For instance, if you’re making a board for back-to-school, you might choose “Hop to Mrs. Taylor’s Class!” as your theme, then decorate it with frogs and lily pads labeled with your students’ names. If you need help finding bulletin display ideas, school calendars, holidays, and upcoming lesson plans can be great sources of inspiration!
For your frog-themed bulletin board, you could use a blue background to look like a pond, for instance, or you could opt for brown to resemble mud. For a festive holiday board, you might use wrapping paper instead of craft paper. However, avoid using anything with a complicated pattern or multiple colors, as a busy background will make your design hard to see. [3] X Research source You can find large rolls of craft paper at your local classroom supply store or craft store.
Borders come in a variety of colors and patterns, including stripes, dots, zig-zags, and more. You can also make your own border, if you prefer, or you can leave it off altogether.
For instance, on your back-to-school board, you might put the phrase “Hop to Mrs. Taylor’s Class!” about a third of the way down the board, in big, bold letters. If you’re making a board about an upcoming school dance, you might put “Winter Dance” in big letters at the top of the board with the date slightly smaller underneath.
On your back-to-school board, you might add a few large frogs, then write a student’s name on each lily pad. Arrange the lily pads so they’re grouped across the bottom two-thirds of the board, and place the frogs in the top corners of the board.
For instance, if you’re teaching multiplication in the first quarter and division in the second quarter, you might start out with a board containing times tables, then switch to a board on grouping.
For instance, your board might say something like “Reading Stars!” You might decorate the board with stars. Then, each Monday, you could take a picture of the students with the top 3 reading scores in your class for the previous week and post it on your classroom website. Consider creating a classroom hashtag that you can include on the board!
To be sensitive to students’ diverse beliefs, avoid boards that single out particular religious celebrations. However, a multicultural board covering different cultures’ celebrations, such as winter holidays or worldwide New Years’ festivals, may be fine.
For instance, your board might say, “Monday: Sock Hop Day, Tuesday: Wacky Hair Day, Wednesday: Tacky Day,” and so on.
To keep your board feeling positive, try phrasing rules as “Things We Should Do” rather than “Things We Don’t Do. " Goals might include things like achieving a certain score on standardized tests or reading a certain number of books throughout the year. You can even include a chart to track class progress toward the goal!
If you prefer, you can ask other teachers to contribute to the board instead of students.
For example, if the theme of your board is “Reach for the Stars,” you might give everyone a paper cutout of an arm and a hand that they can decorate. If your theme is “Future Careers,” you might have each student write down what they’d like to be when they grow up.
Try to revolve your students of the week so each student gets a chance to be recognized, rather than focusing on the same high achievers each week. For instance, your board might say, “Hats Off To. . . " Then, you might decorate the board with a tophat with the student’s name and picture.
Consider having a prize like a pizza party or an extra recess for the class that wins. You can also hold an art contest among students and hang the winners on your board.
