Theme - Rainforest Theme

I turn my whole classroom into a rainforest. I begin by introducing the rainforest by reading the Great Kapok Tree. Each day I introduce a part of the rainforest, ex: layers, animals trees, plants, people, resources. After students have a lot of background info. they choose a part of rainforest they want to do a report on. We research in computer lab for each topic (I make a simple outline of questions to answer)students write facts, rough draft, edit, final copy, type in computer lab. All reports done in class. I send home a time line for parents to know when to expect things are happening. Parents help students make replica of what they did their reports on. I have two days before replica's are due that I ask for parent help to turn the room into a rainforest. I have students in groups that want to make things in the rainforest, ex. vines (twisted paper, large sheets on roll),trees, flowers, grass, bushes, water fall, snakes, anything the students want to make. A parent is with each group to help. The vines are what makes it look really neat. During Art class the students make something to add to the rainforest. Students bring in animals, trees, whatever they researched and place in the proper place in the rainforest(actual size). Student give individual reports durig class. I invite parents to come for a tour of the rainforest one afternoon. Students take friends and family for a tour telling them all about the rainforest, you will be amazed at the info. they have learned. This is a huge process, but very worth it! I have now talked the other first grades into doing it this year.Try it you will be amazed at the results!

I am also doing a rainforest theme for my classroom. I have found some that include: Reading Rainforest, Wild about Reading (this has an animal print background and book covers with big google eyes that looks as if are looking at a book), Hanging out in Mrs._____ Room (hall display), Mrs. _____ Bunch (Tree with a monkey and bannas), Wild About School, Wild About Books. These are just some that I have found, I have more but, I wrote them down and they are at school so I could decide which ones to use. Hope this helps.
Tonya

I bought the hut in the above picture at Big Lots. However, I used to have a hut that I made and I used a grass table skirt for the top. I attached a pic of this hut!

Sorry for three posts but I made 3 different kinds of trees.

I attached a picture of our hut and tree. I did a rainforest theme for the last 2 months of school. The kids loved it. I'm hoping to add to it this year.

Ok, I need your host of brilliant ideas. This past year my classroom was a rainforest. My jobs were "Who can Help? Toucan You Can!" and the kids names were written on toucans that rotated, I had vines growing across the room to post work, the kids built a Kapok Tree the first month, their name magnets were on snakes, the library had birds that asked you to "Branch out with a good book", blow up animals around the room, and I painted the room green and brought in a bunch of live and fake trees and plants.

We were a jungle :). My favorite idea was taking the layers of the rainforest and turning them into the behavior chart. All my kids snake magnets started out in the emergent layer of the rainforest, if they had a bad day, the moved it to the canopy, and so forth until if they continued they would be on the forest floor. It worked much like the red and green light system, but students learned from it at the same time. Often I'd be caught yelling, "Move your magnet to the emergent." and the kids would answer, "You mean canopy?"

Question is, this year we're turning my classroom into the airport, my jobs will be stewards and stewardess, my library will Take off with a good book, my art teacher is building me a newstand, and a magazine turn stile....but what can I do for my behavior chart that is still educational and functional...I had the idea to do first class, second class, crew, cargo, but that doesn't really reinforce any subject or area of learning. Any idea of something I can use that will reinforce a third grade concept? Clouds? Continents?

Go to WalMart and buy some of the brown paper that is over in the area where they sell the boxes, packing tape and bubble wrap. Take several rolls. Then unroll it and twist is tightly make "vines". Hang these from your ceiling by draping them and attaching them in various spots. Then hang monkeys, parrots, etc from the branches along with some fake greenery. I'd also see if you can't find some inexpensive plants to sit around your room to form a jungle type atomosphere!
Good luck!

