In our classroom, we have a tradition of a review week following ABC BOOTCAMP. ABC BOOTCAMP is our 26-day curriculum to learn letters and sounds. After those first 26 days, we have a review week. The last day or two of the review week is always a classroom transformation. In the past, we’ve done CandyLand and The Price Is Right. I wanted to keep that tradition alive during distance learning and give my students the review week. However, I had to come up with an idea that would work well virtually. And that’s where the idea for a virtual luau was born!

And in full transparency: this took some time and effort to pull off but it was worth it watching the kids laugh and learn and be so engaged! We had a blast for those two days!

Virtual Luau: The Decorations

Of course, the stage has to be set for our luau. Is this necessary? 100% NO! What matters in any lesson is the content. The content can happen without decorations. And don’t ever let anyone tell you must decorate or transform a classroom or pull off some giant production. We choose to do this for fun and focused on the content first. The transformation is secondary.

Now, let’s talk about the decorations we used.

The backdrop is actually plastic table cloths. (Golden Girls fans will see it as the wallpaper from Blanche’s bedroom LOL). This came in a roll from Oriental Trading. The flamingos are cardboard stand-ups from Oriental Trading. The grass skirt is from Oriental Trading.

We also added some parrots and a sun! They are also from Oriental Trading. The inflatable palm trees are from Amazon.

The flowers and leaves on the smartboard and the morning message are included in our Luau creation!

Virtual Luau: The Materials

We are 100% virtual so in order to bring the luau into my students’ homes, we had to prepare early so we could make the materials part of our weekly packet drop off. Each week we are safely (with masks and social distancing) delivering packets to our students. We delivered the luau materials during our weekly drop off. The students received the recording sheets, luau supplies, and special luau snacks. The families received instructions to put the materials away until we were ready to use them.

Virtual Luau: What We Did

So here’s how our luau worked. We did a two day luau. The luau occured during our 2 hour live teaching block. Day 1 was devoted to letters and sounds. Day 2 was devoted to numbers and counting.

For letters and sounds, we did 3 activities.

First, we worked on letter recognition, sounds, and writing. I held up a luau letter card to the camera, the students said the letter and sound. And then they wrote the letter on their whiteboard. My student teacher modeled the letter writing.

Second, we did letter recognition and sounds. We helped up a lowerlcase letter card. Students said the letter and sound and they colored the letter on their recording sheet.

Third, we did beginning sounds. I held up a luau picture card. We identified the picture and the beginning sounds. The students wrote the uppercase and lowercase letters on their recording sheet.

For math, we did 3 activities as well.

First, we worked on number recognition, and writing. I held up a luau number card to the camera, the students said the number. And then they wrote the number on their whiteboard. My student teacher modeled the number writing.

Second, we did letter recognition. We helped up a number card. Students said the number and they colored the number on their recording sheet.

Third, we did counting. I held up a luau ten frame card. We counted how many in the ten frames. Then we colored the number on our recording sheet.

Here are some pictures of the luau in action. (NOTE: These are screen captures of our live video feed so the quality is poor.)

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Virtual Luau: The Snacks

As part of our luau, we had special luau snacks. These were prepared and delivered as part of our weekly packet drop off. The snacks were prepared with gloves and sealed in bags for 4 days before the students received them and opened them. The labels are included in our Luau creation!

LifeSavers=pool floats

Beach Balls=cheese balls

Fish=gold fish

Driftwood=pretzel sticks

Coconuts=Whoppers

Seaweed=green Twizzlers (these are rather challenging to find except at the Dollar Tree!)

Virtual Luau: In Action

Where to get materials:

Coconut Cups
Paper Umbrellas
Bags
Sunglasses
Leis

Leave Table Cloths
Inflatable Palm Trees
Flamingos
Grass Skirt
Pink/Green/Blue skirt
Parrots
Sun

For more information on ABC BOOTCAMP, CandyLand And The Price Is Right, check out these posts: