It's up to you!

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Home : 2006 : August : 3

It's up to you!
By AlaskanCourt

I am doing a theme this year, but I haven't always done one. How much it encompasses is entirely up to you. I did a racing theme one year, and all it included was the welcome sign on our door, some racing tires filled with
pillows in our class library, and a behavior system based on the different flags.
This year I had planned to do a camping theme. I was really excited a couple of weeks ago and had so many ideas that I thought maybe I was going a little overboard. Now I've changed it to an Alaska theme (since that's where we are). In 3rd grade SS we study Alaskan geography and history, and we tie

it into science with weather and animals, so now I feel like I can incorporate my theme and make it curriculum-related, too. I plan to name my groups after Alaskan cities. My library area is still going to be set up like a campsite with tree stumps to sit on, a mountain background, and a collection of stuffed animals representing animals found in our state. My behavior plan is going to be a token economy with "Moose Money," and we have our MOOSE notebooks for organization. The letters for my word wall are going to be related somehow - haven't decided yet.
So basically you can make it be as much or as little as you want - if you haven't done a theme before, why not start small? You can always add to it as the year goes on. If you don't want to do a theme, I wouldn't worry about that, either. Plenty of teachers I know don't do one!