Here's how I made my costume: I bought an apron with a pocket pouch on the front, I purchased clearance fabric from my local fabric store, and I used my rotary cutter to shape the scales. I also cut some of the silver fabric scales into thirds and put them into my pouch (you'll find out why I did that in a little later).
The undersuit is a blue unitard. I never in a million years thought I'd ever wear a unitard (ESPECIALLY to work!), but I found myself eagerly awaiting book character day because I was so excited to be Rainbow Fish!
I created a back to my apron (because I value my job and wanted my bottom covered) by sewing scales to a large piece of scrap fabric. I wrapped the fabric around my waist and secured it using sew-on Velcro.
Because I put a lot of time into this costume, I thought I could get the most mileage out of it by asking one of my friends if I could read the Rainbow Fish book to her class as a language arts mini-lesson. My student teacher and I went into her class yesterday to read the book and the students were absolutely fantastic during the book. At the end, I reached into my apron pouch and pulled out some of the silver scales I had cut into thirds. Each child got a silver scale, and I heard it was a big hit for the afternoon. Some of the students were even still wearing their silver scales at the end of the day.
Participation in the celebration of Red Ribbon Week is important to me because of the message we send to our students about making great choices. What's even more important is that I was able to collaborate with a colleague and bring a different element into her mini-lesson. It's hard to say who was happier: the students for hearing a great story and getting a sparkle scale, or me for helping another teacher. #nailedit