Showing posts with label bulletin boards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bulletin boards. Show all posts

Friday, October 14, 2011

Follow in His Steps for Sunday School

Teachers can help their young students to make their very own "footstep" memory verse books. The selected verses should include scriptures that tell them specifically "how" to live life. children may use their own shoes to trace around for the front and back covers of the book. Include as many pages between the footstep covers as there are days in that particular unit of study. Sunday school teachers may also wish to write each verse as it is covered on the footprints of the bulletin board.

More links to similar themes in Sunday School bulletin boards:

My Offering Helps Who in Sunday School?

Sunday School teachers may cover a variety of themes during his or her lessons about offerings that may be explored during a month that is chosen to emphasize tithing. The poster covers: office supplies, missions, church staff, Sunday School supplies, church maintenance, and utilities.
Lesson plans that focus on specific mission projects, church staff appreciation and introductions to weekly tithing all teach young students the importance of caring for their own community.

More links to stewardship:

Flying High With God's Word for Sunday School Bulletin Boards

This traditional kite theme can be used to introduce March Bible verses. Each child can make their own kites during this month to attach ribbons with written verses on them. The sample verses are:
  • Love one another, as I have loved you. John 13:34
  • Teach me thy way O Lord. Psalm 27:11
  • For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son. John 3:16
  • The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear. Hebrews 13:6
Kite templates and information from the web:

"He Cares For You" Sunday School Bulletin Board

Each child may draw and color his or her own picture of those people, places, or things that remind them of "how" God cares for people.

More links that cover this theme:

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Memory " Bee Hive" for Sunday School

Each child may make their own beehive booklet and include a Bible verse on each page. These verses should be discussed in terms of "how" the child may use them in real life situations with others. The children may also wish to illustrate them inside of their bee hive book. The Bible verses included on the bulletin board are as follows:
  1. Bee Gentle - II Timothy 2:24
  2. Bee Prayerful - Col. 4:2
  3. Bee Helpful - Gal. 5:13
  4. Bee Kind - Eph. 4:32
  5. Bee Honest - Rom. 13:13
    Templates of bee hives and bumble bees:

    Blooming With God's Word for Sunday School Bulletin Boards

    Young students may cut out the stem, leaves and centers of the flowers. Each child either writes his own name on the center of his or her flower or the teacher may choose to take a photo of the student and cut this out in a circle shape to create the center of the flower. Then the teacher staples these to the bulletin board. Over the passing of several Sundays, petals with the scriptural references will be added around each flower's center as the student successfully memorizes his or her verses. Do not make all of the verses too difficult for little ones to manage; choose age appropriate verses. Some students find memorizing scriptures very difficult and some of them have additional learning problems that Sunday School teachers are not always made aware of. Be very careful to invest and encourage all your small charges in the building of their flowers. In kindergarten, students may have their feelings hurt by not filling out their flowers as easily as others!

    Scripture verses that can be memorized by students who are either five or six years of age:
    • Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
    • Deuteronomy 6:5 - You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  
    • Isaiah 43:5 - Do not be afraid for I am with you. 
    • Isaiah 54:13 - All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace.
    • Psalm 1:6 - The LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. 
    • Psalm 19:1 - The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
    • Psalm 23:1 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 
    • Psalm 34:14 - Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
    • Psalm 103:8 - The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
    • Psalm 118:24 - This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
    • Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
    • Psalm 136:1 - Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.
    • Psalm 139:14 - I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 
    • Proverbs 20:11 - Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
    • Proverbs 30:5 - Every word of God proves true. 
    • Matthew 1:21 - She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. 
    • Matthew 6:24 - No one can serve two masters.
    • Matthew 22:37 - Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  
    • Matthew 22:39 - You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
    • Mark 10:14 - Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
    • Luke 6:31 - Do to others as you would have them do to you.
    • John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
    • John 6:35 - 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.' 
    • John 8:12 - Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
    • John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
    • John 10:14 - I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. 
    • John 14:6 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." 
    • Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  
    • 1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
    • Ephesians 6:1 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 
    • Philippians 4:4 - Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
    • Philippians 4:13 - I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.
    • Hebrews 12:1 - ...let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  
    • I Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
    • 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
    • I John 3:16 - This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
    • I John 4:7-8 - Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

    Monday, October 10, 2011

    Easter Bulletin Boards

    Children celebrating the coming of Spring with bunnies and cookies.

