I recently shared a look at the PJ Zoom party I threw over on my Instagram – and ended up with hundreds of DMs from you all asking for more information. So, today on the blog I’m sharing my zoom lesson idea for a PJ party to use with your students – and some freebies for you to use as well to make your planning even easier!
Invitation
First, I sent an invitation to my students – as a picture message through email. I’ve included a template here for you to add your information on. This was just a fun way to get them excited for the upcoming PJ party.
Click here to download your invitation in Keynote or here to download your invitation in PowerPoint. Both come with both spelling options; pyjamas/pajamas, favourite/favorite.
Once completed, you can save it as an image and then email it to your students!
Baking Cookies
Then, I sent home symbol recipes for students to follow for chocolate chip cookies (I included a gluten free version as well.) This wasn’t compulsory, but almost everyone baked cookies the night before – or on the morning of if they were up early enough – and then brought them to the PJ party.
I told them that they could great creative and make them into different shapes if they want – this was great for some added conversation on the day in the Zoom meeting.
Then, we talked about our cookies. What type of chocolate chips did they use? How do they taste? How do they feel? Are they big or small? This was great for us to work on expanding our vocabulary.
We paired them with milk (Or tea for me!)
Click here to download a chocolate chip cookie recipe or here for the gluten free version.
Nursery Rhyme
We love using sign language when we sing, and nursery rhymes are great for this. So, next on our list was ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” I emailed home copies of the poster and had it on display in the Zoom meeting. Then, we used our signs as we sang along with the song.
If you don’t know the signs, you can try watching this YouTube video with your students instead where Mr Tumble signs along with the nursery rhyme.
Click here to download the poster.
Boom Cards
After this, we used a ‘Counting the Stars’ Boom deck which you can use for free, by clicking here. Students took it in turns to count the stars and how many there were, submitting their answers.
Boom Cards have been a life saver for us through distance learning, and I know parents are enjoying using them at home with students too. This one tied in nicely with our relaxed PJ party.
If you love Boom Cards as much as we do, click here to go and visit our whole range!
Story Time
Finally, we ended with a story. My kids are dinosaur crazy right now! So I read the story Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. My kids love it and it was such a relaxing way to end the session.
Show and Tell
After the story, I offered students the chance to bring something to the screen to show everyone and talk about. It could be a book, their teddy.. Anything they wanted to share and talk about. We also had some parents join us for the lesson and they loved how open and fun the session was.
Post-Lesson
After the lesson was over, I sent home some prompts for parents to use with their students if they wished. They could either use them as writing prompts and carry on with their sentences or just use them as conversation prompts. Some examples of what I sent home are..
- Today I wore my pajamas and..
- My favorite part about the pajama party was..
- I thought that the pajama party was..
Make sure to all wear your PJs and have fun!
What fun Zoom lessons have you done with your students? Let us know in the comments down below. If you are looking for more ideas for Zoom lessons, check out this blog post.
If you found this PJ Party Zoom lesson plan idea blog post helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media. And if you have a PJ Zoom party be sure to tag me on Instagram @TeachingAutism
