Let’s be honest, we all want to unleash our inner rockstar once in a while.  Rockstar Day at school is the perfect time to wear those leather leggings you have stashed in the back of your closest (no? Just me?)  Okay, well dressing the part of a rockstar is definitely half the fun.  If you don’t have leather leggings no problem- here are some other tried and true rockstar attire:

1.  Tulle in pink and/or purple will make the perfect rockstar tutu.  So cute!
2.  Black leggings- they don’t have to be leather.  You could pair these with the tutu or without.  Whatever your little rockstar heart wants.
3. Bandana-think Axl Rose.  If you don’t know who Axl Rose is, you might be too young to truly appreciate rockstar day.
4. TATTOOS!!!  I would recommend temporary, but you do you.  I usually get the temporary ones for my face and the slip-on sleeves for… well obviously my arms.
5.  I think fake long nails in a bright color would be super fun.  I am really hard on my nails and I know fake ones would last a nanosecond, so I am going with some super sparkly glitter polish.
6. Colorful hairpieces, or spray, or gel– just get some crazy color going in there.   Speaking of hair— the bigger the better natch!  I mean get the Aqua Net and go CRAZY.  Holy Moly!  Are you even a rockstar if your hair isn’t bigger than your head?
7. Last, but definitely not least you need dark (you’re never, ever going to see my eyeballs) sunglasses.  Coincidentally I already own several pairs of these.  They work great when you’re holding your own personal concert for your mortified children in the mom-mobile.

Where You Gonna Rock?

If you have the time and energy you could do a little rockstar makeover to your classroom.  It’s definitely not necessary, because we rock no matter the stage.  But, here are some ideas for decorating your classroom:

1.  Hanging spirals and rock cut-outs from the ceiling.  You can find these pretty inexpensively on Amazon.
2. You could hang old records, which I think would look pretty cool, but may confuse the youngsters.  Which now that I’m thinking about it, I really don’t want to explain what a record is.  So disregard this idea.  Unless you teach in a senior center.
3. Hang a pennant banner welcoming your little rockstars.
4. Decorate your door with “Are You Ready to Rock?” and little guitars.  There are about 22 million ideas on Pinterest for Rock and Roll doors.
5. I also think it would be fun to lower the lights and have some type of light show.  You could do neon lights, spotlights, black lights.  It’s your stage- light it any way you want to.
6. There are a ton of inflatable guitars, saxophones, microphones on Amazon.  You could scatter those around your classroom.  It may give it more of a ‘“backstage” vibe if you want to go that direction.
7. I am planning to have a photo on my smartboard of a concert stage.  I’m sure you could play some generic crowd noise in the background, but honestly aren’t we dealing with crowd noise EVERY DAY in the classroom.
8. I want to have rock music playing as the kids enter.  Kid Bopz has several albums that could work for this.  I realize this isn’t an ideal way to introduce youngsters to the gift that is rock music, but we gotta use what we gotta use.
9. I highly recommend checking out the clips on Youtube from  “Troll’s World Tour” movie/soundtrack.

Rockstar Ideas for ELA Learning doesn’t stop when you are a rockstar, and this is a perfect opportunity to ‘rock’ some fun learning opportunities.   One of my favorite activities is to have the kiddos draw themselves as rockstars.  Then, they use the star glasses to write about what they would do if they were a rockstar.    Aren’t these just PERFECTION!!!!  I found this idea here and here is a link to an older blog post I did about this activity.  You could also do a rockstar journal prompt.  A couple of prompts you could use are:  If I were a rockstar…. I also think it would be fun for kids to work on time and make a “Day in the Life of Blah Blah as a Rockstar”  9:00 am I would do this… etc. There are so many fun books to read during Rockstar Day.  My favorite rockstar read alouds are:

1.  We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
2. Charlie The Ranch Dog Rockstar by Ree Drummond

You should also check out Rock Star Storytime on Youtube.  A real rockstar reads a fun book.  My kiddos loved it.  Here’s the link: Rockstar Ideas for Math You could have your little rockstars graph a variety of rock symbols.  They could gather data and do a little interpretation.  You could also practice some math skills by putting together a little practice sheet with a mystery message.   Remember adding a little rock music in the background would add an excellent element and may keep the rockstars from chatting. Rockstar Idea for Technology I love to use this google slide for the students to answer questions about their rockstar self.  The students take a “selfie” (hard to do on a Chromebook) and insert the picture into their google slide.  Next, they answer the rockstar profile questions about their rockstar self.  This would make a great slide show, print it out for a class book, or embed it into your class website.  This is always a favorite activity.  You can grab a free copy here. Rockstar Ideas for Brain Breaks Even rockstars need a little break from learning and pool noodle drumsticks are just the activity.  Each student gets a set of drum sticks (pool noodle cut in half)  The opportunities for these are endless.  You could just play some rock tunes and let them drum their tables.  I am planning on putting together a little (easy) routine to the tune “We Will Rock You!”  Then I will play it intermittently throughout the day and whenever the song comes on they need to stop what they are doing and perform our little number. Rock On, Lisa