Bulletin Board Ideas (page 2)

Bulletin boards showcase your students’ work and demonstrate the learning that is taking place within your classroom.

Considerations

• Keep bulletin boards clean and organized.
• Remember that bulletin boards are often the first thing people look for when entering your classroom: They are the first impression of the classroom, its organization, and the instruction that takes place there.
• Try to display at least one or two samples of work for each student, because this gives all the students ownership of the classroom and builds a sense of pride.
• Keep bulletin boards current—try to update a different bulletin board every couple of weeks.
• Represent a variety of subject areas and themes on your bulletin boards.
• If you have a limited number of boards available, consider dividing the bulletin boards in half to make it possible for you to display student work in all of the subject areas.
• Represent each student’s best work (regardless of score).
• Keep student work as the primary focus of the classroom’s bulletin boards. A busy background can distract the focus from student work.
• Pay attention to detail. 

Bulletin Board Elements

Every bulletin board should include several components beyond the background and borders, including most if not all of the following:

• Background
• Colorful border
• Title
• Student work with written teacher feedback and/or rubric score
• Content standards being addressed
• Question
• Scoring rubric
• List of key words
• Teacher example

Background

Considerations

• Coordinate colors.
• Keep it simple; eliminate distracting elements.
• Choose a background color you can live with; it may be up all year.
• Prepare the background for your bulletin board as follows:
  • Mount the background first; then add the borders.
  • Measure the background material, adding a little bit extra just to make sure, and use push pins to attach it to the board.
  • Start in one corner, and staple the material in that corner. Use a yardstick to pull the material tight, flattening it as you work your way across the board, and stapling the material at regular intervals.
  • With a pair of scissors, cut off any extra material at the edges (small gaps will be covered by the border). Remove the push pins.
• Materials appropriate for the background include the following:
  • Paper
    • Butcher paper—usually available at the school site in a variety of colors, can fade over time, needs to be changed each year
    • Fadeless paper—purchase from a teacher supply store, excellent, lasts for years
    • Recycled paper (newspaper, magazines, construction paper scraps, grocery bags, old charts, book jackets, maps, any paper that can be recycled for this purpose)—can be collaged onto a bulletin board, more labor-intensive, can be visually busy
  • Cloth
    • Cloth or bed sheets with a subject-specific pattern (for example, numbers, planets, dinosaurs, fossils)
    • Burlap—usually available at the school site
    • Felt—usually available at the school site

Content Standards, Question, and Rubric

Considerations

• Rephrase the content standards and objectives in child-friendly language, selecting the specific standard or objective that supports your outcome.
• Select a question that is open-ended (for example, a question that elicits a thoughtful response rather than a “yes” or “no” answer); use words like “how” and “why.”
• Post a rubric that breaks down your rationale for the full range of scores:
  • 4—All goals achieved
  • 3—Most goals achieved
  • 2—Some goals achieved
  • 1—Minimal goals achieved
• Prepare the content standard and question for display on your bulletin board by writing the standard and question on sentence strips. (Print them for students in grades K through 2; write them in cursive for students in grades 3 through 6.)
• Use push pins to mount and hold these items in place to make it easier to switch them out when appropriate.
• Plan the overall bulletin board layout to include these items. 

Organization by Subject Area and Theme

• Subject areas
  • Math
  • Reading
  • Spelling
  • Writing
  • Social Studies
  • Science
  • Health
  • Art
• Themes
  • Holidays (for example, Halloween, Christmas)
  • History (for example, civil rights)
  • Practical application (for example, cooking with fractions)
  • Historical figures (for example, timelines)
  • Science (for example, biomes, weather)
  • Reading (for example, book covers)

Supplementing Bulletin Boards with Three-Dimensional Art

Considerations

• Remember that student work is the primary focus; don’t go overboard with supplemental art objects.
• Have a display table in front of the bulletin board with artifacts that relate to the theme.
• Add supplemental art after the bulletin board is complete; place it around the student work.
• Determine if the art objects really support and enhance the bulletin board (it can be messy).
• Three-dimensional art could include the following:
  • Multiple colors of folded, twisted, or crinkled butcher paper
  • Styrofoam plates, cups, and trays that can be cut and sculpted
  • Natural items, such as leaves, sticks, dried flowers, and branches
  • Cheap plastic toys (for example, spiders, skeletons, eggs, and cars)
  • Pipe cleaners, yarn, cord (usually available at the school site)
  • Velcro (for mounting larger objects)
  • Balloons
  • Streamers
  • Craft supplies (for example, googly eyes, cotton balls, and beads)