One year I did this theme in my 3rd grade classroom. I made a huge tree at the entrance of our classroom. THe trunk of the tree was the entrance into our jungle. My door was covered with brown paper and I decorated the tree with crumpled green tissue paper and green leaf cut-outs. I also placed a few pictures of animals that would live in the tree (monkey's, birds, etc.) in the leafy area. Inside my room I bought rainforest themed fabric from Walmart to use on the bulletin boards (ferns, vines and frogs were some of the fabrics I used). This was a great investment because the fabric didn't fade and I can reuse it again. I also bought green and brown party streamers and I twisted them and pinned them up to the ceiling to look like vines and branches. I also hung huge colorful butterflies that I found at the dollar store from the ceiling. Hope this helps!

I am doing this theme this year. I have had so much fun! I have a word wall that is "We're Wild About Words" with the words on monkeys and synoymns of those words underneath them. I also bought a BB set that had monkey and jungle pictures for items such as the lunch count, class rules, class news, and class schedule. It also came with a card that said "We're Swinging Into Third Grade". I also bought a paper cutout tree to place in the hall with each student's name on a monkey. I have a big palm tree in front of my window. I also have toucans with the students' numbers on them for keeping up with their AR points. They move their Toucan through the three levels of the rainforest (up a cutout tree) to the number of points they have on AR. I just recently made a hut over my door. I did this by hanging an old shower curtain rod in my doorway and then glueing an Hawiian table skirt over my door to hang over the shower curtain. It is soooo cute. I also hung vines over my two bulletin boards with green paper and rainforest border. An artist friend of mine let me borrow her paintings of the characters in the Jungle Book movie. I dont plan on changing this theme for awhile. I hope that some of this babbling helped.

Look Who Stopped Monkeying Around! Then put up examples of good work.

It's a Jungle Out There! Then post poems or actual writing about the rain forest.


Come in Out of the Rain. Then show pictures of rain forest dwellings and descriptions of the materials used written by students. Also rain fall reports on the amount of rain. Maybe some maps showing rainfall.

Sounds like you've done a lot. I hope you are able to post pics soon. I do the rainforest theme and love it! So do my kids. I haave mycenters titled Kapok Corner- this is science/social studies/ reasearch skills center; Parrot Point: the table where I do small group work/guided reading groups etc. TreeMendous Words ; working with words skills Monkey Math Center and Plantation Poetry Center Of course my Reading Center is titled the Reading Rainforest and I have a reading hut in it. I put my children in groups based on animals I have toucans, boas, jaguars,

I've placed real banana plants in my room and they really add to the jungle theme. I also bought little sound things that I use tao get attention or change activities. I found them at Big Lots. they are parrots and the other is howler monkeys! I hope this helps. I've posted pics on the site I am sure you've seen or can acess by typing in a search of the archives. If not, let me know and I will post them again.

We used 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe. We cut the legs in 6 feet sections because that is how tall I needed it because of my couch. I would make it shorter if the kids are going to be sitting on the floor. We have 3 pipes going across the top. Cut these the length you want your hut to be. You will need 6 T's and 6 elbows to conect it all together. I spray painted the PVC pipe, and used double sided tape to attach the grass table skirt as a roof. Hope this helps!:p

You use brown bulletin board paper and scrunch together to make vines that could hang from the ceiling. Oriental Trading has inflatable monkeys, etc. Palm tree made out of a carpet roll with a natural rope wrapped around, a burlap bag scrunched around the top, then add some artificial palm leaves sticking out of the roll. You could use blue or clear Saran Wrap and make a waterfall in one of the corners. If you use clear, you'll have to have blue bulletin board paper underneath. Then at the bottom crumple some brown paper and make rocks. You could even use aluminum foil crumpled in to a ball then sprayed painted brown. I'll try to keep thinking of more ideas. A fellow teacher used this theme last year. I'll try to talk to her and get her ideas.

I've done the rainforest for a couple of years..inspired by an actual vacation to the Amazon. I made a hut out of pvc pipe and grass skirts. I have each of my centers named like Monkey math, Kapok Corner, Reading Rainforest, Treemendous Words.My title on my behavior board is "No Monkey Business". The children love iat. I put a huge monkey on my door and wirte each students name on a banana. The title on my door in 3rd grade,,,What a great Bunch! I've attached pics.

