Also, I will figure out how difficult the flower making activity might be and figure out how to make them myself.I, too, have yet to start y bulletin board. I was able to get a section above the teacher's desk (which I find kind of hard to reach) but she didn't want to take down the butcher paper, saying, "Heck no. That's some expensive paper." I blamed my professors just like Caren told us to do. Haha. =P However, I do have two themes I have in mind. Since my kids (kindergartners) have been learning so much about bugs/insects/deserts, I thought I would try to work that into the theme, but I'm not exactly sure how. Any ideas? The teacher suggested doing something about what the kids want to be when they grow up since she told me that in a few weeks they would be doing something that relates to that. But I'm not sure if that would be safe since a few weeks could be in June! And by then, school would be over I think. This Friday is going to be my Math lesson but I think I'm going to at least try to get a concrete idea on how to start. I think starting is the most difficult because you're just looking at a blank board and trying to come up with creative ideas! I feel so lost. =( I almost feel like the bulletin board project is not a good idea (since I get the feeling that the teachers are uncomfortable with it and I feel like I invaded their classroom).

Eva Cheung 5/13/08

I have yet to start my bulletin board project. All the bulletin boards in the classroom have been emptied, or all the things have been taken down. I chose one of the bulletin boards in the front of the room to work on. I’m still trying to gather ideas of some way of incorporating the students with the bulletin board. I’ve only seen the students work on math and writing when I have been there. The teacher is very open to anything for this bulletin board project. Initially I was going to do something with loving/caring for the environment. However, I decided to change it to Caring for others and the environment, because I have seen so many problems with the way students have been treating each other these days. I’m going to have different environments of the school: different aspects of the playground, classroom, lunch and in each of the playgrounds as the background and have at least one of the students caring for the others as well as respecting the environment.

Grace Kang 05.13.08

My kindergarteners are immersed in a classroom reflective of their teacher’s love of animals. We recently went to the zoo for a fieldtrip and saw many animals. Utilizing their heightened interest in these animals, my teacher has focused writing exercises and arts projects on animals of the world. Thus, for my bulletin board, she decided it would be really fun to focus on panda bears. She gave me the full 10’ by 3’ board at the front of the class. 2 cut out pandas, a cut out pond, cut out bamboo, and a real bamboo border provide the backdrop for the panda masks the students will make this week. I have also obtained bamboo leaves and am going to add them for more color. To wrap up the week, my teacher also suggested I read the class a book titled Zen Shorts, which stars a giant panda as the main character.

.Charles Lee. 05.13.08

I am starting my board this week but I don't have a lot of guidance from my teacher and she doesn't think that I will be able to include any work from my kids because they have all this stuff planned so she wants me to just do it on my own. My theme is the Earth and conservation which fits in perfectly with the science stuff she already has up around her room. I am going to make it out of recycled materials as much as possible and it's going to be mostly blue, green and brown on a bright yellow butcher paper background. I want it to have a very collage-y feel and have a lot going on without looking too busy and distracting from the conservation message. I'm thinking some animals, a tree, sky and water, and after that I dont' know. I think that I will be able to talk my CT into letting me get a few kids to help because I want the kids to feel like they had something to do with the final results.

Melanie Angle

13 May 2008

I'm starting my bulletin board this week, and it's been a bit difficult to get all of my ideas down to one theme or subject. My teacher has talked with the students about different aspects of art throughout the year, which will be helpful when getting their involvement on the project. I think something I really want to focus on is the community. We all know that the students we work with come from mostly poor and working backgrounds, and usually not very safe neighborhoods. I want them to show what they love and see about their community. I want a mix of media, so I'm thinking about having some good writers make poems and having some students draw pictures. From the outside, it's easy for others to look at these communities and see danger and poverty, but these kids come from areas like this, and I want them to be able to express their opinions and feelings about it. This is my plan so far, but it could easily change with whatever input my teacher or students have.

-Debbie Yang 5/13/08

My bulletin board is already under construction and I decided to use the art of persuasion and persuasive techniques since it is the theme of the classroom and what the students have been working on the past few weeks. My bulletin board will feature a persuasive text that outlines what is important in each of the student's lives and through persuasive techniques describes why it is important and why it deserves importance. The visual art of the bulletin board will be a mask made of paper mache that each of the students will create and pain with abstract symbols that represent what are the most important elements of their lives. The masks will be mounted so you can move them from side to side and underneath will be a photo of the child with a pose they chose to represent the overall theme of their lives. I am having trouble figuring out what to do with the backdrop of the bulletin board and how I can incorporate the text they wrote in an abstract manner to match the overall theme of the board. If anyone has any ideas please let me know!

--Sarah Serna 5/13/08

As for my bulletin board, I haven't been able to really have time to do it yet, but the teacher has given me time this week and next week to work on it. THe theme is going to be "Art Through My Eyes," and i'm going to be using materials such as paint, tissue, fuzzy balls, cotton balls, markers, construction paper, and othe rmiscellaneous stuff for students to create their images of what they think art is to them. I was fortunate enough to not be limited to just one theme like Math or something, so instead i took the project for what it was and i'm planning on letting students create and express how art relates to them, what it means to them, and how they can show that using the materials i'll provide. I'll also let them know that they are able to bring whatever else they want from home, but if they dont, that's okay too. I'll also have them write a a few sentences to help get some ideas with my backdrop that i'll create, so that i can incorporate their feelings and expressions of their artwork around the bulletin board. The backdrop will look like a canvas with paint swatches everywhere with their images on top and paint brushes and what not all over the place. I still have some ideas, but i think they'll gradually come about as i create the backdrop with the ideas of the students.

