A Sneak Peek @ My Week...

So much going on this week:

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 :)