How To Choose & Use a Classroom Theme 

Many teachers use seasonal themes in their classroom, but fourth grade teacher Carrie Zook (LaSalle Elementary in Mishawaka, Indiana) sets up her classroom using one major theme for the entire year. In fact, longer. Theme materials can be expensive, so she economizes by using a theme for two or three years.

Finding a Theme

Over the past six years, Zook has used the typical themes -- Oceans, Space -- but this year she wanted something different. She looked online and at the card and party store outlets for ideas. She selected the theme of Hollywood because it's fun and...

They love movies in the fourth grade. And I talked with my fourth grade niece and asked her: If you walked into your classroom, what would you want it to be like? What would make you think "This is cool"? And make you excited to be there?

So Hollywood it was.

Using the Theme to Showcase Classroom Activities

Zook purchased ready-made items for her bulletin boards and walls that shouted Hollywood -- reels of film, small and large yellow stars, clapboards, silhouettes of cameraman behind a camera, and oversize movie tickets, celluloid film, and a popcorn container filled with candies. She incorporated the Hollywood theme in many ways throughout the year.

Yellow Stars Zook made a yellow laminated star (magnet on back) with each student's name. One use: grouping students. For example, when they arrive in the morning, students place their star on the blackboard under the Bag Lunch or Hot Lunch sign, making lunch count and attendance check easy. She uses larger stars to label things around the room.

Clapboard, Popcorn Box, Movie Ticket Zook displays "props" like a clapboard (as in "Scene 1, Take 2") and a gigantic popcorn box full of candy. A reminder of the rewards students can win for completed work -- their name on a movie ticket and a chance in the weekly drawing.

Silhouette of Cameraman and Camera She also uses black and white paper clapboards with a  silhouette of a cameraman and camera to "publicize" the classroom duty assignments. She writes the duty above the clapboard and the student's name on the silhouette of the cameraman.

Celluloid and Reel of Film Zook uses celluloid strips as edging and a reel of film to decorate this bulletin board displaying the rules for the mini-economy she runs in her classroom and the expectations for classroom procedures, such as lining up.

All photos by Carrie Zook.

For more ideas on classroom set-up, be sure to read Classroom DIY.

It's a part of Go! The Magazine for New Teachers  (A special supplement to NEA Today, Fall 2008).

In Front of the Class

by Linda Starr Education World®

Inexpensive solutions to classroom storage problems.

Month to Month

Store timely materials by month.

Purchase 10 large plastic tubs and label each tub with the name of a month. Use the containers to store timely lessons, worksheets, projects, bulletin board materials, and so on.

Got Milk?

Milk crates have multiple uses.

Milk crates are great for storing materials, creating a center, or use as bookshelves. You can pile milk crates to create chairs or throw a vinyl table cloth over crates to create a table.

Files and Folders

Save space with plastic.

Insert into a large 3-ring binder an individual plastic folder for each student. Attach to each folder a colored tab labeled with a student's name. Use the folders to save parent correspondence, field trip permission forms, absence notes, and so on. Create an extra folder for receipts for items you purchase for the classroom.

Copyright © 2008, EducationWorld.com, used by permission

In Front of the Class

by Linda Starr, Education World®

Keep classroom practices fair with random selection methods.

Numbers, Please

Use numbers, not names, to identify students.

Assign each student a number and use those numbers to label supplies, assign texts, and so on. Have students put their numbers instead of their names on homework and class work to speed record keeping and distribution of corrected work. Numbers also can be used for objective student selection; for example, "All even numbers between 1 and 10 line up." "All odd numbers can go to the restroom."

And the Winner Is...

Pull a stick; choose a student.

Write each student's name on a craft stick, and place the sticks in an unbreakable container. Sticks can be used to call on students during class activities and discussions, to pick partners or groups for cooperative activities, and so on.

Random Selection

Who has the matching sock?

Other items you might use to assure random selection or to create pairs or groups include: pairs of socks, colored clothespins, playing cards, and computer-created business cards.

Copyright © 2008, EducationWorld.com, used by permission

In Front of the Class

by Ellen Delisio, Education World®

Having students write about their misbehavior, why it occurred, and what they are going to do to correct it is valuable for students and teachers. Students get a chance to have their say, and teachers can review the write-ups with students and keep the documents in students' files.

Looking for ways to help students reflect on disruptive behavior and learn to correct it? Let them write about their actions on contracts, questionnaires, and in journals, and then review the documents with them.

Contracts or questionnaires should be part of an overall classroom management strategy. Teachers should issue class rules at the beginning of the school year and ensure they are clear and consistent. Students should understand which infractions warrant discipline and the consequences for disruptive behaviors. Teachers also should make clear when students will receive forms: when the disruptive behavior occurs or right after class.

Slipping forms or instructions to students to write up the incident during class can decrease embarrassment for students and minimize class disruptions.

Reflecting and Writing

A student who writes himself or herself up can identify the behavior and its cause, explain why the behavior is a problem, and propose a way to correct the situation. That allows the student to express his or her viewpoint about the incident.

The teacher then can review the form with the student and decide whether a parent or guardian should sign it.

If having parents sign the form does not lead to improved behavior, the next time a student completes a form, consider having the student read it over the phone to a parent, in the presence of another adult.

Having students write themselves up doesn't mean teachers should give up, though. Writing short, on-the-spot notes -- pointing out positive and negative behavior -- also can be a good classroom management tool. While carrying around a pad of adhesive notes, jot down "good job," "excellent question," or "remember to raise your hand" and stick the notes on students' desks. Students get instant feedback and a reminder that the teacher is on top of things.

Not everyone favors writing as part of a punishment, though. Some schools do not want students to develop a negative attitude about writing, so they do not assign writing for misbehavior.

"I feel it is important to make the kids understand what they did wrong but not by punishing them with a skill in which we want them to excel," Dana Arhar, a teacher at Immokalee Middle School in Immokalee, Florida, told Education World.

One teacher from the Middle Level list serv came up with another kind of note. She sings (badly) to the recalcitrant youngster, mostly oldies. Tunes by the Monkees usually got the quickest response. After serenading some students with off-key verses, now she has only to threaten to sing, she wrote.

No Notes for You?

Other suggestions for managing your classroom:

• When leaving the classroom as a group, tell the students you will be watching the behavior of two children, but don't say who they are. If the two you are watching behave, reward the entire class after returning to the room.
• If a student interrupts another pupil and calls out an answer, tell him or her that the behavior "robs" the other student of a learning opportunity.
• Remember the keys to successful management strategies: fairness and consistency.

Copyright © 2008, EducationWorld.com, used by permission

In Front of the Class

by Linda Starr, Education World®

Focus

Project the morning's brainteaser or bell ringer activity onto the chalkboard with an overhead projector. That spotlight in the dimly lit room helps focus students' attention on the work and on day ahead.

Who's Watching?

When leaving the classroom as a group, tell students you will be watching the behavior of two students, but don't say who they are. If the two you are watching behave, reward the entire class after returning to the room.

Pasta Discipline

When students are all working well on a task, together or independently, grab a handful of macaroni and dump it into a jar. When the jar is full, students have earned an agreed-upon reward. Possible rewards might include a free activity time, a night without homework, or an ice-cream treat.

Copyright © 2008, EducationWorld.com, used by permission