Turn your October bulletin boards into an extension of the Common Core Standards that you are implementing in the classroom. The ideas below are sure to get students excited about learning while also providing you with Common Core accountability. The best part? They are, for the most part, student-generated!
Ideas for October Bulletin Boards
What’s So Funny?
Kid-friendly jokes are a great way to introduce humor, perspective, and concise writing to your students. Start by covering your bulletin board with the comics from the Sunday paper (if you can find them) and edging it in a solid color border. Using some kid-friendly jokes, encourage students to discuss point of view (who is telling the joke?), different types of humor (does everyone find the same thing funny?), and why it is important to choose words carefully to make the biggest impact. Brainstorm some possible topics for jokes and have students present their top three for display on the bulletin board. It is a great way to build your own kid-friendly joke collection and get your students smiling and laughing.
Adjective Tree
Are your students stuck on the same adjectives? Create a bulletin board with a large cut-out tree in the center and hang leaves on the tree with adjectives. When students are stuck for new words to use in their writing, they can visit the Adjective Tree to pick new words. Students can also add new adjectives to the tree when they find them in their reading passages. It is an easy way to increase vocabulary, enhance descriptive writing, and encourage students to focus in on parts of speech.
Bucket Fillers
Give each student a small plastic or metal bucket to decorate and hang them from a hook on a prominent bulletin board that has been covered with plain paper or fabric background. After reading Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud (2006) discuss ways to “fill” others’ buckets. Leave the board up all year and encourage students to record ways that others have filled their buckets, by writing notes to the other person and placing them in their bucket. Encourage proper spelling, complete sentences, and the use of descriptive words when they describe how the act of kindness made them feel.