Easy Bulletin Board Ideas For Your Primary Classroom

Bulletin boards in primary classrooms can become quite a chore when they have to be changed monthly, or even weekly. Always changing the student work, borders, and background - not to mention punching a new title out of construction paper. There must be an easier way!

Here are a couple of ideas I have come up with in my classroom, and (so far) my classroom visitors are none the wiser:

1. On the first bulletin board in my room, I put up a simple border that is bright yellow, with hard hats on it. I did punch out letters on the Ellison machine that bear the title "Minds Hard At Work." The last items I placed on the board are plain laminated grid papers. I have 3 groups of four: one for each quarter for three subject areas. On these graphs, I graph weekly chart class averages for such things as comprehension tests, spelling tests, independent reading points for the class, etc with permanent colored markers. The markers will come off with nail polish remover at the end of the year, and you are set once again. I do not put a butcher paper or fabric background under anything. The brown cork looks just a nice and makes clean up at the end of the year even easier!

2. The second bulletin board I have in my classroom has a simple star boarder, cork backing, and a simple homemade sign that says "Weber's Wonders." From there, I have three rows of border horizontally working across the board, with push pins evenly distributed on the three rows to correlate with the number of students in my classroom. I print a small return address label with each child's name on it from my computer, and place one above each push pin. Our students have charm necklaces, which they may earn charms for throughout the year for various awards. I allow the students to wear their necklaces only on Spirit Day every Friday. This way, my bulletin board always looks full throughout the week, and the students always have a charm necklace to show off on Friday, so it does not become lost. We all win!

3. The last classroom tidbit I have regarding changing out student work, means committing one wall in your classroom. You need to purchase 11" x 13" black matte frames and colorful foam alphabet and party stickers. The first week of school, as a time-filler activity (or during open house), have the students stick their first names on the matte, and then decorate as they like. The colors really stand out on the black mattes! From there, staple the mattes onto the wall, and from that point forward, have the students pick work they would like to place in their "frame" throughout the year. You never have to think about it, other than to sticky tack up the work they have chosen, and the students will love showcasing their masterpieces!

What is the IB Board of Education?

IB is an educational board that is recognized worldwide. This was introduced by International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in 1968. The organization was based on Geneva, Switzerland. It is a combination of three programs.

Phase I - PYP (Primary Years Program)

Phase II - MYP (Middle Years Program)

Phase III - DP (Diploma Program)

The Primary Years Program is for children under grade 5. The Middle Years Program is for children from grade 6 to grade 10 and the Diploma Program is for children who are at grade 11 and grade 12.

The IB educational system is more real-world based than application based. Examinations conducted by the IB schools test the knowledge of the students and not their speed or memory.

The system followed by the organization is also very different from the rest. It may be surprising to know that there are no examinations until a student completes the Middle Years Program. The school concentrates more on enabling the students to understand 'how to learn' rather than 'what to learn'.

During the PYP and the MYP, there are particular course materials every student will have to complete. In the course of the DP, the students get to choose their elective subjects from a wide range of subjects. The training provided in the early stages of their education enables a student to make a choice on the subjects more effectively.

The good news is that although the PYP, MYP and the DP are a sequence of programs, they are offered separately since a lot students migrate from different educational boards to IB each academic year. Apart from these programs there are various other programs an IB school offers for the benefit of the students. IB scholarships are awarded during the DP program.