-Thao

The idea I have for the art board in my classroom placement is to have the kids decorate block letters of their names however they want. I will allow them to use any materials they want to express their personality as long as they can stick it to their letters. The idea is to have all the kids have their individuality in their name and decorations and then create a message by combining all their letters together to reflect the unity and diversity of their 3rd grade classroom community. I am still figuring out the details for how to get letter stencils and what material to use for the letters: poster paper, poster board, cardboard boxes or cereal boxes? I needed something stiff enough to hold up whatever the kids attach to them, but also preferably easy enough to cut with scissors. The other thing is I need enough of this material for all the letters in the kids names, which is hard to gage. I think I may ask the class to save cereal boxes at home to bring in. Also I want them to bring other material from home that they would want to use to decorate their letters.

Misty Mudd, 5/13/08

My teacher has given me space in the back of the room for a bullitin 'board', which is very generous. Unfortunatly she has very specific ideas of what she wants and all I'm really going to be allowed to do is the border and heading. Since the theme is the Kumeyaay, I decided that I will find things related to the unit for them to touch and play with. A cup of pine nuts, pine cones, try to find some of the plants discussed in the unit that are apparently supposed to be local, etc. If anyone knows where I can find acorns please let me know. I will place these along the bottom of the space so they can reach them. For the things I can't find, likc yucca wood, I want to do a scale drawing and place it along the side, so the kids can compaire their heights to it. Their contribution will be drawing a picture on the Kumeyaay related topic of their choice, to accompany a short research essay.

Felicia Mercer

5/13/08

My teacher and I have been working on developing the theme and design of my bulletin board. Her classroom is a very socially conscious environment, so she was happy for me to make that the theme of my bulletin board which I am thinking of titling, “Caring for ourselves and our environment.” The scene will be a beach background, with students performing various socially conscious behaviors throughout the scene. For instance, I will have two students helping to rescue a seagull that has been caught in some trash, and recycling it to show their concern for the environment. I will also show students working together to build a sandcastle to show that they can work cooperatively and care for one another’s contributions. The students made their own self-portraits as contributions to the scene, and I will be creating the backdrop. I will use sandpaper for some of the sand, fabric for a few beach towels, wire for birds, popsicle sticks and a half bowl for an umbrella, etc. I am excited about this concept as it is something that I feel is important to promote in a classroom and glad that my teacher in on board with my concept. I am still open to any suggestions along this line of thinking if anyone has any. Thanks!

Jill Haney

5/13/08

I have the logistics of my board figured out, however I have one remaining detail that I'm not sure about. I'm having the children decorate a paper hand to represent themselves with different art materials. They are then going to make a bar graph using their hands. This way I can teach/refresh about bar graphs as well. My questions is, what question for the bar graph should I use? I want it it be something that has a set amount of answers so the graph isn't super long. But, I also want it so that students have an opinion in answering it, and so that they don't all have the same answer. I was thinking maybe favorite season? Any creative ideas for me?

Thanks,

Danielle Lukk

5/13/2008

My CT has been more than cooperative. She has allowed me to have a large bulletin board, and given me ample time to have classroom meetings about the board. I had the students vote on a topic they wanted to see in their room which ended up being music. Hopefully, if I'm able to find extra tape or cd players, we'll have a music center at the back table. This'll be an area where students are able to listen to music and read the lyrics which ties into literacy. The actual bulletin board will be centered on "How Music Makes Us Feel...". Using recycled items collected from the students homes, together we're making a collage about how different songs or types of music make us feel or imagine. I'm super excited about how the board will turn out! Also, if there's anyone who needs a place to work at for the bulletin board, I'd be MORE than happy to have some extra hands!

Sandra Leu

5.13.08

In my Kindergarten placement, there is not too much for an extra bulletin board in my cooperating teacher's clasroom. Luckily, I talked to a fellow classmate, who is also placed in a Kindergarten classroom at Porter Elementary. She and I are going to be building a "Spring time" board in the middle of the Porter South campus. It will be a display of the children's work and our collaboration as well. We decided that we wanted to make the scene somewhat lifelike, putting in real materials as well as art materials as well. Also, another suggestion was that we could do something with their self-portraits. I was thinking that they could draw a picture of themselves and their classmates and we could place it on the bulletin board. Another idea is to ask the students what they think of when they think of Spring. Hopefully that this bulletin board will be implemented soon (by the end of this week). I will be working on it with Jessica this Thursday when I go for the visit. I am excited about this project and I hope we will be able to find ways that these students will be able to help us out it as well.

