Collect newspapers over the summer leading up to the first day of school and cut out comic strips. Use the school's laminating machine to seal the comic strips and preserve them. Line the comic strips along the classroom walls to form a colorful border. Place the border at eye level to ensure that students can read the comics. Screen the comics before decorating with them to ensure that scenarios and language are age appropriate for your students' grade level.
Contact local theaters to inquire about unused movie posters for children's movies that are age appropriate for your classroom. Hang the posters in your classroom and invite students to discuss the movies. Use the themes and lessons portrayed in the movies to teach students while holding their interest.
Lay large sheets of foam board on the floor and instruct your students to lie down on them. Trace each student's body onto a board. Cut the shapes out of the foam board and affix cardboard stands to the back of the boards. Invite students to decorate the boards to resemble their personal characteristics. Provide yarn, buttons and fabric scraps to students. Place the boards throughout the room as decoration.
Visit local travel agencies and ask for outdated and unused vacation posters. These pictures will often depict foreign places unfamiliar to students. Place the posters around the classroom and invite students to research the destinations, or build weekly lessons on each location, celebrating world cultures, languages and food.