    Write an egg-citing story

    "Bunny Tales" bulletin board

    "Announcing The Egg Factory"

           The next set of photos above show young students celebrating Easter in their classroom. The essays were about bunny tales that the children made up. There is also ''an egg factory" depicted above that was located in the reading corner of her classroom. Children colored their own eggs for this display. It is good to design bulletin boards that give children the opportunity to participate actively in decorating their classroom. This reinforces their sense of ownership and accomplishment in their own education. Their learning spaces should look positive and fun by all means! If children want to decorate their eggs with shapes, colors or even religious symbols, teachers should let them express themselves freely. It is not up to the teacher to control every child's "way" of integrating their own faith or interests into art projects. A compassionate teacher merely provides the space and opportunity for the freedom of expression and learning in the arts. Public school teachers may be tempered by the state, but the children are certainly free to express their own religious beliefs. The government pays teachers with taxes that originate from people with many religious faiths and this is why teachers should be tolerant of the religious differences of their students. But students are free participants in public schools and operate under less restrictive policies. In my mother’s rural classroom, most all of the children came from some sort of Christian culture. In contrast to the classrooms of yesterday, essays and art assignments that make room for multiple perspectives on faith topics should be anticipated in contemporary, public school districts.

    Autumn Celebrations Bulletin Boards


    A Pumpkin Patch bulletin board

    "Purr-fectly Wonderful Cat Tales!"

    "It's Owl-oween!"
    "It's Owl-oween," up-close.

    "Haunted Helpers"

          Above are some marvelous ideas for fall bulletin boards that are sure to please, not frighten, little ones. My favorite is the pumpkin patch at the top. It's full of autumn colors; I can almost smell the cinnamon in the air and feel the crunching of leaves under my rake.
         The Purr-fectly Wonderful Cat Tales bulletin board is for children's essays. In this exercise, the students were assigned the task of writing a creative tall tale about a cat. It's Owl-oween displayed essays by children based on facts, not superstitions, about owls. Children learned the difference between what is true about these remarkable creatures and what is folklore. They also completed a fun art project with paper owls to go along with the unit. And the small "haunted helpers" bulletin board showed students which classroom duties they would be assigned that week. Each child would have a little ghost assigned to him with his name on it. If your ghost was seen behind the tombstone with a certain chore written on the front, then you where expected to take care of that duty.

    More links to Autumn Bulletin Board Ideas:

    Valentine Bulletin Boards

    Classroom displays "love bugs" 
    Here find individual patterns for ''love lady bugs''
          The photos above are of the "Love Bugs" Valentine bulletin board my mother used in her classroom many years ago. The children were studying poetry and she gave each child a bug frame to display their own samples of love poetry for the bulletin board.
          I’ve included a listing of other helpful websites that discuss and display all kinds of bulletin board decorations for the classroom.

    More Valentine Bulletin Board Ideas:
    • Loving Hands - Every student in a given primary room prints their handprint, dipped in paint, on top to display a giant heart.
    • Sending Our Love Each student fills out a Valentine and slips it inside an envelope to display alongside a post box on a bulletin board.
    • Conversational Hearts Bulletin Board - Each student writes what they think "love" really is and their heart shaped letter is then stapled to the bulletin board.

    Bulletin Boards For Reading Corner


    "Sneaking Up On a Good Book"

    "Best Sneaker Forward!"

    An apple orchard in the reading corner.

    "Poppin' Good Study Habits!"

    "Don't Monkey Around!"

          The first and top example of a "reading corner" or what may now be in most classrooms, "a computer corner," is a bulletin board that shows off students’ book reports. The second bulletin board is what most teachers refer to as a rewards chart. If a child completes a task promptly or obeys particular class rules well, he gets to tape a sneaker with his name on it, on the wall along with other fellow students. The "Poppin' good study habits" bulletin board is the same type of rewards bulletin board. Students who finish their projects on time are rewarded by inclusion with others, posted where everyone can see their good efforts. The "Don't monkey around!" bulletin board is a motivational bulletin board based on good study habits. Bananas are taped up on the wall when each child is recognized for excellent study habits. Last but not least, the apple orchard is a pleasant welcome for new students and invites children to relax and read a good book quietly when they have completed their studies.

    More Ideas for Decorating Your Classroom Reading Corner:

    St. Patrick's Day Bulletin Boards


    Above, Irish Potato Plots. Below, Essays about folklore

          Above a funny little leprechaun hugs a sack of potatoes in the top bulletin board. My mother then wrote about facts surrounding the Irish potato famine on each potato. In the example below an old-fashioned potato man adorns the second bulletin board. Children then wrote essays about Irish celebrations and colored mythical little leprechauns to decorate their project. Teachers can use holidays to teach the history of folklore or of the people most associated with a selected holiday. These kinds of visual connections between holiday themes and social studies or the teaching of classic literature help young students to understand the meanings behind the images used during holiday celebrations.

