Our future's so bright...

     This school year's theme is "Our future's so bright, we just gotta wear shades!"  It's very unique, but very difficult for me to wrap my head around.  I mean, I get it and it's a great motto, but how on earth do you decorate a classroom for this???  I have never really decorated and filled my walls (it's clutter-y and overwhelming.....just sayin'), so I don't know why I was so bothered by this.  Anyway, after I got over the decor, the real struggle came when planning the opening week.
     I always begin the school year with a discussion about goals and dreams.  It really sets up a great classroom environment of goal-setters and diversity.  These activities also lead into my monthly character education read alouds (check out ....Bad Case of the Stripes).  As I was wrapping my head around, and google-ing, some "bright future" activities, I ran across this one.  I'm not sure where I saw it but I adapted it for my third graders.
     First, we talked about setting goals and having a dream for the future.  Then, each student wrote down one big goal for either this year or for the future.  After that, we talked about how people meet their goals; whether through education, hard work, etc.  Finally, my Bright Learners, wrote about their goal and how they were planning on meeting that goal.  They did a great job and really impressed me with their thinking.   For a display board, they wrote on a big cut-outs of sunglasses (see what I did there?).  This made for a great Orientation/Open House display for parents.