Theme - Jungle Theme

I did a jungle theme in my room:

Door: Welcome to the jungle!

Behavior: We're the best bunch! (Children earn bananas for good behavior.)

I had a jungle painted on my wall and jungle print pockets for the back of my chairs.

On the first day we went on a "Safari" and I bought cheap safari hats for them and we took a tour of the school. I gave the staff an animal mask I bought from Oriental Trading and they took it off and introduced themselves when we came and each student got a mask by the end.

If I was going to be in a classroom next year i'd do the same.

Student of the week/month: "Top Cat!" Put a large tiger to tie it into the jungle theme.

Classroom Jobs: "Spotted: Classroom Helpers!" OR "Hunting for Helpers!" Put up a green/grassy background, large pair of binoculars and a safari hat, Put some windy roads and a small safari vehicle (use a matchbox car for fun). Give each student an animal (use elephants, rhinos, tigers, lions, monkeys, etc.) Put the job names on trees and rotate the animals around the board.

General Information Board: "Information Hut" Put up a solid background and cut a tall dome shape. Glue straw all over it to make it look like grass hut. Post information all over it.

Map of the U.S: "Making Tracks All Over the U.S." Cut out prints of several different safari animals and post all around.

Trivia: Make a bulletin board that is half brown (rocks) and half blue (raging river) Get clip-art from the computer of a raft to float along in the river. "Trivia River! Hang on for the ride!" OR "It's a Trivia Adventure!"

Good Work Board: Get a lion, tiger, elephant, etc. themed rubber stamp and stamp great work to be posted on the good work board "Work to Roar About!" "No Lion' This is great work!"

Wall Decor: Check out dollar stores for expired calendars. These pictures make great classroom decorations when cut out and laminated. Maybe you could find a wildlife calendar with pictures of safari animals.

Welcome Motto: "NOW BOARDING: The Learning Safari!" Find a safari jeep on clipart and make a big poster to get students ready for the year.

Reading Corner: Drape the walls with nets and put a couple of stuffed animals on the book shelves. "Take a journey through a good book!"

Student Groups: Put students in groups and name each group a different animal "Gazelles" "Tigers" "Giraffes"

Bulletin Boards: Get zebra striped fabric, leopard spots, tiger stripes, etc. for background of bulletin boards.

Student Nametags: Print out clip-art or realistic pictures of various safari animals to use as nametags on student desks.

I teach 2nd grade and I had a jungle theme in my classroom.
At the beginning of the year I had a board that said, "Our class is on a safari for success!". I used green fabric to cover the board and I used exotic looking silk flowers from the dollar store as a border. I put pictures of safari hats and binoculars on the board.

To showcase good work, I had another bulletin board that said, "Good grades are something to ROAR about", and it was covered with tigers.

My behavior management system was a on a bulletin board that said, "There is no monkey business in Miss Kully's class". Each student had a monkey with their name on it. Each day they started with a green banana. If they misbehaved, they had to move thier banana to yellow, and if they misbehaved again, they had to move thier banana to red. Each time they have to move the bana to another color, they lose a privledge. STudents who keep the green banana are rewarded at the end of the day.

I have the monkey theme this year too. Here are a few thing I did:
Hallway BB; Swinging Into First Grade
Door: Welcome to Our First Grade Jungle
Behavior Board: No Monkeying Around
Word Wall: "Tree" mendous Words
Job Board:
Birthday Board: A Bunch of Birthdays
didn't get to put up Birthday Board or Job Board this year-will definitely do it next year
Student of the Week: Top Banana
Good Work: Banana's About Great Work

Here are a few pictures: will have to attach separately

Behavior Board

lunch count

Reading area

picture did not post, here it is

Classroom door picture

Ihave some of my room finished. I would like your input and suggestions. Is it too busy I am making new curtains for the windows and am also making khaki color skirting for the bottom shelves. I am hoping by covering all my tubs on the bottom shelves my room won't look so busy. My reading center is called the Howler Hut; my literacy center is Banana Bluff-I work with guided reading groups or other small instruction group work;My behavior and assignment board are in the next pic- I use a money system for behvior managment; The research center i s called the Kapok Corner- students browse through books looking for specific information from task cards etc; and my door is the last pic. I don't have the wall decorations done yet.

