Tree of Change

I am not a big fan of changing bulletin boards. It seems that there is only so much time in the day and for some reason changing the paper, border, and everything else on a bulletin board is never at the top of my list. So a few years ago I decided that I was going to find a way to have at least one bulletin board that would remain basically that same, but would change somewhat throughout the school year. A tree is something that changes with the seasons so I started with the idea of a tree. This bulletin board is located next to my classroom door in the hallway so it's often the first thing people see when they come to my classroom. In the fall, my tree is covered with apples of the names of my new students. 

In November, my tree transforms into a Thankful tree, which is my favorite version of the tree. Since it was several years ago I do not have a source to site where this idea came from and I do not believe I thought of it on my own (if you know me you know my memory is very bad). My students are sent home with sheets of leaves that they have to, with their family, write things they are thankful for. We then read them as a class and put them on our tree. We look at our tree after everyone has brought theirs back and talk about how we have lots of things to be thankful for. The Thankful tree stays up through December. 

This is what our tree looked like this year. 

When we return in January after vacation we start to learn about the seasons and weather. We read the book The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen. 

I love this book!! The "big idea" of this book is doing something kind for others. If you have not read this book I hope you get a chance to. After we read this book we make paper mittens for our mitten tree. 

I am looking for a new spring idea for my tree so if you think of something please let me know.