The Lifetime Learner

Creating Lifetime Learners

  • The Lifetime Learner
  • Home
    • Shop
    • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • TpT Store
  • Classroom Transformations
    • Classroom Transformation Ideas
  • Search

Chef Classroom Transformation

chef classroom transformation

Can you handle the heat in the kitchen? This Chef Classroom Transformation tests students’ math skills while allowing them to be chefs for the day! This transformation is so much fun because it involves food! No matter which grade level you teach, all 6 chef classroom transformations align with common core standards. Here they are for grades K-5.

(This post contains affiliate links. By purchasing through this link, we get a small commission–at no additional cost to you. Rest assured – we only share links to products that we use and love!)


 


STEP 1: SETTING THE STAGE FOR YOUR CHEF CLASSROOM TRANSFORMATION

Tell your class they are going to become restaurant chefs right in your classroom!! Students will be reviewing different skills around the room at each station. The challenges can be completed in any order.

And the best part? You as the teacher are able to easily choose how many challenges students complete / what time frame they have to meet YOUR needs.

chef classroom transformation kids working

Setting up is really easy. Simply print the posters, challenges, and a recording sheet for each student. Place them around your room and you’re ready to begin! You can decorate as much or as little as you want to. Everything is included for you so it’s easy to pick and choose what you want to put up on this special day. 

chef classroom transformation posters

I print out the included posters and put them up around the room. It can also be a lot of fun to decorate the door / outside in the hall with the restaurant posters so students see this as soon as they enter the school.

chef classroom transformation restaurant sign

I also like to buy a few items from Amazon to display around the room. My students really enjoyed wearing chef hats from Amazon but you can also print them out at no cost to you (scroll down to see the hats included!) Students loved seeing them when they walked in.

chef classroom transformation classroom all decorated

“Extras” certainly aren’t needed for room transformations, but they can be super fun if you want to include them! If you want to add any additional decorations, you may like some of these ideas:

Looking for even more ideas? I’ve got you covered right here with my Classroom Transformation Decoration Lists!


STEP 2: PREPARE FOR STUDENTS TO ARRIVE

On each student’s desk, I put an admission ticket that really gets them excited for our day together. Many of my students enjoy using the admission ticket as a bookmark for the rest of the week too.

chef classroom transformation admission ticket

Putting a name tag on their desk for them to wear while working can add in some extra pizzazz too. I let them tape it to their shirt with a piece of masking tape so it’s no extra work for me.

chef classroom transformation name tags

Another important thing to do is add directions to your whiteboard or Smart TV for students to see when they enter. This lets students know what to expect and sets the scene right from the beginning. You can actually grab this slide for FREE along with 40 Free Room Transformation Slides! Scroll up a bit and you’ll see the link. It’s completely customizable so you can edit it to say whatever you prefer. There are plenty options included in the free download for many room transformation themes.

chef classroom transformation slides on TV

I print out the station posters and challenges. These get placed around the room. Students will travel around the room during the chef classroom transformation and complete a challenge at each poster. I set this up in the morning before my students come in so everything’s ready to go. Set-up is quick and easy.

chef classroom transformation example of challenges around room


STEP 3: HOW TO COMPLETE THE CHEF CLASSROOM TRANSFORMATION

When all students have arrived, set your expectations for the day. Make sure students know that this is a learning experience and a privilege. If you put behavior expectations in place before starting, the room transformation will run much more smoothly and set you up to have a GREAT day.

chef classroom transformation kid with hat

There are a few things to consider discussing with your class before beginning…how will they be working? In groups? Partners? Independently? Do they get to choose? How many challenges will they need to complete before they finish? How much time will they have to complete the activities? Do they need to show their work? What will they do when they’re done? Decide the answers to these questions beforehand so you can prepare students for a wonderful experience.

chef classroom transformation kids working

When you’re ready to begin, explain to students they will receive a recording sheet and will be going around the room to complete different challenges! Each time they finish a challenge, they need to bring you both the challenge they completed and their recording sheet for you to mark.

chef classroom transformation worksheet with recording sheet

You can see in this example that the student finished the “Delivery Challenge”, so I initialed that box on their recording sheet. When students finish a challenge, they get to choose another one to complete. Sometimes I have my class do all 10 challenges, and sometimes I only have them complete 5 or 6. It just depends on the class, the day, and what skill we’re working on. Do what works best for your class. These room transformations are meant to be flexible and are also 100% editable! If there’s a skill your students haven’t learned yet, or you live in a state where that standard doesn’t apply, simply edit the content to what you need instead.

thanksgiving math challenges that says challenges are 100 percent editable at top and it says 3 versions included at bottom

Which Grade Level Do You Need?

