Back to school bulletin boards should welcome students back from the summer break, help them get acquainted with you, the class, and the way the upcoming school year is going to work. It should be fun and inviting. The following are a few ideas for back to school bulletin boards:
- Getting to know you board: This is a great bulletin board for your classroom for that first month of school. What you need to do is start by covering the bulletin board with a bright, friendly color, such as yellow. Then get a picture of yourself to put in the center, and provide some information about yourself. Print out a small sheet for each person to put their name at the top, their favorite color, food, song, vacation spot, or whatever interesting tid bits you think would be fun for the class to learn about one another. Then, on the first day of school have each student fill out their paper, and take a Polaroid or snap shot of everyone, print the photos, and mount them all on the board so that your class can have a fun and easy way to get to know one another.
- Classroom motto board: For this bulletin board you are going to want to come up with a motto for your classroom either for the month or the year. It can be something like, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary” or whatever you want it to be. You will want to cover the board with a solid color paper, then use cut outs of the letters to create the motto. Then, have each student sign the board the first day as a commitment to try and live by the motto and participate, work hard, and be an active member of the class. It can be a really fun way to try and get students committed to, excited about, and eager to learn.
- Fishing for a great class: For this bulletin board you will want to cover the bulletin with blue fabric or paper, and then create a raft or boat out of paper, and place a person in it with your head. Then, cut out several fish shapes and write the names of your new students on the fish. You will want to create a boat scene, where you, the teacher are in the boat with a fishing pole, and your students are in the water below. Then, at the top write something to the effect of “Fishing for a great class” or “What a great catch” or something that indicates you are pleased to be their teacher for the year. You can take this a step further by having them each take turns introducing themselves during the month, and on the day they do they can take their fish off the bulletin and put it in a basket that holds your “catch”.