Create a theme that uses a play on words. For example, you can create a theme display using the phrase "Reading Will 'Steer' You On The Right Path." To create this display, make a large red barn out of paper for the center of the bulletin board and add a sizable grassy area the length of the display. Arrange several trees and evergreen trees of different sizes and shapes on the grass and place assorted cattle on the grass. Frame your display with a border of 2-inch wide strips of white paper and black cow spots. To tie your theme display into the concept you are conveying about reading, display on a table books about farms, cattle and steers.
Choose an image that can be decorated for the changing seasons. A tree is a good central concept for such a theme. To create the basic tree display, cover the display area with light blue bulletin board paper for the sky and place green paper along the bottom for grass. Make a large tree in the center using brown bulletin board paper. As the year goes on, students can update the tree by making different decorations. This will encourage them to be creative. For example, during the spring, students can make buds out of white, pink or yellow tissue paper and place the buds on the tree. In the winter, remove all the leaves and the students can add snowflakes and icicles.
At the start of the school year, place a theme display featuring the staff in the school on a lobby bulletin board to help students and parents recognize school personnel. Pictures of the principal, assistant principal, and guidance counselors can be placed on the exhibit with their names and position. Add pictures of teachers with their name and the grade that they teach. Group them by their grade level if the school has more than one teacher for each grade.
Encouraging students to read is often a top priority in schools, so many theme displays will feature concepts relating to books. One idea for a reading theme display involves featuring a spaceship in the sky with its door opening and books falling to earth. A foreign planet should be placed in the distance. Small books can be made by cutting out advertisements from magazines or having the students create their own books. To finish the display, place an alien standing on the ground declaring, " Students, take me to your readers."