Why transform your classroom? Because it takes your kiddos to a new place! They feel as if they are just having fun in a different location, but they are really learning at school! Does it have to be expensive? No way! As a teacher, wife, mom, and doggie mom to 3 puppies, I limit the amount of money I spend in my classroom and I shop on a budget! Many of my transformations happen around holidays because those are the days my students really struggle to be engaged with the tasks. I have found doing transformations has kept them engaged on the hardest days. Because of this I shop holiday sales after holidays for the following year! The dollar stores and Hobby Lobby always have amazing deals on holiday decor after the holidays so I always take advantage of those!
Setting it Up & Laying it Out
My Hospital Transformations are laid out in 5 different centers. The goal is for students to be in small groups and to travel to all 5 centers before the end of the transformation. Included are all of the props such as hospital signs, hospital rooms signs for the centers, and name tags. I try to get donations from local hospitals for the hair nets, disposable gowns, gloves, and face masks. (I included Amazon links if you want to go that route as well.) These really help the students feel like doctors. The only items I bought for these transformations are the blue tablecloths from Amazon to use as room dividers. I used blue butcher paper for tablecloths, but you could use white tablecloths as well.
Grade Level & Standards
I have created three separate hospital themed transformations! You could also use multiple of them, depending on the level of your students, to allow for major differentiation. One was created based on 3rd grade common core standards for Addition and Subtraction, one was based on 4th grade common core standards for Multiplication and Division, and the hardest one has been created based on 6th grade common core standards for working with decimals. Each one is formatted to look the same so if you use them for differentiation, students all appear to be working on the same cards.
Working with a Team
I have used these transformations just in my classroom and I have used them with my team. In 4th grade I team taught with one other teacher and we were able to transform the entire day to be like a hospital. In my classroom we just did this math transformation, and in her classroom she did a reading hospital themed transformation. It made the whole day engaging for the kiddos!