I did this theme last year and have added on for this year. I have a class mascot its a Lion (name not decieded on yet), so the BB has a Lion theme and so does the door.
* The hall board has a Lion dressed in safari outfit says " We're jumping through hoops for our safari adventure into kindergarten," and it has little animals with the kids names on animals jumping through hoops.
* The door has a Lion with the saying "Welcome to our Pride."
* As for the inside of the room I made poster size animals using the overhead projector to help.
* My reading area has a tree with branches over hanging from the ceiling and it has monkies and a macow hanging from it, for the bookshelve I glued bamboo sticks that I bought from a dollar store, and I have a child size park bench bought at Big Lots for $20. The saying says" No Monkeyin' around we love books."
* For my Helper Board I made a map out of brown wrapping paper, I used a clipart of a Jeep and wrote the kids names on them,ans says " Hunting for helpers."
* Birthday Board I used different animals to make a graph and it says "We're wild about Birthdays"
* Morning Board just has a big lion on it as though it were walking through the grass.
* The cubbie boxes I used green BB boarder to cover the top and used different animals to aline the top with the kids names.
* For my tables I used clipart to name each table an animal name ( Lion, Tiger, Elephant, Giraffe, Macow, Zebra) using the same pictures I used them on the homework boxes, and on the table baskets.
* The homework table (were I keep the homework boxes) I used a piece of plywood and painted Giraffe skin on the top.
Okay that's all my brain can remember right now... I hope this helps!!!

I have Jungle Bucks as my classroom money. They come in $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 dollar amounts. Each amount is printed on a different color paper. I store them in an index card box.

I have attached the $1 bills. To change them...
Right click on the black line around the edge of the Jungle Buck.
Click on "grouping"
Click on "ungroup"
This should allow you change the text and delete any pictures.

I am also doing a jungle theme and I found this awesome idea for making plam trees in a Mailbox magazine and I cannot wait to try it. You need large flower pots, 6 foot of PVC pipe (2 inches wide), plaster of paris, an umbrella, and green and brown paper. Mix plasterof paris according to directions and put into pot until it's almost full. After plaster has set for a few minutes, insert pipe in center of pot. Allow plaster to completely harden. Wrap the pipe in brown paper to resemble a tree trunk. Open the umbrella and put in the top of PVC pipe. Decorate with leaves made from green paper. I cannot wait to try this for my reading area!!! I also found these inflatable tiger chairs in an old Oriental Trading catalog but they don't make them any more!!! But I am going to get some brightly colored inflatable chairs to go along with the trees. Someone on another board suggested hanging green netting or long strips of green bulletin board paper from the ceiling. Also, hanging inflatable jungle animals (from Oriental Trading) from the ceiling. Good luck!!!

I'm doing a jungle theme this year, but I've had others in the past depending upon what grade I teach. I prefer to stay in 3rd now, so I hope to keep my jungle theme for a while!
My other themes were:
Bright colors/sun
tie-dye
jungle (did it several years ago)

My room will be decorated by:
*Reading Corner - vines hanging from ceiling, animal print body pillows to sit on, a few stuffed and blow-up animals.
*Door - brown and green backing, vines hanging from frame, monkeys with kids' names on them hanging from the door, "swinging into 3rd grade" as title
*Word wall - leaves showing the letters, either brown paper as backing, or jungle border to frame the words (not sure which I like better yet) under each letter, "wild about words" as the title
*Information Hut - brown paper as backing, raffia as top (to look like a hut), this is where my menu, calender, etc... go, "Information Hut" titled at top.
*Cubbies - on top I have a rainforest scene (bought) that will go there, and I have stuffed animals to put there.
*Social Contract - Not sure what shape yet, but probably a leaf - possibly an animal if I can make it look right!
*Job chart - Yellow background with Green letters, clothespins to show child's name, titled "Jungle Jobs"

There are so many things you can do with the jungle. Here are a few:
1. Use brown paper as backing and rafia or brown hula skirt for the top, to look like a hut. Write "information hut" on the roof. That's where all the calendar, menu, etc... goes.
2. Buy animal print fabric (sometimes in the $1. stacks at Walmart) to make curtains and pillow cases (to make for easy washings). Use big body pillows in the reading corner.
3. Use similar animal print to cover under your computer table (or other tables that you want to hide what's under there!). Just hot glue it - looks wonderful!
4. Make a large tree out of brown crumpled paper - let the vines be part of a word wall - add words throughout the year. The vines can go through your accoustical (sp?) ceiling.
5. Put similar vines over the reading corner area - and drape artificial vines/flowers over them.
6. Find some cute stuffed jungle animals to set around different areas (reading corner - kids like to hold them when they're reading - they can be thrown in the washer on the gentle cycle about once a month).
7. Helper chart - have a picture of a leopard and it says "Spotted... good helpers" with their names. Or use it for other things like "Spotted... good work" with good papers on it.