    More links to St. Patrick's Day bulletin board ideas:

    Spring Themes for Bulletin Boards


    "What a Catch!"

    "Fishing For Good Behavior"

    "What a Plant Needs"

           Above are a few of the ideas my mother included on spring bulletin boards. "What a Catch!" was one of her favorite themes because the net element included essays that each child had written about a sea creature for their science unit. She thought the combination of two subjects, both science and English, was a wonderful way to insure students remembered their learning experiences.
          Bulletin boards can also cover topics such as discipline. The "fishing for good behavior bulletin board" was meant to reinforce class rules in a playful way. My mother would take a paper worm with a written principle of behavior on it, and place it on the hook of the fishing dog. Each child in the room would be represented by a paper fish below in the pond and some years her students would even craft their own fish. But, every student knew which fish was their own. She would then mark on a chart of good behaviors which fish were caught on the fishing line that week. Believe it or not, this was a successful motivation tool! Her young students would obey the rules just to see their fish get hooked.
          The third bulletin board was based on the growth cycle of a flower and also the names of each element of a flower. Sometimes it is difficult for small children to remember ideas and names without seeing these over and over. Bulletin boards help to reinforce visual memory and stimulate the "hows" of what they are reading. In this way, my mother taught me that a bulletin board is a very helpful tool for teachers to train students with.

    More Spring themes for bulletin boards:

    Science, Weather, Botany & Geography Bulletin Boards


    Mammals, hunters, defenders

    butterfly life cycle

    weather watchers

    living organisms

    The sun's family

           The above examples are of the bulletin boards that represented the units of study in science that my mother taught every semester. The above examples where used to cover a small corner near a window. I recommend also, that teachers make available a small selection of books representing the study units' subjects be placed on a table below. Don't forget to think about objects that may also be included on the table that will stimulate a child's learning through sensory means as well. Listed here are more helpful hints for science displays:

    1.  If your science unit includes some sort of life cycle of small animals, you may wish to include objects like a turtle shell, fur skin, old bones, teeth, or stuffed animals.
    2. If your unit is about some sort of botany, then you could include objects such as interesting bark, a terrarium, potted plants, or maybe a selection of seeds planted in small plastic, see-through cups so the children could observe the growth of their plants.
    3.  If your unit is about planets, you could hang painted foam planets from the ceiling.
    4.  If your unit is about geography you may wish to include a spinning globe on the table.

    classroom bulletin boards

    Above is a picture of my mother in her former
      3rd/4th grade combined classroom.

          A bright and cheerful classroom makes an exciting place for children to learn in. Every summer my mother would ponder over her resources and ideas for bulletin boards. She loved to decorate her classroom with the art projects her students created. Incorporating subjects such as book reports, history, scientific principles, and literature were always popular themes in her classroom, as well as the holidays. She frequently purchased books on the subject of decorating bulletin boards or checked them out from the local library. She believed that displaying children's work helped to build self-esteem and provided for them a stimulating environment for further education.
          I will be posting a few snapshots here that were taken of her classroom bulletin boards. She retired five years ago but we imagine that some of the resources she used are still circulating.

    Photographs of bulletin boards from my mother's former elementary classroom:
    1. music bulletin boards, Bulletin Board Ideas for Music Teachers  
    2. teachervision, Bulletin Board Ideas 
    3. Clayton, Bulletin Board Ideas for Library Media Specialists 
    4. bulletinboardpro, Bulletin Board Pro       
    5. teachertools, Bulletin Boards 
    6. gigglepotz, Bulletin Boards Across the World 
    7. teachingheart,Bulletin Boards and Tips for the K-3 Teacher 
    8. teachnet, Bulletin Boards Library 
    9. Carroll, Business Education Bulletin Board Ideas 
    10. boardsgalore, Church and School Bulletin Board Ideas 
    11. Classroom Displays and Bulletin Boards 
    12. DTLK's Bulletin Board Displays 
    13. garden of praise, Halls, Walls, and Bulletin Boards 
    14. Kim's Korner, Ideas for Bulletin Boards 
    15. faculty kutztown, Interactive Bulletin Boards: Secondary School Math 
    16. Teacher's Corner: Bulletin Board Ideas 
    17. WPS Bulletin Boards 
    18. Middle School Bulletin Boards 
    19. Teaching Tips: Bulletin Boards
    20. Bulletin Boards Woes 
    21. We're Bugging Out All Over! 
     Links to other website owners that cover the topic of Sunday School bulletin boards: