Theme-Oh the places you'll go

[chinamom]

I'm doing a classroom theme really for the first time this year. I'm teaching language arts to 3rd-8th graders (private school) and I'd like to have an "Oh the Places You'll Go" theme based, loosely anyow, on the Dr. Seuss book. Part of my thinking is that reading can take you anywhere, your writing can take you and others anywhere, etc etc. I'm making some posters with a few short quotes from the book. I'll have a reader's corner w/lots of books and comfy pillows, etc. I'm trying to come up w/ a more travel-related name for the reader's corner. I also have a "writer's block" bulletin board which will look like a city block but I want it to be functional as well, part of a "writer's corner" I guess you could say. I've found some hot-air balloon cut-outs too that are cute but haven't yet decided how I'll use them.

As part of my classroom management, each class will have a "passport" and can earn stamps on it towards a class reward. I'm going to try to find something maybe at a scrapbooking store to use as the passports which will stay posted on the wall.

Also, I like to have music playing as they come in and get settled, and I'm going to use music from around the world, maybe changing up each week.

Any ideas or thoughts? Anyone doing or have done a similar theme?

Chinamom

[clld2tch]

I'm doing a similar travel theme this year! Well...trying to do it. Oriental trading Company has some neat 1ft flags from different countries for about 3.29 and I'm also getting some other stuff from there. Just search for "travel." I'm using passports for achievements and goals that they have set and met for themselves and my whole class management is a jar that I'll fill with "bonus miles." (fake coins also from Oriental Trading) If you go to Jem's website: www.realclassroomideas.com, one of her links has a small journal entitled "Oh the places you'll go." I'm using that for when we get postcards from different classrooms around the world. The kids can write about what they've learned from the postcards or what else they would like to know about.

I'm so excited about doing this theme for my first year and it's really neat that someone else is doing something like that too. It means I'm on the right track.

[WaProvider]

While discussing countries you could add Olympics to your PE/recess since they start on 8-8-08 they will be in the press and on the news and even on MCDonalds ups when school clothes are getting purchased.

There is a Suessical Musical and perhaps you could act parts out or at least pick up a CD somehow.

We love making our own suess characters (art) and inventing jobs for them is great too.

And you class could read/do a flat stanly activity where you get the postcards from all the states/countries you can find access to. Chambers also like this activity if children write.

Sounds like fun. Let me know how it goes.

[pwhatley]

I am also doing a travel theme: Mrs. Whatley's World Travelers (1st grade). I was initially going to make a banner for the wall next to my classroom door that said "Reading is your passport to the world!" However, I think that the passport idea would just go right over my little angels' heads. I teach in a very economically challenged neighborhood school, and most of my kids will never leave the town in which they live. I plan to teach them small things, like how to say hello and goodbye in different languages (including ASL). That will be something that is "just ours," and no other class in the whole school will be able to do what we do. That can be a HUGE thing for 1st graders - I hope they like it!