  • Kindergarten Chef Classroom Transformation
  • 1st Grade Chef Classroom Transformation
  • 2nd Grade Chef Classroom Transformation
  • 3rd Grade Chef Classroom Transformation
  • 4th Grade Chef Classroom Transformation
  • 5th Grade Chef Classroom Transformation
  • Reading Chef Room Transformation
  • Reading Chef Add On Pack

While students are working, I find it’s best to either circle the room to “touch base” with how students are doing or stay in one central location where students can come to you to be checked. This is also a perfect opportunity to invite parent volunteers into the classroom so they can help you check student papers.

I like to have students work in partners or table groups so kids can help each other while working. This means there are less students coming over to me frequently with papers needing to be checked and allows me to help struggling students who may get stuck.

chef classroom transformation worksheet


STEP 4: WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE DONE?

When students finish all of their work, I like to reward them with a small prize. It can be something simple like a pencil, a dojo point, a HW pass, or something chef themed! My favorite is giving them a Hershey chocolate bar to take home with them. 

chef classroom transformation kid with chef hat and candy bar

I also like to make the treat “hands-on”. Once students get their candy bar, they use it to complete a math worksheet about chocolate! Here’s an example of the 3rd grade chocolate bar worksheet. This keeps them busy while everyone else finishes.

chef classroom transformation hershey bar worksheet

My students always get a certificate to take home with them too. This creates a great talking point for students with parents when they see it. Parents will ask what the certificate is for and students always really enjoy explaining what we did in class that day. I’ve gotten many happy emails from parents thanking me for doing activities like this with their child–and they found out about it through the certificate in their child’s backpack!

chef classroom transformation certificate

When students start to finish, they’re going to start saying “now what?”. Make sure to have an activity ready to go for those fast finishers so everyone else can continue working. I like to have students learn fun facts about cooking during this time. This is included for you in 3 formats so you can choose the one that works best for you. 

chef classroom transformation fast finisher activity

  1. You can print out the posters and hang them around the room. Then, students travel around the room and copy down the fun facts.
  2. Print out the QR codes and hide them around your room. Students scan the QR codes with a tablet and write down the fun facts on a sheet of paper.
  3. Let them use the Google Slides version! Students click on cooking characters to “hunt down” the fun facts.

chef classroom transformation coloring page

And that’s it! That’s the step by step guide on how to complete a Chef Classroom Transformation! Keep reading for some additional tips to make your day even more fun!

chef classroom transformation desks decorated for the day


DIGITAL CLASSROOM TRANSFORMATIONS

I also offer all room transformations in a DIGITAL format! This means students can complete the challenges on Google Slides if you’d like to save on paper. The QR codes/fun facts also come in a digital game format that students can complete and copy down online. You can learn more about how to do a digital room transformation here.

ipad with digital classroom transformations and pencils


Things to Consider Before Doing a Chef Room Transformation

What will students do while waiting for the fun to begin?

If your class is anything like mine, they all come in at different times in the morning. Arrival is a 30 minute long period. I can’t have students start to complete activities right away or half of my class would miss the instructions. To keep students busy while they wait for everyone to arrive, I like to make them put together a hat that they can wear during the room transformation!

chef classroom transformation hat

And there are more hat options provided too!

chef classroom transformation hat

And the kids who come in later can have a friend help them put one together quickly or opt out of the hat. Remember, making a hat certainly isn’t necessary but having something in place for your students when they come in is! Other ideas include reading a book or completing a morning work activity of your choosing while they wait for the room transformation activity to begin.

Make sure you know where student work will go when students finish.

Classroom transformations can involve a lot of paper. When students finish each challenge, what will they do with their papers? I have classroom mailboxes that my class puts their completed work papers in. If you don’t have a system in place, you may want to consider using a manilla folder for each student to collect papers in as they go around to each station.
chef classroom transformation folder
A few years ago, when I didn’t have mailboxes yet, I added this cover to each student’s folder and they LOVED putting each challenge inside of it! It kept all of the paper off the floor and desk areas while keeping everyone much more organized too!

Let students help you when the day’s over.

Students love to help–so let them! If you put out any additional decorations, or you’d like to save the posters you printed out for next year, have students take them down for you at the end of the day. I’ll tell each table group to do a different task so we can clean up the entire room in under 5 minutes. If there are tablecloths up, one table will be responsible for folding them and putting them in a bin for reuse. Another group will go collect the posters on the wall and stack them neatly for me on the back table. A third group might be responsible for cleaning up trash or organizing classroom furniture that may have moved during our room transformation. Don’t leave clean-up for after the students leave for the day. Let your class help you so you get to leave when they do.

You may also find this post on Classroom Transformation Tips helpful. It lists my top 10 tips for making your classroom transformation easy and stress-free.

Want to see more classroom transformations in action? Follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or TikTok to see more!

signature

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

«
»

Filed Under: Classroom Transformations, Math

Copyright © 2023 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

 

Loading Comments...