How to Decorate a Bulletin Board in an Elementary School Library
A nicely decorated elementary school library bulletin board encourages students in a number of ways. Not only can they interact with the information on the board as well as with other students using the board, but it also serves as a central way of promoting the learning culture of the library. Additionally, bulletin boards can serve as a way of boosting students' self-esteem by displaying outstanding academic and art projects.
Things You'll Need
- Decorating materials
- Tacks, staplers or tape
- Scissors
- Paper book covers
- Student photos
- Books of author's quotes
Instructions
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Gather information for the bulletin board. This could be information about upcoming book sales, special reading events---including any author visits or read-a-thons. You'll want to incorporate this information in your bulletin board design.
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Create seasonal themes. For example, if Halloween is coming up promote a Halloween-themed book with some scary Halloween decorations and the front cover of the book. Focusing on traditional holidays as well as non-traditional holidays can be a way of celebrating other cultures and traditions as well as introducing concepts of diversity and tolerance.
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Encourage student participation. Students who feel like they're a part of their school community tend to have better self-esteem. Encourage the students of the school to be a part of the library's decorating efforts by having them bring in photos of themselves reading or interacting with books. Incorporating their artwork is another way to help them feel involved in the bulletin board decorating process.
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Create a book-of-the-month decorating theme. Many books have titles that are really visual and would work really well for bulletin board decorating inspiration. Look at books like "Where the Wild Things Are", "Where the Red Fern Grows", Dr. Seuss' "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". You can further add to the decorative appeal of the board by highlighting other books that the author has written that aren't as well known.
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Collect literature-related quotations. Libraries should encourage reading and literacy and inspiring quotations in beautiful fonts make lovely bulletin board decorations. Pick your favorite quotation by an author and create a decorative theme around that quote.
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Enlist student helpers. Get student volunteers to come and help with the decorating of the bulletin board. It adds to their sense of community as well and provides a fun break from regular school work.
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Tips & Warnings
The more interactive the bulletin board, the better. Add the buttons that come included in the musical greeting cards and record a message to students. Make cards with literary quotes and encourage the students to take them to learn more about an author.
Some authors are quite controversial; however, that doesn't necessarily mean that students shouldn't be exposed to their work or the idea of their work. With the school's permission, the bulletin board decorations can look at these authors, which depending upon the era in which they lived have included the likes of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. The "Banned Books Week" celebration that many communities observe now might be an ideal time to introduce not only these particular works, but ideas around freedom of speech and censorship in general.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit arts and crafts image by Gina Smith from Fotolia.com
