Bulletin Boards aren’t something I use very often in my classroom. For one, we have some very small boards in our classroom and those are used for student work, our Instagram picture board, and our required focus wall. We don’t have boards outside of our classroom in the hallway, so we just hang stuff on the walls. So when Fadeless Paper reached out and asked if I would like to use their materials to create some boards, of course, I said yes because I love to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. Also, as always, we never share products we haven’t used and if we use a product and don’t think it’s a good product, we don’t recommend it. After using the Fadeless Paper, I HIGHLY recommend it for all of your classroom needs.

Interactive SEL Bulletin Boards

The idea for this interactive bulletin board came from the desire to share more books with our kids. We know if kids see book covers they’re more likely to want to find the books and read them. So we wanted a dedicated bulletin board that is interactive and could build that love of reading by sharing books.

I used Fadeless Paper which came in a storage box for easy storage and tearing! I used magenta fadeless paper and brite blue Bordette Border. The doors or book covers are made from Tru-Ray construction paper. I used atomic blue and brilliant lime. The letters are cut from the same construction paper.

Reading Bulletin Boards

Here’s how our interactive book bulletin board works:

The idea is to create doors that open so we’re opening the door to discover a good book! Laminate the construction paper and use Velcro dots so the doors can open and close! Inside the door, staple a picture of the front cover of books. I googled the books I wanted to include and found pictures of the covers and printed those on white Pacon cardstock. Students and teachers can open one door on the board and that can be the class read-aloud. Or maybe a student opens a door and sees a book and gets it from the librarian! Change the books out monthly to keep them fresh and exciting!

Here are some ideas for how to choose books so that the bulletin board is involving the entire school, integrating the cultures and traditions of students and staff, and addressing those SEL needs:

• beginning of the year- use back to school books chosen by the librarian or admin or teachers
• monthly themes that align to seasons/units of study/holidays
• books that highlight cultures and traditions in your school
• each month the teachers in a grade level share their favorite books
• each month a grade level (students) share their favorite books
• do a board of books that represent the different family types at your school
• do a board of books about your city/state/community

(NOTE: Fadeless Paper supplied the materials and compensated me for these boards. However, as always, TKS only shares and recommends products we have used and trust and believe in. Had the materials not been such high quality, we would not recommend them.)