End of the Year Reading Beach Bash!

I am settling in to my summer routines, and I finally have some time to catch up on some things!!

At the end of the last six weeks to help us celebrate the last day of AR testing, my partner and I set up a Reading Beach Bash for our students.

The students could bring towels to lay on, wear sunglasses and flip flops, and bring a snack to enjoy. We used blue tarps for the water and used some inflatables and lawn chairs to help set the mood. We spread books all around and the reading marathon began! The kids loved it!

Even though it was a success, if I do this again I will definitely make it more structured next time. Because we wanted to the kids to have time to read and take their AR tests, we just had them read for the majority of the day.

Next time I will:
- have the students rotate through four or five different stations to add some variety. At some stations they will read with a partner and others they will read alone
- break up the reading blocks with short read alouds
-incorporate a procedural text station where students will make a snack after reading and following directions

Any tips for how to make this day even more successful and smooth??

Fun little side story... I will have a student teacher next year in the fall. She came to visit during our Beach Bash and as she was stepping over backpacks and goggles and inflatable monkeys, I kept reassuring her that our days were not always this crazy! Then she came with me to pick the kids up from lunch and our principal was dancing around the cafeteria in a chicken suit to celebrate money the students raised. She then made all the teachers do the chicken dance as we lined up our kids. Nothing like being thrown right into the crazy!! Welcome to the world of teaching!!