To highlight one particular bulletin board in a first-grade class, put a string of clear Christmas lights around the border and plug them in. Position photographs of students (from your previous year) participating in classroom activities around the bulletin board to create a special border. Your current students will be able to see the kinds of activities your class will be involved in throughout the year. Use rectangular, plastic or paper tablecloths--purchased from the local dollar store--as a background for the bulletin board. You can usually purchase them with holiday themes, as well.
Teach your first-grade students about health, nutrition and exercise using a Valentine's Day bulletin-board design. Use red paper, pink felt or a red, plastic tablecloth to cover the board. Using a marker, draw a large oval track on the red background. Ask students to glue a piece of heart-shaped paper with their name on it to a wooden popsicle or craft stick. Have the students position and pin their sticks at the beginning of a lap on the track. Once students complete related activities about healthy lifestyle habits, they can move their name stick farther along the track until they reach the finish line. Students will be able to see their progress and achievements.
To help you and your Grade 1 students get to know each other at the start of a new school year, cut out paper T-shirts for each student to decorate. They should be about 3 inches by 5 inches. Ask the students to cut out magazine pictures or draw pictures and their name on their T-shirt. Encourage them to choose images that describe their likes and interests. Position the T-shirts as if hanging on clotheslines across the width of the bulletin board using a piece of string. For an added touch, use small, plastic clothes pegs to "hang" each T-shirt in place.
Using butcher paper, cover the bulletin board to create a blank background. Each week, write an interesting question at the top of the page and allow students to write responses during their spare time. The students will be able to express their thoughts and read other student's responses as well. You could also hold a class discussion as a teaching opportunity regarding the topic at the end of each week. A question such as "What is your favorite season and why?" could lead to a science lesson about the change in seasons. You could follow "What is your favorite story?" as a bulletin board topic with a reading-comprehension activity. "How would you spend a million dollars?" could lead to a math lesson.