Get the book "A Day in the Tropical Rainforest" by Jean Craighead George... very fast read... but she talks about various jobs/critter/etc that are in the rainforest, and what's happening to them... might help

and am also doing a jungle theme. I'm going to go the "He's the King of the Jungle" route (you know, like the VBS song?) I'm going to label our memory verse board "A Word from the King", and that's about all I've got from a Biblical perspective. I've got a huge tree with stuffed animals in a corner of my library; a leopard print bulletin board that says "Spotted: GRRREat Books" for reader recommendations; an information hut made of bamboo and onion grass roof for lunch menu, announcements, etc., a FROG poster (Fully Rely on God) over my Gecko curtains, and that's about it. This site has been great for getting ideas about classroom themes!

I have read majority of the threads on here about the rainforest and jungle themes however I need a little more help. I am having a hard time thinking of a catchy phrase for my beginning of the year board which will be decorated with toucans. I was thinking of "We Tou-Can Succeed in Third Grade" I also need a phrase for my reading corner, computer center, and rules board. I want to use a different rainforest animal as the theme for each section in my room. So far I have:
Word Wall- Hung Up on Words focusing on monkeys
AR- Hopping Towards AR goals focusing on frogs
Good Work- Sss..Sensational Work focusing on snakes
Math Board- Bird's Eye View of Math focusing on birds

Any other suggestions? Am I missing anything? Thanks in advance for your help and comments!

I am a librarian for a K-4th grade school. I am going to also try to do a rainforest this year. I have bought nets at a craft store to hang in my reading corner from the celing,then I can hang vines, monkeys, and snakes from it. I also purchased raffia in large packages in natural and green colors. Have hung it over my large windows to look like grass. Could also make a grass hut with a cardboard box. Have seen it done. Also a teacher used an alligator air mattress as a reading chair. I purchased items from a teachers store that are for bulletin boards,etc. I also purchased a rainforest book with activites and information on the rainforest, such as what animals live there, the different layers of the rainforest, and locations of different rainforests. I plan on purchasing a coconut and cutting it open, then letting the kids taste shredded coconut which I will buy in packages. I have too many students to let eat from the actual coconut. If the class was smaller they could sample the actual nut. Could be done with banana tree also. I also have found a book at school about the rainforest that gives details on a rubber tree. Could also do a study regarding chocolate,coffee beans etc. Not sure what age students you have. I am making a palm tree by covering tall tubular shaped boxes with brown construction paper, and making large leaves from green construction paper. I have been able to find lots of rainforest books. Also found rainforest sounds on a C.D.
If you have any fun ideas please send me the info.
Good Luck

*Hang vines (brown paper rolled up) all around your room with giant green paper leaves on them. Get a couple of stuffed or paper monkeys to hang around

*Classroom Jobs: "Hopping in to help out!" With little frogs with students names and leaves with jobs on them.

*Classroom Events Timeline: Call it the "Swing of Things" and put a little monkey for the graphic. OR "Hopping Through the Year" with a little frog.

*Student of the Week: "Look WHO's top student this week..." with a big owl; OR "Top Toucan" with a giant toucan to display

*Word Wall: "Word Waterfall" Put up a large sheet of white paper coming down from your ceiling, draw/scribble or paint blue lines flowing down. and keep a pile of paper fish to write important words on. Glue them on throughout the year.

*Classroom Management:
Use these layers of the rainforest...
· Forest Floor and Understory -- Margay
· Understory -- Bat, Monkey
· Understory and Canopy -- Opossums
· Canopy -- Emerald Tree Boa, Harpy Eagle, Sloth
Give each student a small animal and have every student start the day in the Canopy layer, they move their animal down a layer as they need to.

*Classroom Reward Coupons: Call them "Rainforest Rewards!" and give them out for various good reasons.

*Window Clings: Print out pictures of different rainforest animals to put all over the windows.

