Already sick of the bleak winter skies outside your window? Try spicing up your classroom atmosphere with these four great seasonal bulletin boards. In addition to adding some creative visuals to your room, you will also engage your students in some thoughtful literature discussions.
You Are Cordially Invited to a Word Feast
During the holidays we are surrounded by food. Draw the connection between the foods we eat and the titles of many books that also include food. Create a large fancy looking invitation and pin it to a bulletin board that looks like a table cloth. Then, place pictures of book covers on paper plates and literally set the table with books to feast upon. Let your imagination run wild with all of the additional items you set on the table and really get your student’s salivating over the appetizing titles. Some great books you could post that have food in their titles are: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, If you Give a Mouse a Cookie, Granny Torelli Makes Soup, Humble Pie. (Note: Most of these are picture books, so this might be a bulletin board best used in an elementary classroom, although I am sure with a little more searching it could be adapted to any age.)
There’s Snowbody Like…
Create a winter wonderland in your room with snowflakes featuring famous people. On a blue backdrop (or suspended from your ceiling… if your school still allows that sort of thing (dang those fire codes!)) hang paper snowflakes cut by your students. In the center of the snow flake have students glue a picture of a person. This person could be an author, a historical figure being from a social studies unit, the main character in their novel or maybe even a person in their life they are thankful for. The next step is to list personality traits or important facts about this person on the outstretching edges of the snowflake. Not only will you be beautifying your room, your students will be presenting and applying knowledge in a fun way.
Gingerbread Genres
On paper gingerbread people have students write their current reading selection, author and the genre of their book. Encourage students to decorate their gingerbread person with special holiday features and colors. If you are brave enough, you could even get out the glitter. Hang the delicious looking cookies in groups according to their genre, with a definition for each kind of book nearby. For additional decoration you could also print popular book covers and blurbs to hang next to each genre.
Watch Our Reading Garden Grow
When the snow begins to melt and ground begins to thaw, give Mother Nature a little hint by creating a garden in your classroom. Under the colorful heading: Watch Our Reading Garden Grow label a flower stem with each student’s name. As they complete books students will color and pin up a petal. As your students’ flowers bloom you can watch their reading abilities grow as well.
Enjoy these beautiful bulletin board with your students this holiday season. And I hope that in their creation you also enjoy several good books along the way!
Yahoo Photo Credit: Yahoo Picture Library; http://mrg.bz/Q3IQ2d