Kristen Sam 5/13/08

2nd grade project ideas: found objects and recycled materials to create a representation of their heritage, or a personality trait that they hope to embody someday, or something meaningful in their past or their family? This way you get them thinking about bigger concepts and how to use objects which you might not think to find beauty in to represent something meaningful. if you use empty tissue boxes (brought in by students or something) then they wold all be light and could be posted easily - you could use organic things too, like leaves and grass and bark or pebbles... just some ideas... I am planning on doing something like this with older kids, but I think it could be adapted for any ages

My teacher has been so busy these past few weeks with the budget cuts, and testing, that it is hard for me to sit down with her to discuss the bulletin board project. However, when I first brought it up, she said that there are several locations in the classroom I could use. She has been extremely cooperative, helpful, and open to anything I wanted to do. The students made a mother’s day card with their 4^th grade buddies last week and I started making one too. Since the students have such an inclination for art projects, I am considering doing an art project with them and posting it on the board. One of my ideas was using dried pasta and letting them arrange it on a picture frame, but I think that is kind of boring. Does anyone have any ideas for cheap, easy 2^nd grade projects? Thanks!

When I told my teacher about our bulletin board assignment she thought it was perfect because she needed to put up a bulletin board on the students’ Oregon Trail unit. I agreed to do it although it wasn’t displaying any student artwork because I still thought it could include student work and interaction in an artistic way. My original intention was to make the board a model of the Oregon Trail, showing a semi-realistic portrayal of the experience and what it looked like. To do that I wrinkled brown paper bags and stapled them to the bulletin board to make a textured land look. I used yarn to mark the trail that the pioneers made and at each stop put a stake with a label poking out of the board. I then made a makeshift wagon out of Popsicle sticks and cloth that could move from station to station by Velcro. This model on the bulletin board was intended to be a representation of the journals the students wrote as pioneers on the Oregon Trail.

Jamie Chu 5/12/08

My bulliten board is going to be based around the theme of goals and dreams. I have asked each student in my class to design a fish or cloud that says what their goals and or dreams are for the future. I got some really funny and interesting answers, such as soccer player, rapper and veterinarian. Half od the board is the "ocean" and the other half is the sky. I have made a hot air ballon and a 3d red air plane for the sky. Another component that I'm going to add is in the ocean and I'm going to put the extra fish a couds in an envelope so that other students can add to the board if they want. My host teacher and the school administrators were very excited about the board and it's subject.

Heather de Haas

5/12/08

Oops! I just realized I forgot the date on my last wiki post (though I did it the day it was due). Anyway, I have a huge space to cover (16 feet) and I was thinking of filling it with a project the class did on how they changed over the year. I thought it would be perfect for my theme of "who we are,' I was going to border all the assignments with colored construction paper and use special scissors that the teacher provided me with to cut around and make a nice boarder. In the middle of the board I’ll have a tree that I’m making out of used Trader Joe’s brown bags and green poster board paper. I had the kids come outside and I outlined their hands and wrote down their names and a character trait of theirs that they chose. Their hands will be upside down on the tree and will be like leaves. I’m not sure if I want their names and the character trait on the hands, or just their names. I will have to see how it looks on the board and decide then (before I bring the tree to class). So far these are the plans I’ve mentioned to the teacher and I’m planning on putting the board up this week - so any suggestions are more than welcome :D

Halley Burd 5/12/08

I have chosen to design my bulletin board project around the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. I am going to give the students a brief overview of the history of Memorial Day and what it represents. Following that, I am going to ask the student to do a writing assignment having to do with either heroism they have seen in their own lives or something they want themselves to remember 15 years from now. I am still figuring out the details of that portion of the project. I need to talk with my CT and see which writing assignment he thinks will suit the class the best. The background of the bulletin board is going to be a big american flag. I am going to use paper mache and different textures to form the stars and stripes. What I want to stress the most with this project, is the idea of remembering our past and having a certain vigilance for those events and people that shape our lives. I think 5th grade is a great age for students to take the time to reflect on what values they think are important and the ideals they hold dear. I am going to post the student's writing samples on the flag and also have a little blurb on their describing the importance of remembrance.

Michelle Jimenez 5.12.08

I’m doing a bulletin board on the Solar System. It’s really important to my host teacher to have the bulletin board display student work. We’ve been working together this past week to come up with a lesson that would incorporate art and the solar system theme. We decided that we would have students work in teams to construct constellations (using black paper and cotton balls painted silver), a group doing the phases of the moon (using classroom pain and thin paper plates), and a group designing the sun (no idea how I’m going to set them up yet). After their art project, these “expert” groups will present and we will work together to organize the materials on the board. We will also be putting up planets on the ceiling (this past weekend I went to Michael’s and used a 50% off coupon to buy Styrofoam balls and I painted them). I decorated these and brought them to class today. Ms. Watson is going to have me do a lesson with the kids where we research how far away planets should be from our sun (put up in the corner of the room) to accurately represent the real solar system (it’ll definitely be a cool lesson involving math and science!). I also found some interesting space articles in the Union Tribune a few weeks ago that I’m going to laminate and put up on the board wherever there’s space (I’ll have a couple of students read it and summarize it for the class). Ms. Watson does have a summary sentence for this unit that she also wants posted on the board. I don’t want to plan this out too much, as this is definitely a collaborative project with the students and the teacher and I want students to have to opportunity to make decisions regarding their classroom setting- I’m going to just direct their thinking and obviously handle the logistics. If anyone has any great ideas to make this more creative, please let me know!

