Adventures in bulletin boards

As both a former student council member and RA/CA in college, I am well acquainted with bulletin boards.  Secretly, I kind of love bulletin boards...it's like scrapbooking for everyone to see! I get to pick cute borders, fun saying, fancy fonts, pretty borders...sigh.  Unfortunately, our bulletin boards sometimes get a little wear and tear from young hands roaming the hallways.  Luckily, we are able to staple plastic up to make the boards last...kind of like an iPhone case for the wall.  Here are some of my favorite bulletin boards :)

Any time I'm able to do a football theme, I will :)  We need to kick off our new year with our academic learning goals.

After our goals came down, I used the background to do a data analysis unit with Superbowl predictions.  I made a very simple sheet (gender, prediction, grade, class) and distributed the sheets to fellow teachers.  My students then collected the data and analyzed it in anyway their group saw fit: double bar graphs comparing grades or genders, bar graphs looking at grade level predictions or class predictions, you name it.  I think my little mathematicians had a little too much fun with their graphs, but that's never a bad thing!

I've also done several social studies boards where my students write persuasive letters to King George either for or against the American Revolutionary War.  I dye regular printer paper overnight in tea or coffee, let it dry, then have my students use feathers and paint to create their letters.

  It is time consuming, but an authentic task that helps them gain a little more appreciation for the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and many other fine, hand-quilled gems.

Then there are the days when I'm inspired by my iPad and try to be technologically relevant.  So I use my elmo and projector to trace this bad boy:

Then I spend hours coloring it as a way of procrastinating setting up my room.  Then I laminate it to protect my procrastination.  Then I write my students a "dead word warning" from you guessed it, the zombies.

I tell them that I found one of these juicy word plants, fueled by sun synonyms.  They had a blast making sun synonyms (yellow circles).  Then one day while they were at specials, I assembled this:

That bulletin board stayed up, untouched, for several months :)

More to come, but happy bulletin board crafting :)

Ms. Vice