Welcome! Our school year map puts us on a road called Responsibility Drive!
Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!
Colorful eye-catching bulletin boards that greet students outside and inside a classroom are a tradition in elementary schools around the world.
ROAD MAP TO RESPONSIBILITY
Bulletin Boards and colorful Door Decor can do more than catch children’s attention. How?
Don’t just post decorative exhibits; USE them to your teaching advantage!
Send Powerful Messages – For example, you can encourage important behaviors and character traits, like respect and responsibility, by posting road signs along your classroom or hall wall that show off different traits.
NOTE: Check online or in teacher supply stores for packages of character trait “road signs.”
Maximize Value – Maximize the value of character trait road signs and bulletin boards of all kinds by incorporating them into your classroom management strategies and lead-ins to lessons.
For example, after you post a street sign that reads RESPONSIBILITY DRIVE, point to it at the start of a school day and announce, “Our school year map puts us on a road called Responsibility Drive. I expect you as my students to pay attention in class and stay focused on your work when we get to it.”
Create a bulletin board with a symbol that is synonymous with teaching…
BULLETIN BOARDS WITH APPLE THEMES
Bulletin Boards with apple themes are popular with many teachers.
Introduce the Core Curriculum – Invite children to cut out and post apple cores on a bulletin board to introduce the Core Curriculum.
Post a summary of your goals for the school year in the center.
Design a similar bulletin board that features apple cores with writing in the center that describes apples as healthy treats.
Apple…
Munch, munch,
Delicious to eat,
Apples are a healthy treat!
My oh my, here are the apples of the teacher’s eye!
Create another bulletin board with a header that reads, “Good Learners are the Apple of Ms./Mr. _________________’s (your name) Eye!”
Post cutouts of full apples with children’s names (one on each apple) around a short poem that expresses this theme.
Apple Time…
Good Learners are
the apple of ______________’s (your name) eye!
Do your best in school this year,
As each week passes by.
Check online for all kinds of apple-related activities for children in the early grades.
WHO’LL BE THIS MONTH’S TOP DIGGITY DOG?
This bulletin board offers a clever way to reward young children who do a good job paying attention.
You can create a similar poster with space for a photo and short “bio” to recognize a student monthly who has been the most focused and on task in class.
- Who’s tops at paying attention this month in class?
Consider changing up some of the bulletin boards in and near your classroom, as well as your door decor more.
Simple designs offer teaching opportunities as well as eye-catching visuals.
See if your students notice before you point out what’s new. Bet they do!
Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!
Please send comments about bulletin boards that work for you. And, don’t forget to subscribe to attentionology.com for more tools and strategies to help children learn.
Talk with you again soon,
Barbara ♥ The Lovable Poet
