Main Wall

Hello smarter-than-average internet browser!

In this post you'll see the magical transformation of my main wall at the front of my classroom.  Let's jump right in.

 Step 1: leaf printed fabric as a base and inspirational chalkboard trim from Target.

 Step 2: Add pompoms, handwriting guides, and a cute bunting banner from Target.  Take my advice and don't make homemade pompoms.  In theory, they save you money.  But the the honeycomb ones just aren't worth your time.  Keep an eye out at The Dollar Tree or stores like Tuesday Morning for ones that are $1-2 a piece and save your sanity.

 Step 3: The "I Can" statement banner, charts for content statements to be posted, add a boggle board (that I made, sorry!), and a chalkboard to hang the helper of the day.

Finished product: functional and cute!  I also added a great number line that I found on Amazon (it has odd and even numbers in different colors and has the word forms of each number written above it.  I also added a hundred chart up above that I used translucent colored contact paper to show the multiples of 5 and 10 to help students with skip counting.  There's also a sneak peak of my calendar area on the right and the bus pages on the left.

Thank you for stopping in today!  I hope you saw a few things that sparked ideas for you.  What are some tips and tricks that you have for your front of the room must-haves?  Leave them in the comments below.

Stay tuned!

Ms. Frisch

Bulletin Boards Galore

Hello again!

In my first post, I showed you my classroom as a blank slate.  I'll do posts on each of the larger projects I've completed for my classroom, starting with the bulletin boards.

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I knew I wanted to use fabric for the backgrounds.  Here's what I've found:

Advantages: doesn't fade, won't show holes from staples or push-pins, lasts for many years

Disadvantages: more expensive, can't be changed out easily

I took quite a lot of time just waiting on fabric to go on sale at JoAnn Fabrics.  When I saw that the brand I wanted was 60-70% off, I jumped on it.  I also had a coupon that I was able to combine with the sale to make it an even better deal.  I made sure to choose fabrics that were in colors I liked  and would be able to use for multiple years.  I also made sure the prints weren't over the top, I didn't want to grow tired of them. I'm really happy that I didn't choose seasonal or crazy colors or prints.  I still love every fabric that I chose and I've left them up over this summer so that I can use them next year as well.

These are the colors that I chose - light greys, whites, and greens.  I wanted my classroom to be calming.  There is so much dark wood throughout the room that I wanted to make sure to brighten it up!  The contact paper on the right is from The Dollar Tree and was used in a different project, but I think that it coordinates well with the other colors.

The back doors: 11 yards of fabric alone!  I chose the light grey bird print to liven it up and to use as a neutral.  I wanted to be able to use many different colors of posters or accents in years to come and not have to change them out.  The boards above it have the light green polka dot fabric to add a little bit of color.

The 6 doors on the left have student coat and backpack hooks behind them, so it was a natural placement to have the word wall.  Students were then able to see that 'their' cabinets were the ones with the word wall.  I made the letter circles myself (they'll be available on Teachers Pay Teachers one day soon).  The picture on the right shows what my back wall looked like on the last day of school. I'll get a better picture for you!  There are punctuation signs on the top left, the word wall on the left doors, math signs on the top right, and empty doors that held ever-changing content posters and a math word wall on the bottom doors.

 I hope you've enjoyed the journey of my back bulletin board wall!  How did you set up your word wall this year?  

There are more classroom updates to come, stay tuned!

Ms. Frisch