March Bulletin Board Border

St. Patrick’s Day bulletin boards are fun not only for the students, but with all the kelly green, leprechauns, and rainbows, it really brightens up your classroom for the transition month of March.

As you can see in the examples (and freebie printable) below, classroom decor or theme ideas don’t have to take up a lot of time to design, prep, and display.  Even better when you are able to use the bulletin board materials as a part of your curriculum too!

Since I was pretty much stuck in the house yesterday because we had yet another snow day, I decided to make the best of it.  What started as a fun little activity, turned into a full project (don’t they all?).

Introducing Interactive Bulletin Boards from Organized Classroom! This category brings learning and classroom organization together as a team! Check out the possibilities when you combine great looking displays and fun learning objectives!

This one is PERFECT for March learning: Lucky Leprechauns Probability!  You can tie it in to your math standards for creating/analyzing tally charts, fractions, fractions equivalent to 1, and more!

With 42 pages in total and best suited for grades 3-5, this file includes the following:

•Bulletin Board Borders
•A Spinner
•Week and Day Labels
•Large Daily Task Questions
•Weekly Student Answer Sheets
•Bulletin Board Header Letters in 2 different colors
•Envelope Labels for the Student Answer Sheets

Once you have your board set up like the picture above, you can either use your interactive bulletin board as a center or as a whole group activity at the beginning of math or for morning work.

Students will get an empty answer sheet at the beginning of the week. Each day, you will flip to the corresponding question, and students will write their answer down. Preferably, this is not a graded assignment, but a chance for them to see what they already know or as a review.

At the end of the week – or each day, you can then review the correct answer from the day. There are 4 weeks in total, with 5 questions per week.

In addition, there is a spinner. Once per day, spin the spinner and keep tally data right on the board for the month.

At the end of the month, use the data collected to analyze probability for the spinner, making sure to discuss simplest fraction forms and he likelihood of landing on specific spaces.

What if I don’t have a bulletin board?

I know many teachers don’t have a bulletin board – or any extra space to display one.  But I have an easy solution:  Use a thumbtack board!

By using a science fair display board, you now have a portable bulletin board that can be displayed or hidden when more space is needed in the classroom.

And bulletin board organization has never been easier!  Simply fold up your bulletin boards and slide them behind a cabinet, a coat closet, or lay it high on top of cabinets.  Reuse the same board annually.  Plus, they come in a wide variety of colors for any project you wish.

If you prefer to create your own bulletin board from some of the ideas above, I will help you out a bit and will provide you with a freebie border – yay!

Print these off on cardstock, laminate, and then use wide clear packing tape to connect. Just as good as what you can buy in the store (and at a much better price too)!

Here’s to hoping for some warmer weather and seeing those rainbows in March! What’s your weather like this time of year? I would love to hear in a comment below!

~Charity

This post originally appeared at Organized Classroom.