a time for each kid to have in their desk. We call it the challenge packet (very original, right?) and it's one of the many options for my early finishers to work on while the others catch up. Some never finish the first pack, some fly through it. I also use some of the pages for a center, subs or morning work if I need something quick. I've also used some for homework and they come in really handy for the last few weeks of school when you need the kids to be a little busy without you.

 If you like what you see in the rest of the pack, I put it on sale through Monday!

Have a great weekend!