Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Extra Time Bulletin Board

I have been thinking a lot about my Bulletin Board for when students have extra time.  I have seen a lot of ideas on other blogs, but I just am not sure what I want to do yet.  Last year I had an extra time board.  Here is a picture of it:
On the paper that is bottom/center there were a list of activities that students could do that related to vocabulary, and students had the same handout in their binder.  Here is the problem...no one ever followed the recommendations.  When students had extra time, most of them wasted it, and a rare few read their free reading book.  This year, I want to make the bulletin board more interactive and enticing.  I was thinking that I could put some "fun" and educational activities in the file folders- MadLibs and Boggle for example.  I also thought that perhaps I could have some flash cards on a ring for student review.  The question is, would students actually use these?  It will take time to make the cards, laminate them, cut them out, put them on a ring, and I want to have a few sets.  I think that it would "look" like fun, but once the students realize they are just flash cards, will they continue to use them?  I also was thinking of including some writing prompts somewhere, perhaps on flash cards or 1/2 sheets of paper.  

Have you guys ever had success with an "extra time" bulletin board?  Let me know what has worked for you!

2 comments:

  1. I have one. It's actually just a poster-sized display. I have little die-cut pieces of candy to match my classroom theme. I'm setting mine up in a "must do/may do" fashion. The first thing they MUST do is complete any missed assignments and then work on corrections (my district requires this). Next, they may select one choice from the candy options. These are removable, so I'll be changing them out every now and then. I'll include options like Boggle, task cards (sorted by the colors I'll "suggest" during small groups), creating a "Bookcover My Way" for our "Savor Sweet Reads" display, reading to self in the library center, a puzzle (maybe), or some of the file folder games (Hink Pinks, brain teasers, word searches, etc.). This is the first year I'm doing this, so I'm curious how it will work. I feel like there should be some sort of accountability to ensure that they actually complete missed work first. I saw an idea somewhere, but now I can't remember where. I need to go look that up again...

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    1. Ohh, sounds like fun. Please post pictures when it is set up. I would be interested to see it. I also like the "must do/may do" idea. I think it is important to be caught up with work and have quality work before doing something "fun."

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