Also, take a look at the pictures on this page. It shows the inside of some GREAT classrooms. It makes me want to have a rainforest theme. Maybe next year...
http://www.ran.org/kids_action/kids_doing.html

I did this a couple of years ago. Let me see if I can remember back...........
I put up a huge tree at the entrance of my room. I twisted brown paper to look like vines and hung them from the ceiling. I had snakes coiled around the vines, with flowers growing around it, and toucans sitting up above.

On one wall, make the different layers by putting up the things that would be in that layer of the rainforest. Distinguish each layer by a roll of paper across the wall adding those things found in that layer. You could set up a waterfall somewhere in your room (just those little ones you put together).

I got some ideas from this board:
I put up a board about myself and called it "Queen of the Jungle". It had pictures of me and my family.

"It's A Jungle In Here"
"Safariopoly" for Homeworkopoly
"Spotted: Great Helpers" for helper board- (have leopard print on the board)
"No Monkeying Around: This Is Great Work" for student work board.

You can find TONS of ideas on RAINFOREST here on this board if you will go back page by page!

Good Luck!

My School's Theme This Year Is "wild About Learning" And We're Using The Rainforest As The Focus. I've Already Started Decorating My Class And It's Looking Great. I'm Teaching Third Grade So Around My Cursive Alphabets, I Have Vines Going Through With Toucans. For My Math Wall, I'm Using "a Bird's Eye View Of Math" And I Have Different Birds Found In The Rainforest Going Around That Wall. For My Good Work Board, I'm Using "ss...sensational Work" With Snakes All Around The Board. I Have Different Trees Going Up My Walls That I Created Using Butcher Paper. For My Word Wall, I Have Monkeys With The Title "hung Up On Words". Also For My Welcome Back Board, I'm Using A Huge Palm Tree With Toucans With The Title "we Tou-can Succeed In Third Grade". I Don't Assign Jobs In My Class, I Just Choose A Different Student A Week To Act As Line Leader And To Help With Different Jobs Around The Room. That Person Will Be Called My "top Toucan".

A couple of years ago we did the rainforest/ jungle as our reading theme schoolwide- "Wild About Reading." Several teachers went all out and hung vines with leaves all over the room. One purchased stuff from the floral department another made vines from twisting newspaper and painting them green. Then she added die-cut leaves. She put a stuffed animal snake in the vines and little butterflies. It made the kids really feel like they were in the rainforest. In one classroom the teacher let students bring in their own rainforest stuffed animal to read to during independent reading time (she provided for a few who couldn't bring one in).

I started the year with a rainforest theme. My students loved it and begged me to keep some of the decorations up even after we were finished. I did an attendance chart with a lion on it. Names are put up each day and I used the caption "Who's Li-on around in the K room?" I hung 12 bananas on a bulletin board and added a monkey. The months of the year are on the bananas and I added students' names on the bananas. The caption is "Go Bananas! Its Your birthday!" I have a safari character with binoculars on another board and it says "Searching for good work". I put student names on monkeys and used the caption "Look who's hanging out in the K-1-2 room. I stwisted brown crepe paper for vines and added some silk leaves and it looked super. I hung vines aound the door and made palm trees out of cardboard. I bought a few cheap kites made like toucans and hung them from the ceiling. In my reading corner I hung a large fish net from the ceiling. I added leaves and vines and crepe paper vines. I hung monkeys, snakes and birds from the net and used cardboard to make the thatched roof of a hut. We call it our reading hut. One of our favorite books was The Great Kapok Tree. I found a readers theatre for this and the students made masks and read the story. Good luck and have fun!

I am trying to think of ideas for Rainforest bulletin boards. I came up with a few.

* A monkey hanging from the bulletin board, licking a lolly pop..."We've Licked Fourth Grade"

* A monkey hanging from a banana tree... "You'll go bananas over these books!" Each student can write about a book they have enjoyed over the summer.

* "Meet a wonderful bunch" A bunch of bananas

* "It's a jungle out there" I haven't come up with an idea for this bulletin board, but I like the saying.

* A big gorilla, holding two people "Being a helper is a big job"

I hope these ideas help.

Megan