Seasonal bulletin boards are a mainstay of any primary school classroom. Teachers can use the changing seasons to visually motivate and reward students. In the fall, leaves are a popular choice for bulletin boards and classroom décor; teachers can use the following leaf themed ideas to add fun and excitement to their elementary classrooms.
Fall into Reading Bulletin Board
At the beginning of the school year teachers can use a fall themed bulletin board to introduce the books in the classroom library. The teacher goes through the classes’ books and chooses which one she would like to highlight; the books can be chosen based on reading level, topic or because they’re teacher favorites.
The bulletin board is titled, “Fall into Reading!” and features a large tree. The tree trunk can be made by stapling a crinkled, brown paper grocery bag to the bulletin board. The leaves of the tree can be cut from a die cut machine or can be fake silk leaves from the craft store. The teacher writes the titles of classroom books she recommends on the leaves and attaches everything to the bulletin board. The students use the bulletin board to choose and recommend books.
Reading is Tree-mendous! Bulletin Board
Another take on a tree themed bulletin board is to create a reading log recommendation tree. To make the bulletin board the teacher follows the same process as above to make the base of the tree using a grocery bag. The teacher titles the board, “Reading is Tree-mendous!” and cuts out blanks leaf shapes from colored paper.
The teacher adds a column to the students reading logs where they can rate the book using one to four stars. The students can then use the blank leaves to write the titles of the books they would like to recommend to their classmates. They also draw how many stars they gave the book on the leaf so the other kids can see their opinions. Teachers can use the reading log tree to pair students up who have read the same books. The “Tree-mendous” bulletin board motivates students to read and evaluate what they read as well as increasing student to student literature interaction.
Handprint Tree Bulletin Board
Students can get to know one another better with a Handprint Tree bulletin board. The teacher places craft paper on the bulletin board and paint a tree trunk on it. She can then paint or use die cut letters to title the board, “We are tree-mendous!” and outlines the sides with a fall themed border.
During the first week of school the teacher has the students trace and cut out their hands on different colored card stock. The kids write their name on the palm of the hand and then five different things about themselves on the fingers and thumbs. The students share their information with the class and the teacher staples each hand to the bulletin board to form a tree. The Handprint Tree introduces the students to each other and their teacher and is a fun beginning of the year icebreaker.
These simple ideas make constructing fall bulletin boards easy and fun for even the most reluctant bulletin board maker. Try your favorite today and let me know how it worked out for you.
Megan Sheakoski - Megan Sheakoski is a teacher, mom and writer whose ideas have been featured in college text books, graduate courses, on websites and on ...
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