In addition to the preliminary bulletin board project, I have added more detail to the project. With the collaboration of my teacher, we decided that the theme representing “this is who we are” would be appropriate for her class as they will be exploring that theme further in the following weeks to come. Moreover, we’ve already started to accept cereal box donations, as I wrote out a letter to the parents for the purpose of this project. With the cereal boxes, we intend to create individual puzzle pieces that will interconnect. As each individual has they own unique piece they will be asked to create it as it best represents them. In order to maintain creativity it will be an open ended assignment where the students can be creative to decorate their puzzle piece as they choose. They will be supplied with the art supplies that the teacher will provide. All students will be encouraged to participate, as well as the teacher and myself. As for myself, because I tend to utilize and recycle, I wanted to tie in the theme of recycling… thereby using newspapers for the background of our bulletin. Additionally in order to complete “this is who we are” I plan on having each students hand print cut outs to enclose the boarder in creating a community feel for the project. If time allows, I think it would be neat to introduce an “I am” poem of some sort as a way to tie it back altogether. -GRACE LEE 5/12/08

Margaret Hayes 5/12/08

I spoke to my host teacher about the project my second visit there. Luckily, she was as excited about it as I was. She gave me free range to take down or put up whatever I wanted to on the walls. I was very grateful, but I wanted to do something different, something abstract. The students are learning how to do research, so I was planning on making a research box with them. I spoke with my teacher and she let me select 5 of the topics they've already learned about to look into more. The problem is I go on Wednesday and that is their minimum day. Time is already crunched, but the past few weeks the time they usually spend with me they've been meeting with other classes to work on their Mother's Day song and presentation. It's kind of hectic and I'm a bit worried that they won't be as involved in the process as I would like them to be.

Danielle Howard 5/18/08

I was originally given the window to the room as my only space, but now my teacher says I can redo one of her boards, but HAVE to keep certain pieces of information on there. I am still negotiating as to whether or not I can redo those pieces of information my own way, or if I have to keep it the way she has them. I am focusing on a community, family and respect theme. When I went to Florence's festival, I helped out at the macaroni necklace table, and I thought how cool it would be to do some kind of colored pasta mosaic of kids, adults and teachers faces. If I have time, I would really like the kids to have the option of making their face, one of their friends faces, or one of their family member's faces. The only problem I am thinking about is how do I attach what my teacher wants on there, to the pasta? Should I just leave spaces open for it? She has some paper about discipline, a book, a class roster, and some other things on there.

Tiffany Larsen 8/12/08

My teacher and I have been talking about what kind of board she wanted to do for the class, and we agreed that we would tie it into the western movement lesson that she will be presenting in coming weeks. Thw board will encompass the oregon trail, as well as many historical landmarks that are found along the way. From what it sounded like though when we were planning this, I would be doing lots of art work (which i don't personally mind) but i was unsure if we were supposed to incorporate any work from the students. If anything I know there some tasks i could delegate to them with the teacher's permission, but there isn't enough for the whole class to do, so my current conflict is whether I will be doing the bulk of things then explain it later, or if i should ask if they can make these landmarks so I can put them up on the board with the outline of the western US that i will already be making.

-Jed Banayat

I decided to do the bulletin board in the theme of animals/ the zoo. I originally thought that an animal theme would be appropriate for my kindergarten/ first grade class, and after discussing it with my teacher, she was really excited about the idea. The class just went on a zoo field trip two weeks ago, so the idea of it is still very fresh in their minds. Also, learning the differences between different types of animals is a big part of the curriculum for them. Anyway, I plan on making my board out of cardboard and fabric. I am going to segment the board into different areas (like on a zoo map) and put each one of the students in each area. I took pictures of the children and had them developed, will paste each child's head onto a cartoon caricature of their favorite animal's body (I asked each child which animal was their favorite). I am going to glue velrco to each segment and to the back of each animal body so that the students can move themselves around the board as they wish (this makes it interactive and fun!). I had a lot of fabric and velcro left over from some art projects I have done in the past, and I was able to steal a large amount of cardboard from my workplace, so my only costs will really be the thirty cents I paid to get my pictures developed (I recommend snapfish.com). I will most likely be finishing the board this week, and I am quite excited about it!

-Olivia Kimble 5/12/08

My teacher and I decided that the theme of my bulletin board will be the Spring season. The students will be writing poems about their five senses during the spring season. The students have done lessons about their five senses in the beginning of the school year, so the assignment will demand that they recall what they have learned, and it will be open ended in regards to what they want to write-there will be no specific words they will have to use. I will be working with the students in groups when they write their poems. Because I plan on decorating a whole wall that has a great amount of space on it, my decorations will be big. I plan on having the students write their poems on a half sheet of paper and then glue that poem on a colored, t-shirt-shaped or tulip-shaped construction paper. I will make two trees, put up some string from one tree to another, and put up the poems on the t-shirts with clothes pins. Below the t-shirts and trees will be grass and the poems that are on tulips. The bulletin board will be titled, "T-rrific Spring Poetry."

-Sue Lee 5/12/08

My teacher wants me to use a board on her door and she has a running theme of motivation and encouragement. She said she usually has pictures of the students on the board, but other than that I have free range. I'm going in on Wednesday to really 'investigate' this board further and see exactly what she means by motivating/encouraging. I do like that she uses the pictures of the students as this will make my board more personal for the students. My only concern is that the board is on her door which means it will be a smaller space and won't leave me much room to really do any elaborate plans I originally had. I'll definitely need to see how I can maximize the space and make it creative...

