Classroom Themes - 4 Seasons

The Sky's Always Blue in Room 22

Before Pics:

 

After Pics:

Each wall became the location of a different season.  My reading corner area and wall became Fall.  The book bins are black with labels created using Microsoft Power Point.  I used a background of colored leaves and orangeish-brown font to label each bin with the topic of the books in that bin (examples are: animals, school, nonfiction).  Each book had a colored dot sticker that matched the sticker on the label for that bin so students could match the stickers to replace the books after they were finished reading them.  I printed two slides per page from Power Point, stuck on the stickers, and then laminated the labels to attach to the bins with masking tape.

For the word wall and (later) behavior bulletin board below I attached butcher paper to the wall using staples and covered the top with a fall-themed scene setter purchased in a roll from a party store.  I added a fall leaves border and the bulletin board accents on the side that I bought from a teacher supply store.  I backed the first half of the words using orange paper and then stapled the words below the letters, printed on leaves (orange for consonants and yellow for vowels).

 

For the reading corner, I found the canopy online (hung from the ceiling using a clear drop ceiling hook ordered online).  There was also a small rug and my oversized bean bag chair, which were gifts from my mother.  I found the foldable chairs (to the side of the bean bag, against the wall) for cheap at Target after college campus supply sales.  The kids LOVE them.  There are also pillows with Halloween themed pillow cases and blankets on the bottom shelf below the books for kids to use.  I sprinkled different stuffed animal pumpkins on the shelf and in the reading corner for "book buddies" with whom students can practice reading aloud.

For the window behind my small group table, I used leaves from a craft store (fabric on a plastic vine) to staple above the window.  I bought the scarecrows and sign on sale after Fall from a craft store, as well.  For supplies, I used plastic trick-or-treat pumpkins that were on sale in stores after Halloween.

This wall was Spring.  I used a scene setter for the second half of the word wall (this time with flowers).  I also had different weather blow ups that I attached to the ceiling using those clear hooks and fishing line again.  The umbrellas and rain drops I created using laminated cardstock and fishing line.  There are clothespins hot glued to the back to hang student work from the ceiling.  I added bulletin board accents in white spaces on the wall to continue to spring feel, using butterflies.

This area is a word work center, used during reading (and also various times throughout the day).  I made it comfy using a caterpillar pillow, a small rug with letters on the turtle shell, and flower and lady bug stuffed animals--all of which seemed Spring-like to me.  Supplies were stored in bins and the black storage podium on the right.  On the closet door, I printed out reading strategies on yellow cardstock, laminated them, and taped them to the door along with bumblebees from a purchased classroom job bulletin board set from a teacher store.  I created a faux bulletin board by the classroom door by stapling up butcher paper and a Spring border (rain boots).

 

The blue ledges stuck to the side of the filing cabinet were from Lakeshore, and are neat for storing small books or center supplies.

The back wall became Winter.  On the left are focus bulletin boards for reading and math.  I backed them using a winter scene setter from a party store and snowflake borders.  The bulletin board on the left is using a plain white border and was for student work to be posted.  On the ceiling, I created student work hooks using cardstock in the shape of hats and mittens.  I attached the two using fishing line and hung them from the ceiling using clear hooks purchased online.  By gluing clothespins to the back, I was able to easily hook student papers to the mitten part.  Snowmen and small Christmas trees added to the Winter-y feel.

The front of the classroom became Summer.  I used sand pails and shovels for student work hooks on the ceiling (again using cardstock, clip art, fishing line, clothespins, and clear hooks). 

 

I used beach balls for student jobs with the bulletin board on the left under the television.  The beach balls and sunglasses were stapled to the board.  Then, I wrote student names using gray metallic sharpie on the black shade parts of the sunglasses.  I laminated them and used masking tape to attach them to the laminated sunglasses so that I could rotate the names to a different job each week. 

 

I used beach scene setters for both of the front boards.  The one on the right is for the calendar.  I created a faux birthday board on the far right using butcher paper and a border.  I used ice cream cones as the months and the ice cream scoops to stack up students' names with their birthdays. 

 

I added ant/picnic themed numbers on the bottom under the chalkboard.  I also posted various summer stuffed animals/pillows and the flamingo behind my desk.  I had little plastic sand pails and shovels from Oriental Trading that I hung from the ceiling, as well.

 

This is the entrance to my classroom from the door.  I hung the cloud and the sign from the ceiling using fishing line and clear hooks.  The faux bulletin board by the door was for student of the week posters.  The tree above the table was from a purchased set where the leaves change for each season.  They start out green for Fall.  There's an evergreen tree with cones for Winter.  Finally for Spring and Summer, the green leaves go back on the original tree.  I rotated the trees/leaves for each season as we experienced them throughout the year.  The kids' names went on the leaves and cones.

 

 

This is the view from the hallway, walking up to my classroom door and student lockers.

I created this faux bulletin board above the student lockers using a lot of time, cardstock and butcher paper, letters from my Cricut, and student borders.  A ladder and a helper are recommended to recreate this idea.