*Soapbox Moment :)
I truly believe that every great teacher has their own "BEST practices".
Lots of great teachers do themes. Lots of great teachers do not.
Lots of great teachers do themes well, lots of great teachers do not.
You don't have to theme.
I always loved it because it was just another way to teach my kids.
The only "must have" from theming for me is that it's a theme that teaches my kids.
Meaning: you'll never see me do a "hollywood theme".
If you're going to hang something up in you room, let it teach your kids.
Don't make a banner or sign because it's cute.
Case in point.
My first ever classroom was third grade. I went to the Social Studies and Science curriculum and looked for a theme. I chose Oceans and then Rainforests. My behavior chart was the layers of the Rainforest or the World's Ocean, sorry Indian Ocean, when they were having a bad day, they went to you. By the end of the year, my kids knew all of those levels.
When I taught 5th grade math we did an Airport theme.
I stretched it here because I didn't really want to teach 5th grade math, and Math was everywhere anyways.
We had arrival/departure board, cargo bings, suitcases, flight plans, and we learned about math around the world.
In 2nd grade, we went with monuments since one of the standards is that the students will know all the important DC memorials by the end of 2nd grade. Massachusetts. You're ridiculous.
I had these on various bulletin boards and the students enjoyed looking at the pictures and quizzing each other. By the end of SEPTEMBER everyone could name all the monuments. Pretty sweet.
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