Another post, another room transformation. My favorite lessons are always when I blend something that my students and I love with our content. In this case, it was Dunkin’ Donuts.
In the summer of 2020, I found myself anticipating what the year would look like/how it would feel/what I would do. In the midst of all the unanswered questions, I found the most comfort in creating lessons that I knew would be fun, regardless of how our classroom and day-to-day looked. While enjoying my Dunkin’ coffee one morning, I came up with the idea of “America Runs on Reading.”
When I created this, I knew I wanted to do use this to introduce new books to my students in a coffee/donut shop environment for my students. After much planning, it finally started to come to life.
I used this lesson for my end of the year send-off and a more interactive way to introduce possible summer reading book choices. This lesson can easily be used at any point throughout the school year and it can be adapted to any grade level by switching out the book choices. As I’ve said before in my ‘Starbooks Room Transformation‘ blog post, room transformations are all about the little things.
THE LESSON
This lesson used a digital interactive “Dunkin’ Donuts” reading menu where students had to complete the Ultimate Breakfast Order. Their assignment was to click on each of the menu options and watch every book trailer. The book trailers consisted of different videos that ranged from teacher recommendations, to author ‘book talks,’ to TikTok videos, and student-made YouTube book trailers. Students moved through each station and after they watched the videos, they would rank the book on a scale from 1-5 based on how much they would want to read it. **I told the students if they already read one of the books, watch the trailer and rank it based on how much they liked it.**
Instead of a traditional paper assignment, students got to pick from a set of six bookmarks that were set out on each of the tables and used this to complete the assignment. They were double-sided with an “America Runs on Reading” theme on one side, and the book titles on the other. As students finished up, I had my laminator on and ready-to-go so students could laminate their bookmarks at the end of the class period. This was their ‘take home’ bookmark to use for summer reading and served as a reminder for books they wanted to read in case they forgot the titles after school ended.
The last portion of the “America Runs on Reading” assignment was a Dunkin’ Donuts riddle. Once they completed their book tasting, they had a chance to *win* one of the books on their list. They had to find my favorite Dunkin’ order and submit their answer using a Google form. I put each of the students names who guessed correctly in a “Wheel of Names.” Wheel of names is great because it allows you to customize the colors, and it saves even after you exit out of the website. After the names were picked, each student gave me a book they wanted to read for summer reading, and I sent it to them from Amazon over the summer. This was such a nice way to end the lesson because it provided an extra enrichment activity for students who ended early. There’s also something about solving a riddle/competition that gets any kid excited.
THE ROOM DECOR
Once the assignment was created, I was so excited to start decorating. For me, this is the most fun part of any room transformation and really brings the “wow” factor for students. I created 35+ signs on Powerpoint, bought table covers from the dollar store, bought these inflatable donuts from Amazon, used some cups from Dunkin’ Donuts, and used a “glazed donut” air freshener to make it smell like a donut shop. I hung the donuts and signs from the ceiling, and wrapped each desk in a different table cloth. Then, I set each of the tables with a cup for bookmarks and pencils. I spent a total of $30 dollars on everything, and almost everything can be reused for next year – I only have to replace the table cloths which were the most inexpensive item.
THE OUTFIT
Lastly, I wanted to make sure I was dressed the part. I wore an “America Runs on Reading” shirt (you can purchase the same shirt OR the SVG if you want to use a Cricut) from Etsy. I purchased my iron-on vinyl from Amazon and bought the fuchsia and orange colors. I paired this with a fuchsia maxi skirt from Target, donut earrings from Amazon, and a donut mask from Amazon that my amazing co-worker bought for me. Having an outfit for a room transformation always makes me feel so included with the kids and sets the tone for the lesson.
WANT THIS WHOLE LESSON FOR YOUR CLASSROOM?
If you want to use this in your classroom, you can purchase this on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. This comes with EVERYTHING you need and more. It comes with all of the room decor, slides to introduce the lesson to your students, the bookmarks, and a digital + in-person option for your students. The lesson is easily adaptable to ANY grade level. All you have to do. is pick out the books that are appropriate for your specific grade level and students.
TIPS
You can always buy donuts for your class if you have a smaller class. If you’re like me, you might have close to 100 students each day. Purchasing donuts for that many students can cost up to $90. I called a few Dunkin’ Donuts stores and asked for donations. Some offered to donate a box or two the day of, but others offered to give me the donuts that they didn’t sell at the end of the day. I drove to a few stores the day prior to my lesson and picked up the donuts that were going to be thrown away. This left with me WAY more than I needed, and was a great way to keep the donuts from going to waste!
HipHopHoorayForELA 