Jennifer Arambula

My teacher and I have decided to incorporate the idea of “Who/where we are” into the social study bulletin board. The current social study theme is on mapping skills. I have decided to make two different layers for my bulletin board. The front layer will be a drawing of the world map and the back layer will consist of different work made by the students. I initially wanted to have the students make a symbol (that represented something important or special to them) and then use that symbol to pinpoint where they are in the world for the front layer; but I think it might be too clustered because everyone lives in San Diego. I think it might work better if I gave students different choices to where they want to put their symbols on the map (such as: 1. make a map of where you live, 2. Write about a place in the world that you would like to see or 3. Write about a story of where your family originated from). I noticed my teacher has various books about different countries that many students enjoy looking at so I thought it would be nice for students to share something interesting they learned about different places. One of the books that my teacher showed me had unique maps (such as a map to your heart, to your stomach, and to your toys) that I thought I could apply these “non-typical” maps to my bulletin board. I have not gotten a chance to install my bulletin board yet, but I am hoping to get most of it done within the next two weeks.

---------- Ginger Yuen ------------ 05.11.08 -------------

My teacher and I both agree that the theme of the bulletin board should be US state histories because the 5^th graders are currently learning about the 50 states. On the bulletin board, I plan to put the US map as a background and put the students’ 50 states projects on top. Yarns, toothpaste boxes, and plastic bottle caps will be used to create a train and a train route. The train will stop at each destination and a brief history of the state will be posted. Each destination will be at one of the original thirteen states, the Louisiana Territory, the Midwest, and the West. I also want to put up pictures that show each part of the US (the West, the East, the Midwest, etc). I plan to use aluminum foil as a frame and use tissue paper to decorate. I’m not sure what else I can incorporate in since this theme was quite hard to do, but hopefully it will turn out awesome! I want this bulletin board to be as interactive as possible. I would appreciate any ideas. Thank you!

Proud Sukthavorn 5/11/08

I have not started my bulletin board yet. It’s going to be difficult though because of the way that my classroom is designed. There really is no wall space at all. In fact, the class is really one big room that is shared by three different classes. There are no real walls or doors between the classes. Basically my only options are to use the window between the big class and a very small side room that is occasionally used by the kids or to use a wall somewhere else in the school. I’m kind of disappointed about that but think that the window has a lot of possibilities considering its transparency. But then the problem is that the window is not at eye level with the kids who are Kindergarteners. I will figure something out. My main goal at this point is to make the bulletin board interactive so that the kids will use it and remember it.

Christopher Craven May 11, 2008----------------------------------------------------------------

Aileen,

You can create a solar system with the following materials; card board, plastic (rubber bands, old plastic plate, or any other old material around your house), paint, and any old rags or old clothing, materials. I hope my suggestions are of any help. Good luck.

..Francisco Villasana

..SWC

..5/13/2008

My teacher wants me to incorporate a solar system into the bulletin board project. I’m trying to use different materials to make the nine planets. So far, I have made 5 planets using tissue papers, yarns, brown paper bag, magazines and styrofoam. I also made astroids, a rocket ship and a telescope with construction paper and I’m thinking about putting student pictures on them. I still need to work on 4 more planets (Jupiter, Pluto, Mars, Mercury). Any suggestions on materials I can use to make the remaining planets? Thanks.

Aileen 5/11/08

I just finished my bulletin board yesterday. My K-1st grade kids each drew a turtle several weeks ago using different types of lines (curvy, straight, angle, dot, and circle). What I did with them was create an ocean scene using these techniques to showcase their artwork. There were seaweeds of felt made by curvy lines, ocean waves of aluminum foil also made by curvy lines, and clouds of cotton. I used paper bags as rocks and cut out fish from different colored styrofoam to accompany the sea turtles at play. To give the bulletin added texture, I glued the turtles on the back of pushpins and then pinned them into the sea scene, giving the board a three-dimensional effect. It took me about two hours to finish the ocean scene, but the hours sped by rather quickly as I was having so much fun. I was happy to see the kids embrace their wall. I wish there were more of these art projects!

Karen Chau 5/10/08

My cooperating teacher and I both agreed that doing a social studies theme with California missions would be a good idea The fourth graders are learning a lot about the missions and are even going to visit the one in San Diego soon. I am planning on making a large map of California out of paper from large paper bags. She wants to use my project as a reward for some of the students who have consistently worked hard, so I will incorporate them in my project. I will create a trail of all the missions along the California coast. The students and I will make cut outs of all 21 missions and decorate them. I'm thinking of using materials such as macaroni and toothpicks for the roofs and paint them red. I also want to make ships out of plastic bottles with Popsicle sticks and some other material for sails and place them sailing toward the coast. I am still brainstorming some materials for trees and fountains. I would appreciate any ideas...

Priscilla Barcellos 5/10/08

I finished my bulletin board and installed it this week! I laminated the face with clear packing tape and it looks as good as lamination, but cost 3 bucks instead of 30! The face turned out really neat, I made the eyes, nose and mouth out of color pictures of the students’ eyes, noses and mouths and then made the rest of the face out of black and white pictures of their faces. It is really fun and cheerful. I put it off-centered on the right of my rectangle bulletin board and then had then pairs of cut out hands that I arranged randomly to the left of it, taking up the rest of the board. On the first pair of hands I wrote “together we can do anything!” then I wrote “Juntos podemos hacer cualquier cosa” (which is the same in Spanish) and then I had nine words that the students had worked with this year, such as caring, honesty, peace, etc. and I wrote those in English on the left hand and in Spanish on the right hand; the hands are linked together. I made the hands out of brown paper grocery bags. It turned out really neat and my class loved it!

