If I can turn my classroom into a bat cave, then trust me, so can YOU! I'm the type of teacher who loves to go on Pinterest and pin, pin, pin away but nothing ever comes to fruition (does anyone even use Pinterest anymore?) 🤣 That is how I know you can do this!
Bat Cave Step 1: Black plastic tablecloths.
I bought them at Walmart for 97 cents each. I bought three to cover the long "tables" of desks, six to cover the windows, and a couple extra for whatever. I could have returned the "whatever" tablecloths, but my husband helped me create an oversized bat that "flew" when the air conditioner kicked on.
Psst... I don't always do a complete blackout or the big bat.
Cost: $6 - $10.
I'm sure my husband, Justin will be thrilled he is in this picture.
Bat Cave Step 2: Ridiculously oversized bat (optional)
To make the bat, cut a tablecloth diagonally. You will use these for the wings. To make the body, use a rectangular piece of tablecloth to wrap up newspaper or scrap paper. To make the head, crumple some newspaper and wrap the tablecloth around it. My kids made the decorations on the bat.
Bat Cave Step 3: Glow sticks and flashlights.
I bought enough glow necklaces for each student. Again, I got mine at Walmart, but you could probably get them cheaper online. I borrowed flashlights from everyone I could. One quick Facebook post, and they came flooding in. One year, students used their phones and that worked well too.
cost: $5.00
Bat Cave Step 4: Bat Plans
My goal was to keep things simple and academic.
ELA - I use this great Reading and Writing resource from Hunt for Treasure. I love this resource because it has paired texts, multiple-choice questions, a writing prompt with paper and rubrics. My students loved sitting on the floor with their flashlights, reading these interesting articles about bats.
MATH
I love this math fall-themed division activities resource for fourth and fifth graders. This product includes three fall-themed worksheets and 24 bat task cards. I taped the task cards to the walls. Students walked around with clipboards and flashlights, solving division problems.
SCIENCE
Do you use Readworks?Its a free website with informational text. This article is called "Why do Bats Live in Caves?" I assign the article and we discuss the habitat of bats.
Then, we have some fun. Each student received one toothpick, and Almond Joy, and a recording sheet. We pretended students found fossilized bat brains. They had to work with their partner to figure out ways to get the bat brain out of the rock (almond out of the candy) without touching the rock with anything except the toothpicks. Each person could only use one toothpick at a time.
After digging for bat brains, we had such a fun day in the Bat Cave! With a couple of plastic tablecloths, some glow sticks, and a few flashlights, you too can have a "batastic" day!
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