That's all I can remember right now, but I really liked the way my room looked. It was easy to find things for it.

I have a card system, and if students end the day without moving their card, they get 2 bucks. If they get a warning, they get one buck. After that, they get no bucks. I am going to have them move their card first thing in the morning if they don't turn in homework, this makes them lose a buck for not turning in work as well.

I will ocassionally give out bucks for other things like, pick a mystery person to watch in line and if they do a good job, they get the buck in my hand when we get back to class.

At the end of the day or when we need a five minute filler, I ask trivia questions pertaining to the curriculum. If students get it right, I am going to have a small basketball hoop in my room. I am going to place masking tape at 3 or 4 places around the room. Each piece of tape will be a different value of bucks. If they get the question right, they can quickly take a shot at the spot of their choice. If they miss, they get nothing. It's just a fun game for them.

I am also going to use the hoop for morning work. After collecting it, I will draw out one random paper, if the heading is there, it's neat, and complete, they can take a shot at the hoop. I think it will motivate them to do their best on their morning work.

As for things they can buy, I will open the store once a month and sell passes, coupons, and classroom priveleges. For example, I will have a special snake chair in my room that I made. I am going to sell a pass to sit in that chair at their desk for an hour. Other passes will be, free shot at the basketball hoop, free drink anytime you choose, free ten minutes on the computer, sit in reading corner during study time, double roll homeworkopoly.

I am still in the heavy planning stages of it all. I am going from teaching inner city to rural, so I know things are going to be very different and I'm making changes for that. I hope this helps some, I know it's long, sorry.

I used a rainforest theme last year. I had a "Calendar Oasis" bulletin board. I used blue cellophane paper to create a river, I added moss along the edges and added a blow up snake I bought at Wal-Mart (sold in garden area to keep small animals away). I made 12 paper canoes and wrote the months of the year on each. I added plastic insects I bought from Oriental trading along the river. I also had a "Going Bananas for Books" bulletin board in my classroom library area. I made a banana tree and added stuffed monkeys I bought at Rainforest Cafe (you could make them out of paper and stuff them). As the kids read books, they filled out a paper banana cutout with the book info (title, author, summary, and rating) and I added it to the tree in bunches of 10 (great math activity). I made a huge mural with a hut on stilts I drew on one side and added the classroom 's rules in it. Starting from the center of the mural extending toward the opposite end I hung (from the ceiling)a vine made out of twisted butcher paper with a plastic vine(sold at craft stores) twisted in it, I added a stuffed snake and wrote "Sss...Sensational Work" as the caption. I bought a scrapbook paper sold at the Rag Shop that had jungle animal cutouts. I took pictures of my students and glued each picture to one of the animal cutouts and then spread these out on the mural. Their work was stapled under their pictures throughout the year. I bought a red-eyed tree frog from the Rainforest Cafe and he was the class mascot. The kids named him and a different student took him home every weekend and wrote about his adventures in his journal. Each Monday, the child would read the journal to the class. The kids really loved this! Hope this helps.

I've never tried to attach a picture to my posts, but I thought I'd try it. I got my room ready!!!!!!!! We start with kids on Monday, so I'm pretty excited about it. Here are some pics you can click on. In order they're the front door, word wall ("Wild about Words"), library corner (with vines hanging), morning math board, and the cubbies.

I Started The Monkey Theme But Wow You Sure Finished It!

This is a picture of my classroom library.

WOW!!! What some wonderufl creative ideas!!! We have some creative teachers out there!!! I will be using some of the ideas. What about piggyback songs to go with the theme.

I Went to the Jungle One Day
(Sung To: "London Bridge")


I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a monkey on the way and this is what he said, "oh-oh-oh-oh"
I went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a lion on the way and this is what he said, "roar"
went to the jungle one-day, jungle one day, jungle one-day
I saw a snake on the way and this is what he said, "hiss"

Do You Know the Jungle Animals
(Sung to: "The Muffin Man")

Do you know the slimy snake, the slimy snake, the slimy snake
Oh do you know the slimy snake that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the chimpanzee, the chimpanzee, the chimpanzee
Oh do you know the chimpanzee that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the wildebeest, the wildebeest, the wildebeest
Oh do you know the wildebeest that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the crocodile, the crocodile, the crocodile
Oh do you know the crocodile that lives deep in the jungle?
Do you know the mountain lion, the mountain lion, the mountain lion
Oh do you know the mountain lion that lives deep in the jungle?

