Have you ever heard someone reminiscence about a school memory of how they could celebrate and share student projects during a special event?
The reason why most people remember certain events in school and not the daily worksheets is that a dedicated teacher created a special, out of the ordinary memorable opportunity for students to feel accomplished and special.
You too can culminate any simple project into a runway event that has students gushing with excitement for the big reveal.
The secret is all in the level of hype from the teacher along with an awesome tested and approved showcase plan.
Make sure to craft a plan that is fun and easy for you as well because students always know when you are faking enthusiasm for something you don’t want to deal with.
Start by letting students know the big plans to show off their hard work on any project by trickling out the details as the assignment is wrapping up. You can always explain how much fun other students have during this type of wrap up event.
Once you have nailed down the timeline and secured all the final details, let the students ask questions and give any suggestions to help with their buy-in.
Even if you aren’t able to make any changes based on their ideas, you can always let them know that their thoughts and feedback on the event will help you make changes as needed in the future.
Here are my top five ways to celebrate and share social studies projects. Some of these will only work for certain types of projects and some lend themselves to most any longer assignment, both done collaboratively or individually.
To create a gallery walk through, designate a spot in the room for each project to be placed on display. Students and adults will walk around the project displays just like a gallery in a museum. Get creative and fancy with the gallery walk directions or just keep the simple walk about.
Add-ons can include tags or cards with student names and titles of projects just like a public art museum identifies each piece. Museum goers can be given a gallery walk checklist or a comment sheet to record questions, compliments or feedback during their visit.
Make sure to review your expectations for constructive feedback if you allow students to share this in the gallery walk reflection sheet.
In the gallery walk model, students can stay stationed at their project location or participate in the walk to view their classmate’s work along with any invited family, school or community members.
Gallery walk music could be soft, classical pieces that give off a fancy art exhibit vibe. For students visiting, consider gallery walk reflection questions as a closure activity and way to extend learning. Once the gallery walk teaching strategy has been modeled and experienced by your class, repeating this effective and easy culminating activity will become a favorite for sharing and wrapping up any lesson or project.
Encourage students to create their best final version of any project that is printed and/or flat enough to be attached to a beautiful bulletin board anywhere in your classroom, school or community.
Remind students that their culminating presentation will be teaching those passing by about the topic that they are showcasing. Check with local history museums, public libraries, the central office of your school district or any other public place that would be thrilled to showcase your student’s work.
An extra option is to include a “guest book” or “comment log” on a clipboard that could be added to each showcase so that questions and comments can be collected as the display is viewed by others walking by. This could also be done digitally through a QR code, jamboard or other online platform.
Adding a class book to your classroom library and/ or providing copies for other classroom/ school libraries or student’s home libraries are a powerful way to have a culminating project share.
Once each student or student group has completed an assignment, their work can be copied, scanned, photographed or even sent to one of the classroom publishing companies to bind into a book. Photos that are taken of 3-D projects can also be printed and compiled in a book that is available for years to come.
Students will love seeing their special page or pages as part of the class book and they will also enjoy looking at other classes and student’s projects within the collection. Storing the book in a library creates a powerful statement about the value and worth of the book (and the individual pages inside). This is also an important practice for celebrating student achievement throughout your class and school.
These books are always in high demand so if time and cost permits, you could print a copy for every student to read and take home as a gift.
Some students love to perform and the chance to act in a short video that is shared with others can be a dream come true.
Most students are more engaged when watching videos and explanations from their peers. Therefore, the act of creating and viewing a project display through a video format provides many learning opportunities for the student actors and audiences.
For those students that prefer to be behind the camera rather than in front, creating a slideshow compilation of visuals or photos of projects can be a great alternative. Students can learn valuable editing and producing skills by adding text with music and/ or voice over with more information about their project without having to worry about the camera showing their face.
A classic (and potentially one of the most time and energy intensive) ways for culminating research projects about a famous person is the well known “Wax Museum.” The idea can be just as simple as having students stand still (to look like they are made of wax) and reading a short paragraph about who they are pretending to be and what they have contributed to North Carolina.
Variations can be as varied as having students dress up in clothing to look like the person they are pretending to be and/ or including props that the person might have used during their time.
Some students might want to create a pretend button (made out of paper) or other materials for visitors to press when they are ready for each student’s wax figure to “come alive” to start talking and sharing the information about their lives. Back drops, posters, photos, and/ or music can also be incorporated to add more interactive components or requirements.
Keep in mind that not all students will have access to items at home for required dressing up or other props so make sure to create a plan to assist students that will need help acquiring objects and clothing needed to complete their wax museum components.
If you are ready to discover how to create fun, engaging and integrated social studies projects, then check out my Ultimate Third Grade NC Social Studies Resource Round-up.
You’ll find over 100 ways to enhance and compliment your amazing lesson plans with engaging video clips, hands-on activities, songs, stories and more!
No matter how you decide to share your student’s work, remember that what you celebrate becomes more valuable and important to your students. Showing that you recognize and want to share your student’s work with others instills a sense of pride and accomplishment for all your student historians!