1, 2, 3, Classroom Set-up: Year-round Bulletin Boards That Will Change Your Life

The Same Board That Keeps Changing:

If you are tired of putting up new bulletin boards every month, but you want your classroom to stay fresh, new, and updated then read on!

These boards can be set up at the beginning of the year and, with very little effort, they can be quickly and easily updated so your classroom always looks seasonal, fresh, and new.

Board #1:  (The secret to this board is in the binder clips.)

Each child has their own writing board.  Their name plate is below their writing samples.

This board goes up before school begins and stays up.  You just laminate construction paper (12"X12") and add a binder clip to each one.  You can find these at office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot.  

Click the image to grab the Instant Writing pack.

Each time your students complete a writing page, just double hole punch it & add it to the top of their writing stack.  The current theme is always displayed &, at the end of the year, all you have to do is pull the pages off of the binder, staple them together with a cute cover sheet, & you have a progressive sample of their writing & a great take-home book.  

I created an Instant Writing Pack similar to the one pictured here.

You can grab it by clicking HERE.

You can also add additional art projects around each child's writing board.

Board #2:  (The secret to this board is to just "let it go" for the entire season.)

We made our little trees with
toilet paper tubes and sticky-backed Fun Foam letter.

I have one tree trunk and 4 tree tops (1 for summer, fall, winter, and spring) that I put up each year. 

We start with the palm tree and the students make "Chick-a-chick-a-boom-boom" trees that we pin up under my big palm tree.

We also made flat trees which fit nicely
 in their memory books.

When fall rolls around, we take down the palms and put up the brown branches which stay up the rest of the year.  The students make fall leaves (that have a fall poem on them with a dotted font so they can trace the letters) that are quickly pinned up to the tree.

Our fall leaves were copied on red, orange, yellow, and brown.
Then, we added them to our memory books with their fall photo.

When winter arrives, we put their fall leaved into their memory books and I pin a little bit of snow made from cotton balls that I stretched across the branches.  The students make little snowmen after "buying" the parts during a small group math lesson and we pin them up below the winter tree.

You can find cute receipts for this project and more shopping activities by clicking HERE.

Each student was given 20 cents and they got to "buy" hats, scarves, eyes,
a carrot nose,coal for the mouth, snowflakes, arms, and even a bell.
This guy lost his eye!  Oh, no!

You can find out how to make the butterfly life cycle
out of pasta by clicking on the image above. 

Fast forward to spring.  The cotton snow comes down and I pin little pink squares (2"X2") of tissue paper pinched to look like cherry blossoms.  The students place their butterfly life cycle (made out of pasta) leaves on and around the tree.

You can always change out the seasonal are during each season, but I just leave the projects mentioned above up for the entire season.  

Click the image to find out how to create this life cycle out of pasta. 

Board(s) #3:  (The Secret to these boards is to use it as a tool all year long.)

Your alphabet and word wall stay up all year, but consider numbering your alphabet either with small calendar numbers or, like I did this year, match the numbered ten frame to each letter.  This not only helps to teach letter order, but often students recognize the numbers 1-10 before they learn the names of the letters.  This is especially true for most of our English Language Learners.  Then, all I have to do is say, "Look at the letter below (or above) the number 3."  

I just used calendar numbers here.

As for your word wall, jazz it up with t-shirts.  I have a letter on each t-shirt, its Zoo-Phonics animal, and any sight words we need to master hanging from each t-shirt.  The word wall stays up all year, but we can add any words we might be using during the year to any of the t-shirts.

Last year I hung the t-shirts from a clothes line by the window.
The fire marshal did NOT like that so....

This year, I hung the t-shirts below my front board.  

I liked them better hanging from a clothes line.  

I hope these bulletin board ideas help to make your life easier.

Check out my:
FaCeBoOk:  Click Here to see my Facebook. (Tons of FREE ideas.)
PiNtErEsT:  Click Here to see my Pinterest Boards.  (Oh, the ideas on these boards!)
TeAcHeRs PaY tEaChErS:  Click Here to see my TPT Store (Did you say, "15 freebies?!")

See you all tomorrow with more 1, 2, 3 Classroom Set-up tips.

Palma :)

Open House, A Give-Away, AND The BIG QUESTION...

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow UP?

I ask my students that every year and then, I take their photograph dressed up as if they are working at that profession!  It makes the best bulletin board for Open House!

She wants to be a farmer.

A police officer.

A dentist

An ice cream truck driver!

Getting Started:

I present a unit on Community Helpers.  We learn about the different jobs around our community AND our school.  I used images I found on the Internet to talk about each job and what they do.  You might even want to have parents come in a talk about their jobs too.  I also taught them the song from Sesame Street called "Who Are The People In Your Neighborhood?" You can find the book on Amazon:

Click the image.

The 1st Bulletin Board:

At the beginning of the year, I take my students on a tour of the school and they get to meet the principal, assistant principal, office workers, health clerk (or nurse), librarian, cafeteria workers, and the custodians.  

We also meet the special teachers in our specialty classes like in the computer lab, music room, science lab, and the playground where we meet the safety specialists and the P.E. teachers.  

I take photographs of all of these people and create a little bulletin board in my classroom.  It helps the parents to get to know everyone who works with their child too.

The 2nd Bulletin Board:

This is the one that includes the photograph of the child dressed up like what they want to be when they grow up and their writing.   

Writing Part:

My students told me what they wanted to be when they grow up and one thing they will do if they had that job.  I wrote it for them on lined paper and all they had to do was copy it onto the writing template and color the frame.  

I gave them their photographs and they glued them onto the top section of the page.  This makes the cutes bulletin board and a great addition to their memory books too.  

Yes, that's a REAL FISH in the bowl!

Here Is A Tip:

This year, I Googled a background setting for many of my students so they looked like they were actually on stage, in a dentist office or a hair salon.  I just displayed the Googled image onto my SMART board and took the photograph of the child in front of the screen.

A rock star

   

A hair dresser

An eye doctor

Here Are A Few More...

A software engineer

A veterinarian

A pilot

Resources:

I already had a lot of "dress up" outfits in my home center, but you can create outfits with just a few props.  A man's white shirt can double as a lab coat for a doctor, dentist, veterinarian, or a scientist.  A dark blue shirt can be a police officer.  Props like stuffed animals and a doctor kit enhance the veterinarian's outfit and a tricycle can be the perfect prop for a motorcycle racer if he/she can bring a helmet to school.  I gave a pilot a police shirt, a globe, and a plastic airplane.  The globe covered the police badge.  Get creative and seek the help of your parents.  

Here is where you can find the writing templates too.  You can find it by clicking on the image below.  

Click the image.

This is an opinion piece and you get 2 templates.  Use the simple one for Pre-K or T.K. and they can just copy the name of their future job or you can write it in for them.  The 2nd template gives them a place to write about why they want that job or what they will do when they have that job.  

So, when is your Open House?  Ours is in 12 more days.  Leave a comment about an Open House idea you do with your class.

And... check out our Facebook where over 2000 teachers are following us!  We are almost seeing 20-20 "likes", so I am giving away our 5 Senses Pack to the 2020th "like".  It could be YOU!  

Click the image.

If you made it all the way down here...

Happy Mother's Day to you!!!

I'll see you all tomorrow.

Palma :)