Jocelyn White 5/10/08

I've already done most of my bulletin board. When I told my teacher about the assignment, she told me to redo her "Focus Wall." Her wall, at the time, was a mishmash of vocab. words, standards, and various things they were "focusing" on for the current lesson. She just had them all printed out and stapled up. Since this was all she was willing to give me, I had to take it, but she wanted it done in a week. I figured I could just make the board look more appealing and incorporate more visuals. The theme is "Ancient Cultures" so I decided to make the board ancient Egypt-themed. I made a big pyramid out of paper bags and put all of the standards and vocab. on the pyramid. I also made a big pharaoh, some 3-D palm trees, and a couple canopic jars for the board, so it looks like an Egyptian scene. I drew the title "Ancient Civilizations" in big letters and put this along the top. I'm a little disappointed that the teacher didn't give me much leeway. She won't let me take down the border or background paper. I still want the kids to be involved in some way. I'm thinking of doing an art project involving hieroglyphics and adding it to the board. Even if they can just write their names in hieroglyphics I can put it over the existing border. I just need to convince Mrs. Castillo to let me have some time to do it!

-Melissa D'ooge 5/11/08

I am still unsure about what to do for my bulletin board. I performed a science experiment with the kids and had them each color in a half-sheet of paper with what the experiment looked like. These are sort of fun to see but not particularly artsy. My teacher has given me complete freedom. I was still thinking about going with my original idea of having the kids paint portraits of one another (this was in one of the readings and I thought it sounded great). Now I am thinking that perhaps the kids can draw themselves as well! Then I could cut their faces down the middle and have half of them be what they see of themselves, and the other half be what someone else sees them as. This could evolve into a lesson on identity. They are 3rd graders and might find this fun. They also work on drama almost every Friday and are performing a play that talks about identify and how the kids in the class come from everywhere in the world. Maybe I could add photos of them practicing this play? ...or text from it? I want the kids to make the bulletin board, and I will just assemble the many pieces that they have created. Another idea I liked was having them paint or color paper that has been taped to the bottom of their desks (we would study a bit on the Sistine Chapel). Then these paintings can either stay there, or be displayed on the wall. Now that I think about it, maybe they can even be displayed on the ceiling!

- Diana Holland 5/10/08

My bulletin board is in progress. I am collecting images from magazines and newspaper that would help me make a collage. The collage includes the collections of all the items that would help keep one’s body healthy such as toothpaste for teeth, comb for hair, sunscreen and much more. I was not able to have the students participate in my bulletin board; therefore, the majority of the work is my own creation. In addition, the collage is used as background. I will then have an image of a boy to show different parts of human body and what one can do to keep the body healthy. Different materials will be used to complete the project such as foam, newspaper and ect. Hopefully it will turn out to be creative and awesome!!!

Thien-Nhut Dinh

Hey everyone!

My classroom teacher really wants me to stick within the confines of her existing social studies board, just update it with the new “colonial days” theme. I was thinking that I would create a large collage of the original thirteen states in the center of the bulletin board to geographically represent the original colonies, using different materials with varying textures and er for each state—like foil, felt, tissue paper, etc. But as far as creativity goes, I’m stuck at this point. I don’t know what else to do with the rest of the bulletin board. I’m going to have access to a lot of pictures of the students dressed up in colonial outfits, but I’m not sure how to incorporate those in an artistic way and so that they emphasize the “colonial days” theme. If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know!

-Marissa Curtis 05/09/08

Re. Marissa: I love your idea of making the colonies out of different mediums. I think it will be beautiful! Art you putting student work up on the bulletin board as well? Maybe instead of having the 13 colonies attached to one another, you can space them out (while still keeping the intended structure) and intersperse the student work/ photos on the board. I know our class is against horizontal lines of essays, but I still think that student work would still be a good focus for the board. Maybe kids can draw pictures of what they know about the colonies... Or the kids could even be assigned to make the states. - Diana Holland 5/10/08

Hey Terri Kim,

Because u are in a low budget I think u can use newspaper or toilet paper to create your countries. First create an outline of the countries u are going to use on your board, then wet the paper and stick it inside and around your outline. During the process you can create mountains, valleys etc… Once it dries up you can paint your countries.

I hope my suggestion helps you or gives u a new idea.

Francisco Villasana

SWC

5/12/2008

Hey!

So I talked to my cooperating teacher and she asked if I could do the bulletin board with a theme of countries. The students are on the unit of countries and they have been working on art projects already. She thought it would be good since it would directly relate to what the students are already working on. The specific countires she had in mind were Japan, Ethiopia, and Italy. However, I don't know how I should start. I don't want it to look boring by cutting out pictures of the countries. I want it to be more creative than that. Any suggestions to make it more fun and lively? Thanks a bunch!

- Terri Kim 05. 09. 08.

Hi everybody!

