[Meg_n]

I was just choosing a theme for my future classroom and thought that I would have a poll for experienced teachers. I want to know what your favorite classroom theme is/was. Which one is the easiest to find decorations, the children like the most, and which one you could get the most creative with.

Im wanting to teach 2-3rd grade, so what themes would be perfect for this age group? Thank you so much!

[SusanTeach]

I love my jungle theme! The kids really love it, too. It's easy to find items for it, and it goes along with our curriculum in 3rd grade (we study Africa).

I had it several years ago, then switched to other themes for a few years, but I'm back to the jungle theme and I hope to stick with it a while!

[kla]

Stars are always easy to find. You can use one of the following themes: Reach for the Stars in 3rd, Welcome to 3rd Grade Starring...(and then put kids names or pictures up), Everyone's a Star in Mrs. __'s Class, Mrs. ___'s All Stars/Superstars, etc. There are tons of ways to use this theme. I have used it for a couple of years. It is easy to keep up all year. It works well with "Star Student" for student of the week or an "All Star" student work bulletin board.

[Tatum]

You could do a sports theme. You could create Team Jones or whatever your last name is. You could get balls for all sports and post "Having a Ball in Second Grade!" You could have the kids make baseball trading cards of themselves in printshop or some other computer program adn palce them up saying, "Meet the All Star Team of 2006". This them has so many possibilites. YOu could even have a ceremnoy at the end of the year where everyone earns their "Varsity Letter". These ideas came from Beth Newingham's web site. Google her name and she will come up.

Tatum

My kids love a theme they can learn something new about - Penguins, Outer Space and Undersea have been favorites.

My favorite was flip flops/beach.

[Indiana Teacher]

They are a pretty hot theme right now - lots of great decorations out!

[cinaminsweet]

My favorite theme to do is stars. There's tons of star stuff out and my kids really seemed to like it. I did that theme when I taught second grade. I also liked having a frog theme when I taught first grade. (Can you tell I like the alliterative titles? First grade frogs, second grade superstars...)

[JKB]

Through the course of my teaching years, I have used a variety of themes, but my all time favorite was "Be Like A Detective In School". I made a huge Detective with a magnifying glass. Then, I had signs around him such as: Observe, Take Notes, Listen, Research, Think, Look for Clues, READ-READ-READ, etc.

Hope this is helpful! JKB

[AmyH]

I love the sports theme that I have because I love sports! The kids love the room because of the team theme along with sports. It's nice for the kids to see what you love too!!