Halloween came early to Lucas Dual Language Academy last week.
Well, not exactly but it did look like it was Oct. 31 with all the costumes and role playing.
The school introduced an outside-the-box week of lessons couched in the theme of fun topics designed to make learning more interesting. During “Rock Your School Week,” teachers transformed their classrooms into immersive learning spaces where interactive lessons sparked excitement, creativity and collaboration.
The mindset behind this exercise, developed by the “Get Your Teach On” organization, was that when learning feels like an adventure, students stay engaged and inspired.
Each classroom chose a different theme that varied from the Wizard of Oz to Dr. Seuss’ Lorax to Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Another movie themed classroom was based on Jurassic World. Some girls dressed up for the “Little Mermaid” theme in their classroom while some boys donned shark costumes.
Other classrooms picked safari, Disneyland, circus, Pokémon and Minecraft themes and another chose to center their studies on a medieval theme with castles, kings and queens.
Some classrooms opted for commercial themes, including an ice cream shop, rock musicians, candy shops, and coffee shops where students dressed like Dutch Bros and Starbucks employees – courtesy of apron donations from those companies.
It wasn’t all about fun. The themes were used to get students to do math problems, writing assignments and other academic exercises.
“It really focuses on student learning,” said Lucas Principal Angelica Mariscal. “It looks like a fun dress up day, but it’s a lot more than that. Teachers really are like designing and transforming their classroom and they’re aligning them with grade level standards to make the learning environment like memorable for students.”
Mariscal gave the example of students working in their classroom decked out as a space mission and solving math problems as astronauts.
“One of our themes was also a restaurant where they’re practicing their writing and communication skills as other students are ordering food or serving foods. So it really immerses real life situations in classroom environments.”
In the circus theme classrooms, kindergartners were able to purchase items from a concession stand and figuring out what they could afford with their amount of money.
The weeklong event also promoted attendance at school and student engagement. Monday started as a VIP Day.
The national event was promoted by Get Your Teach On, or GYTO, which is about collaborating with those outside of education to provide suppOrt and awareness for teachers.
In 2023 Lucas celebrated its 10th anniversary. The dual academy structure allows Spanish speakers to become fluent in English and English speakers get to learn Spanish.