I have spoken with my host teacher and she wants me to construct the bulletin board with a specific theme: Math. This is where I am having difficulty. I am not very “artsy” to begin with, and I am not so sure how I can incorporate Math into the bulletin board in an “out-of-the-box” thinking strategy. The students are currently doing fractions, percents, and also fraction to percents ie. 5/10=1/2=50% or .33=33%=1/3. Lately, I have noticed them trying to do long division, and many start getting really confused with the amount of zeros that go underneath the problem as they try to solve it.

My goal is to make it fun and interesting, but I am finding that challenging with math? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Jessica Banuelos (May 8, 2008)

Re. Jessica: Maybe your board can used as a means to teach your kids long division? You can artfully put explanations up there and then do a memorable example I'm picturing one huge problem going from the top to the bottom of the board. Zero's can be made out of pictures of their faces (or animals, or cookies...)- just something that they will be able to picture in their head as they work out problems. Or off to the side there can be examples of numbers being multiplied and then the one that fits into the number gets to make it through a sieve, but the next larger number is too big (literally) to fit inside? Hmm. Also the numbers that you "bring down" could be raindrops falling with freaked out expressions on their faces. Maybe! - Diana 5/10/08

Hi!

I have a basic idea of what I would like to do, but am wondering how to make it a little more exciting and personal, without creating too much disorder and havoc. My teacher is really excited about the idea and really wants to have the kids involved (and I'm actually going to teach a little art lesson in the process). I am going to chose a painting and break the image up into a grid of 18 squares. The students will each be assigned a different square and will paint that portion of the image. After each square is completed we are going to put them all together to make a collage of the original image. My theme will have to do with each of the students being unique, but that they must work together as whole (and by doing so, they will create a masterpiece). I'm looking for some ideas of how to make this project unique... I'd love to get the kids to use random materials but am afraid that the work as a whole will be unrecognizable (they are second graders). Does anyone have ideas on how to imprement textures and maybe some 3D or other interesting aspects to this idea? Or maybe something altogether different that my theme could still apply to?

Thanks!

Melissa Ward

5/2/08

This message is for Danielle Lukk

I like the idea that you have in mind of creating a bar graph with their hands or human figures. Something that you can consider is using color paper, paint, crayons etc… To create the hands but have every kid choose colors that has a meaning to them within their hands. You can also color every bar a different color. For example, blue can mean strong or friendly, green growth, red love, pink sweet etc… Another thing that you can think about is using; vertical lines to imply potential change and can create a 3d composition, and diagonal lines to create action and movement in the background or in the bars.

francisco villasana

SWC

5/1/2008

Good luck

i can see its hard to find something intresting for kids to have fun on, i got something that might help. magazines with big glossy photos are best for these project. land scape and food magazines will generally get you the largest and prettiest images.

1. pass out standard black construction paper nad several magazines. instruck your kids that they have to cut out many images of texture that will help them represent something good they want to have in the world. those cuttings will then turn into an art piece from their imaginations. 2... request that each student stars with large squares and rectangles for a good starting background, and then cut and glue smaller details such as windows, doors or any important items.

3 ..lastly, what you are representing in your collage has to show so it would be egood if you did it in bright colors. encourage your students to use unusual combinations.. i hope that helps.

Jorge Corea

04/30/2008

Miracosta College

To Sherry (Yen-Yu) Lin,

maybe instead of your students bringing in pictures of themselves, how about you aask them to bring in items that represent themselves such as a favorite toy or book or whatever it may be. this will add to the look of you board but it will also keep it from becoming flat. i do understand the neatness thing because i myself am organized but sometimes art is messy so let the kids help to come up with something outstanding. also if you want you could actually have them bring in photos and just use that as a background so that it is totally differnt and not one picture or space is the same. that will keep the eye interested. good luck

Ashley Aronson

MiraCosta College

04/30/08

Hi! I was wondering if anyone had ideas about a bulletin board promoting culture, identity, and empowerment. The students in my class are all of Mexican American Roots. I wanted to celebrate being bilingual with a project and a message. I was thinking either to have a language bulletin celebrating cultures, or to have the students do some type of mask? as a tribute to their Mexican and American roots. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

- Sandra 4/25/08

The last link I posted shows some projects based on trash and recyclables....I looked at the root site and found many more projects that may be practical for some classes if not for this project maybe for a later date.

http://www.kid-at-art.com/

...on the left hand side there are several links including one which says

Armen Dabaghian

MCCC

4-23-2008

________________________________________________________

On the topic of Conservation, Earth Day and a Green Enviornment....why not focus on the theme Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Have the children come up with practical daily means to improve their classroom, school, home, community, city, etc., etc. Actual materials could be used to make the theme more powerful and hit closer to home. This is a great way to empower the children and there is always more that everyone can do...I have to admit I am not as eco-friendly as I could be. Well I was thinking about facts, to show how much of an impact each of us can make and I came across this link: http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/matchtmp.html

Cheers,

Armen Dabaghian

MiraCosta Community College

4-23-2008

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone! This is also my first post, and I'm glad about so much ideas flowing over here. I'm somewhat overwhelmed too. Anyway, I have these ideas as a kind of build up to the ideas posted by Proud (4/14/08). For Proud, you were saying about collaborative involvement of the students, how they want to make our world a better place to live and make it "greener" and save it, and how they can express themselves creatively about these things. You mentioned too about using recyclable materials for the bulletin board. I would like to suggest the following suggestions especially contributing to the Earth Day, conservation theme:

1. For the bulletin board materials: Probably consider using organic materials from nature like dried leaves, dried flowers, etc; small stones of different sizes, shapes, hues, and textures;use of tree barks; use of recyclable materials like magazines for collage and cutouts, bottle caps, soda can lid handle; or anything recyclable and eco-friendly materials they can get from home.