Note: Add Additional Animals


I'm a Little Zebra
(Sung To: "I'm a Little Teapot")
Submitted by Susan
I'm a little zebra white and black
With a bush mane running down my back
I like to gallop and run and play
Out on the African plains all day.



Monkey See, Monkey Do

The monkey stomp, stomps, stomps his feet
The monkey stomp, stomps, stomps his feet
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey claps, claps, claps his hands
The monkey claps, claps, claps his hands
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey covers, covers, covers his eyes
The monkey covers, covers, covers his eyes
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!
The monkey jumps, jumps, jumps up and down
The monkey jumps, jumps, jumps up and down
Monkey see, monkey do
The monkey does the same as you!

Note: Add additional verses (sits down, stands up, turns around, etc)



Tigers and Lions
(Sung To: "London Bridge")

Lions and tigers come out to play, out to play, out to play,
Lions and tigers come out to play, Tigers and lions
Lions stand up and tigers sit down, tigers sit down, tigers sit down,
Lions stand up and tigers sit down Lions and tigers!
Tigers all walk and lions jog, Tigers all walk and lions jog
Tigers all walk and lions jog, Lions and tigers
Lions twist and tigers hop, Lions twist and tigers ho
Lions twist and tigers hop, Lions and tigers.



I'm a Little Monkey
(Sung To: "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a little monkey in the tree,
Swinging by my tail so merrily
I can leap and fly from tree to tree
I have lots of fun you see.
I'm a little monkey watch me play
Munching on bananas every day
Lots of monkey friends to play with me
We have fun up in the tree.



The Animals In the Jungle Say
(Sung To: "The Wheels on the Bus")

The parrots in the jungle say squawk, squawk, squawk,
Squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk,
The parrots in the jungle say squawk, squawk, squawk, all day long
The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh, all day long.
The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh,
ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh,
The monkeys in the jungle say ooh, ooh, ooh, all day long.
The tigers in the jungle say grrr, grrr, grr,
grrr, grrr, grr, grrr, grrr, grr,
The tigers in the jungle say grrr, grrr, grr, all day long.

I'm A Lion
(Sung to: "Three Blind Mice")

I'm a lion, I'm a lion
Hear me roar, hear me roar
I love to sleep out in the sun
And chase other animals just for fun
In all the jungle I'm Number One, I'm a lion

Down In The Jungle
(chant)

Down in the jungle with the beat in your feet,
Think of an animal that you'd like to meet.
That you'd like to meet (have a child yell out an animal name)
A (Lion), A (Lion) She wants to see a (Lion)!
Note: continue the chant until everyone has had a chance to name an animal

Five Little Monkeys in a Tree

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!
Four little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Three little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

Two little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!

One little monkey swinging in a tree,
Teasing the alligators, you can catch me, you can catch me....
Along came a alligator quiet as can be.......
And snapped that monkey right out of that tree!
No little monkeys swinging in a tree


Underneath the Monkey Tree

Come and play a while with me, Underneath the monkey tree.
Monkey See and Monkey Do, Just like monkeys in the zoo.
Swing your tail, one, two, three, Underneath the monkey tree.
Monkey See and Monkey Do, Just like monkeys in the zoo.
Jump around and smile like me, Underneath the monkey tree.
Monkey See and Monkey Do, Just like monkeys in the



Alligator on a Log

There once was an alligator sitting on a log,
Down in the pool he saw a little frog
In jumped the alligator, and around went the log
Splash went the water, and away swam the frog



Alligator Noise

(Softly) Alligator (Make alligator mouth with fingers)
Looking for some food in the morning
(Louder) Alligator (Make alligator mouth with hands)
Looking for some food in the morning
(Louder) Alligator (Make alligator mouth with arms)
Looking for some food in the morning
Three Layers in the Jungle
(Sung To: "If Your Happy and You Know It")
There are three layers in the Jungle, Yes indeed.
There are three layers in the Jungle, Yes indeed.
The Emergents, Canopy, and the Understory.
There are three layers in the Jungle, Yes indeed!


