Classroom Themes - Under the Sea

"I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine.  If I am to change this image, I must first change myself.  Fish are friends, not food."  -Bruce, Finding Nemo

Before Pics:

 

After Pics:

There's nothing like a good reading corner!  I use my reading corner as a center after students are finished their independent reading assignments for the day's assessment and have met with me in a small group.

To make my reading corner, I used a smaller themed rug and a giant bean bag that I received as a gift from my mother one year.  It is the first thing that students are drawn to when they come into my classroom, and a great place for them to sit and relax with a book (also great for parent conferences where students or younger siblings tag along). 

I also included "reading buddies," which are stuffed animals that go along with books (hungry caterpillar) or the theme (fish - Little Mermaid).  On the bottom shelf there are pillows (Sponge Bob pillow cases) and blankets to pull out if the kids want to stretch out and get comfy.  There is also a smaller rocking chair.  The canopy overhead is hanging from a clear sealing hook and was bought online.

The books are located nearby and organized in blue bins to continue the under the sea feel.  I later created labels on power point (print out 2 per page for just the right size) to help point out the topic of the books located in that bin.  I organize my classroom library with different colored dot stickers on the corners of books that match the dot sticker on the label for the bin where it is housed.  If you laminate the labels and tape them to the bins with masking tape, they stay all year, but come off when you're ready to re-label for a new year. 

This is the calendar I used for first grade.  The blue background and undersea borders for all of the bulletin boards help pull the theme together.

To make this (faux) welcoming bulletin board (outside the doorway to my classroom), I first started by stapling blue butcher paper to the wall in a rectangle shape.  Then, I surrounded it with a wave border and trimmed any of the butcher paper that was sticking out.  I used my Cricut machine to make the letters (I like that they are a little more kid-friendly than the regular die cuts at school).  The students' names were written on under the sea critters from a purchased bulletin board accent set and stapled down.  I added the net behind (purchased at a party store for a few bucks), and then stuck in some plastic sea animals (from the party store, too) for some 3D appeal.  I just stuck them through the holes in the net to make them stay.

 

I like to give my students classroom jobs that rotate weekly.  Each student gets a job each week, but some jobs require two people (for example, bathroom monitors are 1 boy and 1 girl).  For my job bulletin board, I started with the pun heading, blue butcher paper, and sea creatures border.  For the shells and pearls, I printed out a clip art shell.  Then, I put a blank piece of white copy paper over top and traced the outline that showed through the bottom page with the clip art printed on it.  I only wanted the basic shape.  Then, I colored the shell part gray and the pink part using a colored pencil.  I copied them using a color copier and then laminated them.  I wrote the jobs on each with an overhead marker in case I wanted to wipe them off and change them in later years.  It stays on better than dry erase marker, but comes off easily with a wet paper towel.  I stapled the shells to the board.  The pearls are laminated white circles.  I used my Cricut for them, and attached them with masking tape so that I could rotate them each week to a different job, or shell.  Velcro or magnet strips would have worked well, too.

For my sink/water fountain, I put down small themed bath mats to encourage students to give each other space when they were waiting in line to get a drink or wash their hands.  They stood on a mat while they waited their turn.  If the mats were full, they needed to stay in their seats and wait until a mat was empty to avoid long lines or a bunch of students hanging around that area during the day.

By turning the file cabinet so that the long side stuck out, I had a space for students' names to be posted for the class graph.  Each day, I used dry erase sentence strips with magnet strips on the back to post a question for the day and 2-3 choices.  (For example: "How did you come to school today?" would be at the top on a long dry erase strip; below on smaller strips would be: "I walked", "I rode the bus", "I came in a car").  For some questions the last option would be "Other" or "Something else" as a catch-all.  Students' graph pieces were created by cutting pink and blue index cards in half, sticking a label with their name on the front, laminating them, and putting a magnet strip on the back.  Each day, they came in, took their graph piece, lined it up with the option they chose on my desk, and created a quick and easy bar graph that we later discussed during calendar.  In first grade, this built reading fluency, added a math component to calendar, and allowed me to easily take attendance each morning by glancing over to see which pieces were left.

I liked having focus boards for reading and math that changed depending on the unit we were on at that point in the month.  It allowed a reference for skills, and gave visitors a quick peek at what we were focusing on during the week's lessons.  One board was an actual bulletin board, but the one on the left I just created by stapling butcher paper and a border to the wall beside it.

 

For a writing center, I used a playschool mailbox for them to write letters to me on a given topic.  I would then write back to them.  I collected all of the old envelopes companies send you with credit card applications or requested responses and stickers that looked like stamps for an authentic feel as students licked the back to seal the envelopes, put on a "stamp" and "mailed" their letters to me by sticking them in the post office box slot.

A good carpet is essential for pulling kids together to read a story or gather up for part of a lesson.  Not only does it allow for movement from their desks and back, but it improves focus to pull everyone close up.  I used a stool as a computer "chair" that I could sit on both ways and easily pull out and put away.  I also used the fish counting posters under the board as a math reference that also went along with the under the sea theme.  I bought the set from a teacher supply store.

I organized tables by colors and letters (in first grade I used the vowels to label the tables).  The table bins were used for students to put unfinished work so that it didn't just disappear inside their desks.  Student name tags also pulled in the fish idea.

Every teacher uses a student work bulletin board.  I just added a pun, a border, and small stuffed animals stuck on with push pins to make it sea-themed.

Another view of the front of the room.  I used my computer and overhead cart to separate the reading corner from the main carpet.

I didn't neglect the space outside of my classroom.  In the hallway, I created faux bulletin boards and hung signs/blow up sea critters to the ceiling using fishing line and clear hooks that can be purchased from drop ceilings online or in teacher supply stores.

For the word wall, I used fish cut outs for the letters (blue for vowels, green for consonants) and backed each word with a blue piece of paper before mounting all of the words on the wall.  For the background, I used scene setters from a party store.  They are plastic-y and sometimes see-through, so I sometimes put up butcher paper underneath before stapling up the scene setters.

 

Underneath the word wall, I used a variation of the "traffic light" behavior system.  Students had fishes that stuck to the Velcro strips.  They moved up to blue for excellent behavior, or down to yellow or red for inappropriate behavior.  Each sea creature had a speech bubble that explained the consequence for moving up or down (for example, losing 5 minutes of recess time).

I also created student work hooks and bobbers (on the ceiling).  I made a template using a circle and rounded small rectangle that I just created in Microsoft Word.  I then used red and white pieces of cardstock for the bobbers and gray for the hooks.  They are attached by using fishing line and a sewing needle to "tie" them together.  Another loop of fishing wire was strung from the top to attach them to clear hooks from the ceiling.  Student work is attached onto clothespins that were hot glued to the back of the hooks to look like they had been "caught".  I also decorated different sections of the ceiling with blow up sea animals from party stores.

I used more of the netting and sea animals behind my teacher desk for a display for student notes and pictures that they gave me throughout the year.  I used the counter and bookshelf for storage and organization of lesson materials.

This is the second half of the word wall over the sink.  I also posted another alphabet.  I used the colored drawers beside my desk for additional storage.