Classroom Door Decorating Ideas

Falling into 4th Grade

• An autumn theme reminds your students that summer is over and they are making a fresh start. Search office supply or stationery stores for decorative paper leaves to tape to the outside of the door, and write each student's name on a leaf. If you cannot find ready-made leaves, create a stencil with a piece of cardboard and cut leaves out of red- and orange-colored paper. At the top of the door, affix cut-out letters (which you also can also find at office supply and stationery stores) that spell out a fun message like "Falling into 4th Grade."

Show Off Your Students

• Assign a student teacher or one of your more reliable students to take photographs during the first week of school. If you do not own a digital camera, check with your school librarian or computer teacher--they are likely to have one for you to borrow. Once you have a bevy of great photos, order the best ones from a website such as snapfish.com and tape them to the outside and inside of your classroom door. Your students will get a kick out of seeing themselves in print, and by the end of the year, you all will be able to look at the photos and marvel at how much you have changed and grown as a class.

A Learning Experience

• Start the learning process before your students even enter the classroom. Choose a topic that is central to your year's curriculum and create a colorful, engaging display on your classroom door. For example, if you will be studying the Amazon rain forest, use colored paper to create the three levels of the canopy on your classroom door. Find giant animal stickers to represent the different species of the forest, or ask your students to create drawings of different exotic creatures. As one of the first activities of the year, you could have each student give a short, 5-minute presentation on the animal they have chosen to depict. Parents will be impressed by your dedication to the curriculum, and your kids will be thrilled.