Jello Jungle Animals

Children can make jello jungle animal figures, this way they can see the process the jello takes(liquid to solid)
materials are jello, cookie cutters, cookie sheet and a bowl for mixing. Also, a paper plate can be decorated with the jungle jello animal for presentation.

Thank you to all of you who posted ideas about a jungle/rainforest theme. I finally remembered to take pictures of my finished room. Here they are. This is my information, buddy reading and fluency area.

This is my door. I have my rules and consequences on this board as well as a pocket for each child.

This year I'm doing a jungle/rainforest/safari theme. Here are some of the things I have done so far in my room:

1. I built a 3-d tree in my reading corner using crumpled bulletin board paper for the trunk (hot glued to the wall over the corner of the wall). I bought (about 3 yrs ago...this is not the 1st time I have used the tree idea) these leaf sections or picks (they are about 12" in length with lots of leaves)...I got them at a discount floral supply near our town (3/$1.00)...I attach them to the celing tiles by using bent paper clips, and so when completed it looks like you are standing underneath a tree. My kids, parents, and other teachers love it. (I came up with the idea when we went to the rainforest cafe and the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN a few years ago. I have a couple of monkeys hanging in the branches of my tree (purchased a garage sales for $.25 each).

2. I have twisted green and brown bulletin board paper and have hung them twisted from the ceiling all over. I tried not to hang too low, because once school gets started we do lots of anchor charts.

3. I have 4 bulletin boards that I have began decorating...just the base color and borders...so if you have any wonderful ideas please let me know. The one by my door is brown with twisted bulleting board poster around it to look like vines....I glued leaves all around it...I have no title yet...this would be like an informational board. The next board is a long one, which I have decorated with orange paper and tiger print border...I have a title on it.."Wild about Math" I'll use it for problems of the week and to display student work. The other is behind my desk...black background with leopard print...I think I'll do something like.."Spotted...good behavior" and do my Queen and King of the jungle (ideas picked up from this website)...the other is right next to my tree...I have decorated it much like the one by the door, but think I'll do something like "We're going Bananas for Books" or something...any other ideas??? I also thought I could use it for my students to do book recommendations...I saw an idea about using a net, and putting books or book covers in a net and saying "Caught in a good book" or something.

4. My mother-in-law is helping me...I'm getting about 5 chunks of tree stumps (I guess you'd call them)...she lives in the country, and knows someone who cuts wood...they are making them into little stools to put around in my reading corner...I also have a large animal print body pillow...and 2 beanbags (that are red and purple...nothing to do with my theme, but they love them)

5. My mother-in-law also helped me sew banners from canvass. I have painted one to hang over my desk that has my name on it. I bought bamboo on clearance from Hobby Lobby, and I broke them to go through the casing on the banners and I have hung it from the ceiling with rope, over my desk. I have tables in my room for grouping, so I have a banner for each table, and I'm trying to come up with creative names for each table (tribe), and a first day activity will be for each group to decorate their banners so I can hang them over their tables. We will have weekly challenges for tribes, such as math problems of the week, good behavior, turning in homework, teamwork, good sportsmanship, etc...haven't worked that all out yet.

6. I'm going to hang rafia skirting over my windows, and grass skirting around my desk.

I love doing themes in my classroom...I believe this sets the tone and atmosphere for the year. I am NOT a creature of habit, so I look forward to changing my theme each year...I have only been teaching going on 5 years, but I think now I have several in place and can rotate them. I'm in a temporary (18 yrs. old..ha!) mobile unit...so I have to do anything I can to make this place inviting.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!! I'm really excited about this year. I have a group of kiddos coming up that I will definitely have to be creative and stay on my toes to keep them engaged in learning.

Please share your ideas!!!!

I did a search for 'Weezer' and found pictures of her great 3rd grade room . Here's her job list

I had this BB in my class last year.

I did share it on another thread, so sorry for cross posting, but it is really cute.

It's "A BUNCH of facts about Mrs. Bainbridge". The kids really liked being able to have a peek into my life- especially my 2nd grade picture!

:)
Christina

In my literacy center I have a 6 Traits Tree. My calendar area- the tubs below are part of my poetry center; The next pic is just a view of my room from the door...I can't wait to get my skirting done to cover all my theme tubs on the bottom shleves! The pic with the large tree is outside my room..I display student work here. My job chart is called chimp chores!