Students plan an event of their choice start to finish as if they were an event planner. Paying attention to details is essential. The students created a diorama showing the look and feel of their event, and a booklet that contains their budget, floor plan, guest list, To-Do list, menu, and time schedule. They also make an invitation, an item off their menu, and sample decoration for their event. Finally, the students set up a table show casing the event that they planned at the school’s art exposition.
Time Frame: Semester Course
Objective
- Students plan an event of their choice start to finish as if they were an event planner and present their final projects at an exposition.
Set
- The best way for students to see what is required is to show them the final product. I set up my sample project on a table like they would do for the exposition and explain all the parts of the project piece by piece.
Materials
- The project is a project where difficulty matters. When you look through the rubric you will see a lot of pieces that are optional and that warrant extra credit. I tell my students that the more complex the event you plan the more points you can earn but you more points you can lose too because there are more parts that are graded. In contrast picking an easy event to plan like a Superbowl party for five will not allow students to take advantage of the extra credit options and therefore all the pieces they turn in have to be nearly perfect to receive a good grade. So, it is possible to plan a large event like a wedding have more mistakes but receive more points than someone that planned a backyard tea party and did the bare minimum.
Instruction
- Go over the instruction packet and answer any questions.
- Brainstorm as a class event ideas. Discuss the positives and negatives of planning certain events. For example planning a wedding for 300 people is much more complex than planning a slumber party for 10 girls at your house.
Activities
- My students work on their projects at least once or twice a week in class (3 months). It is possible to just assign the project but I find that most of the learning happens when I help them individually. Asking questions like, “did you think about this? How is this fitting with the theme? ” often aid in learning.
Extensions
- If at all possible, try to either take your students to meet a real event planner or have one come in and speak to your students. The job sounds fun and glamorous but that is not always the case. This is also one of those businesses that often can only be successful if networking is a priority. These are the types of things to ask an event planner to talk to your students about.
Closure
- If you had to do this project over what would you have done differently?
- Do you think you would enjoy being an event planner? Why or why not?
- What parts of the project were the most frustrating?
- What parts of the project were the most enjoyable?
- If you were to really hold your event what do you think would not work out like you are expecting? or that you would have to work on more to really implement?
Assessment
- Grading Rubric in attachment below.
Video
Attachments
- Event Planning Project (PDF)
Websites
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