2. For design consideration: What about considering a a reflective surface as a backdraft of the bulletin board. like say aluminum foil crumpled (consider its color too), and then over the top having those creative expressions of the students as a collage, cutout, and what have you. Then the idea of using simple creative lighting like side lighting the board with an energy-efficient low powered flourescent bulb ( since we want to emphasize green earth and conservation) to emphasize depth and 3-D effect design of the board and its contents.

3. Lastly, the possibility of changing the theme every month or quarterly at least to make the board dynamic, content-wise.

I hope these suggestions would somehow be helpful.

Levis Espinosa

SWC 4/17/08

Hi everyone! This is my first post, therefore before I get into the design suggestions I just would like to give you all future educators props for choosing such a selfless and valuable career. Thanks!

OK, now this post is good for everyone out there working on their bulleting boards, however I would like to direct this to TERRI KIM specifically. You mentioned on one of your posts that the themes you wish to promote among your students are “collaboration” “sense of accomplishment” and “helping others” right?

To pull that off you would have to work on a project that brings all your students together, something that emphasizes how important everyone’s collaboration is to the project. Instead of working on individual art pieces, that might go on display by themselves with the name of the author, it would be a good idea to work on ONE BIG project, sort of like a big jigsaw puzzle, a project in which each student contributes an individual piece that in it of itself is incomplete, but when added all together you have a finished artwork.

It would be good if each piece had an element in it that pointed to a missing piece, for example one student might draw a figure that goes towards the edge of the image and appears incomplete, but then you add a second piece that contains the continuation to that image, and so forth.

As far as materials go, since we are living in a time in which conservationism is key, more and more instructors are realizing the importance of cultivating “green” habits in their students, like recycling and energy efficiency. Maybe kids can bring some materials from home, like empty cereal boxes that can be cut up and drawn on the reverse side.

Also, you have another problem: No wall space. How about a freestanding work? You could make a base and stand for your work that way the collaborative piece can be moved around in the classroom and even taken outside and displayed.

Hope this was helpful.

Marcial Gutierrez

Southwestern College

4/17/08

Responding to Felicia Mercer: I have read that you eventually have a chance to use a large window. That would be a great possibility for a “Mobile”. I am from Switzerland and don’t know if you guys here know what that is and I also don’t know the English name to it. Here is an example of one:

http://www.toysland.ch/shop/images/prod_0980_big.jpg

That is just a cord with different things worked into it.

We used to do that a lot in school and it is really fun. The kids can hang up whatever they like and it is easy to find something or create something for every theme. Every student could hang up something from home, from school and something that is special to them.

Manuela Kugler

MiraCosta College

4/15/08

Sherry's (Yen-Yu) idea inspired me and I especially like the idea with the pictures of the students. You said you want to make some things three-dimensional and in pastel colors. What if every student would choose his/her flower they like the best and create it with construction paper and colored wrapping paper, which makes the flower completely 3D. THe inner part of the flower would be the students picture. I would suggest to choose high intensity colors for all flowers and your pastel ones for the background. If you arrange all flowers at the end to the board, I would suggest to overlap them for the 3D-effect.

Manuela Kugler

MiraCosta College

4/15/2008

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

It seems like most ideas are revolving around the theme who/where the children are(? grade, school, self image)....and also who/where they want to be later in life. Sue Lee had an interesting idea, about a road made out of recycled brown grocery bags. This could be a powerful image to show the road of life. The children could be encouraged to use other recycled materials, magazines, newspapers, etc. and make two self images to be placed at the begining of the road and another further along. The image doesn't need to be a portrait but something that represents who they are and what they enjoy and something they imagine they would enjoy doing later on in life (e.g. a stethoscope, wrench, baseball, etc.). They could even possibly complete a written assignment in which the teacher could provide some insight into the means involved in accomplishing the child's goal.

Armen Dabaghian

MiraCosta College

4-18-2008

__________________________________________

Adrienne,

i like the idea that you want to help teach the kids about recycling already by incorporating it with art. like Donny said i also think that you should incorporate recyclables from outside and apply them to your board as you like. I also think that you could possibly try to pick up things from outside which others may have littered that could be recycled and have a section pertaining to trash that could have been recycled bu instead was litter.

What im invisioning for this

My bulletin board project is on a unique type of bulletin board. Orinigally, it functioned as a white board in the classroom but was converted into another bulletin board space when the technology was upgraded to a white board. This poses a delimma for my project. I cannot fasten anything to the board except by magnets. Part of my design includes Styrofoam which is way too thick for magnets to reach through. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I should approach this issue? I am think perhaps I can glue my project to a poster board and then place magnets on that but then I think it’ll be too heavy. Any solutions?

Nichole Grieco 5-13-08

melisa ward,

your idea of breaking up a painting is really creative. Maybe assign a larger portion of the painting to a group of students. And as the class puzzle it together. also letting the group repaint the section how ever they wanted. The finished product should look very trippy when its all put together just and idea eh

memo