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The Woods Would Be Very Silent {Bulletin Boards}


I absolutely love this quote:


I decided to use this as the inspiration for my bulletin boards this year. I have three bulletin boards. One is a long rectangle and the other two are more square and sit on either side of my white board. 

I have one board dedicated to Solfa Street (that is for another post).

So on my two remaining birds, I came up with these ideas:

Board #1- the quote from the picture above

Then I saw this clipart on Etsy:
The birds on the wires reminded me of the staff, so I decided on my second board.

Board #2- "Every bird as found has found their place, on a line or in a space" for the lines and spaces of treble clef.

Back to board #1
Aileen Miracle had recently posted a set of bird-themed classroom materials on her TpT page, and I loved the way the trees/leaves were various sized circles.

I found this big packet of pre-cut circles at our local Michael's craft store on clearance! I love that it has all the colors, and I am planning to change the trees with the seasons. I usually keep my bulletin boards the same all year, so this will give it a fresh look without the time it takes to completely re-do a board.


Then I went through the scrapbook paper I already owned because I wanted some of the circles to have patterns and textures. The patterns I had weren't amazing, but they work!


I used a scrapbook circle cutter and die cutters at school to cut the circles for my tree leaves.

I already had a bunch of die cut letters, so that wasn't a big deal.

Usually I cover my board with the contact paper at school, but it comes in very limited color choices, so I remembered that I had seen on pinterest that you could use a plastic tablecloth from the dollar tree or party city. This gives you lots more color options and is cheaper than covering them in fabric. I bought my tablecloths from Party City when they were buy one, get one free.

I also bought a new border this year. This is the first time I don't have music specific borders, but I really like them. 

Once I had all my materials, I could begin putting the board together. First I cover the board with the background and border. Then I lay out the text in front of the board to see how it will best fit. I figured out where I wanted my trees, and then began to staple everything onto the board. 

I added my birds last and here is the final product of board #1:

 
 I ran out of black S's, so the "s" on "those" is a different font, but I kind of like it! I hope this board is encouraging and inspirational to all my students and makes them stop and think about the things they do well. Also, I hadn't originally planned on the trees running off my boards, but they seemed too short if I cut them off at the end of the bulletin board, so I decided to let them run to the floor. I think I like them though. Any thoughts?

On to board #2:

For this board I added a chevron circle and note name inside each of the birds. I actually ended up cutting off the birds' legs and feet to make everything fit better. Originally I thought of having two telephone poles on either side, but it just didn't seem like it would fit on this small board. Maybe on a bigger board. I also debated about whether I wanted the "wires" to be a little bowed or straight. I decided to go with straight.

I purchased black streamers to create the staff lines.

Again I covered the board with a tablecloth, border and laid out my letters in front of the board. I added the top two rows of text and then taped my lines about where I thought they should go. added my birds for spacing, adjusted and stapled lines. I finished it off with the teal text and birds.


In level 3, Susan was really  particular about emphasizing ON a line or IN a space to help differentiate between the two, so I thought I should probably work to incorporate that in my teaching. I may even make "on" and "in" stand out a little more by making them orange or something. I haven't decided, and I need to see what colors of letters I have.

If you want to recreate these boards in your classroom, I have included a set of my printable birds on my teachers pay teachers store with step by step directions for each board and a lettering count all done for you so you don't need to count the letters needed for the boards. 



If you use them, I'd love to see what you come up with your your boards. Feel free to send me pictures!

Warm wishes as you prepare your rooms to make music with your beautiful children!

Lindsay





3 comments:

  1. Love your ideas! I'm going to your store to purchase your bird ideas. One thought about the second bulletin board. I have been teaching my kids that a note is around a line or in a space. When you say on a line, some take that to mean above the line and resting on it. Another distinction that I've made in terminology for my students is to use the word quiet instead of soft ( soft-loud differentiation). Soft seems to bring up the textural connotation. Just some thoughts! Have a great beginning of the year!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Lynn for your comments! That is interesting. During my Level 3 training Susan Tevis was REALLY particular about using ON a line and IN a space. I can see what you mean though, especially when you think of sitting on the couch or on a chair. So far I haven't noticed any confusion with my kids using "on". I use the hand staff all the time though too and we touch our fingers on the lines and we point in the space in between our fingers for the spaces. That seems to help my kids really visualize it. Great food for thought!

      Delete
  2. Thanks Lynn for your comments! That is interesting. During my Level 3 training Susan Tevis was REALLY particular about using ON a line and IN a space. I can see what you mean though, especially when you think of sitting on the couch or on a chair. So far I haven't noticed any confusion with my kids using "on". I use the hand staff all the time though too and we touch our fingers on the lines and we point in the space in between our fingers for the spaces. That seems to help my kids really visualize it. Great food for thought!

    ReplyDelete