Rotations are a great way to establish community in a school. Rotations can occur monthly or once per term.
In a rotation, students can rotate through a series of short (30 to 45 minute ) workshops in the time allocated for the rotations.
The groupings for the workshops are made up with a mix of students from each grade as well as a mix of regular program and immersion students if the school is dual track. The most senior grade students are their group’s leaders and guide their group through their scheduled workshops. Rotations often bring out the best in everyone as the older students assist the younger ones and shine as leaders.
Rotation workshops are designed can be designed by teachers or teachers can invite guests in to repeat the workshop three (or however many times). A character theme can be chosen, an environmental theme, or something you feel passionate about. The good news is you will only need to design one workshop. You will repeat the same one multiple times. The same group will not be scheduled with you more than once.
The rotation groups can be used on Halloween. This is often the first time kids experience their groups for the year. On this day, rotations start at 9:00 and are a half hour each. Students rotate through 7 Halloween workshops one of which is the dance in the Gym. The rotations end at 1:15 and the last block is spent with your class.
Workshops on this day have included: Spooky Bingo, How to draw a Vampire, Halloween Crafts, Story and Crafts, Gruesome Touch Labs, Halloween Safety…
Students do dress up.
*Kindergarten students are usually not ready to participate in the first rotation.
Costumes can be scary for some and the dance is dark.
The dance is open with lights on for Kindergarten students both recesses.