Doing a Glow Day classroom transformation was one of my favorite things last year. I did it right before state testing. I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out. My third grade babies were SO stressed about the state test and I wanted to change their mindset to being EXCITED about the test because it was a way they could show off all they knew! So I created a test review that was themed: Glow What You Know!
I am not going to lie, Glow Day does take more preparation than any other classroom transformation I do – but it is 100% worth it.
Setting Up The Classroom
The first mission to a successful glow day is darkening your room as much as possible. The least amount of natural light coming in is better for the black lights. I used black bulletin board paper (that was already in the teacher work room) to cover my classroom windows and created a sign with the black paper to cover my large white board.
Once everything is covered in black, the most time consuming part is out of the way- yay! Next up: black lights! My classroom is an average size and I used 5 black lights and a fancy disco light that a grownup donated. The more black lights the better. Put the lights in main locations where your activities will be taking place. The final touch for decor were glow in the dark balloons, these gave the room a party feel and added a little more light.
For the ceiling, we hung neon-colored decorations and glow sticks from the ceiling. The glow sticks from the ceiling were large glow sticks that we pulled down at the end of the day and the students took them home! You can even get some glow sticks at the Dollar Tree for super cheap. I also asked grown-ups to donate glow sticks and we had TONS.
Setting Up Supplies
The students each received a hat, recording sheets for the activities, and a highlighter. The students got to take their hats home. Each student also received glow sticks/bracelets that they got to keep.
I wanted to create games that allowed my students review important concepts from the year. I also wanted proof that students were engaged and understanding the concepts. Each station had a glow game or activity involved with it. I printed out the recording sheets and activities on neon paper and students wrote all of their answers with a highlighter (which they loved).
Glow Day Centers
Math Stations:
- Ring Toss – focuses on multiplication and division skills and needed 2 glow necklaces, a few glow sticks or bracelets, and 10 recycled plastic water bottles
- Perimeter and Area – I taped shapes on the wall using neon tape
- Glow Dice – focuses on place value and I got special glow-in-the-dark dice
- Graphing – I filled paper bags with neon pom-poms that students graphed and answered questions about
- Math Jenga – students answered task cards on various math concepts and if they got it right they had to pull a specific colored Jenga block
Reading Stations:
- Reading Passage About How Glow Sticks Work
- Reading Jenga – this is the same as math except the task cards are about various reading concepts
- Flashlight Reading – this was my quiet, independent station where students read anywhere in the room with a flashlight
- Craft (Functional Text) – students can create a firefly craft by working through the functional text
I ended the day with a fun science experiment involving glow sticks. Everything is put together in this detailed packet. All recording sheets, activities, posters, and more are included. Feel free to ask me any questions! It was honestly a day my students will never forget!
