even more bulletin board ideas...

 I promised more bulletin board ideas and here they are.  They are not perfect in any way but hopefully they will provide inspiration for an idea that will work for your classroom/school.

Learn to Speak "Patternese".  This was one of my first bulletin boards.  I wanted something that would help teach my students the language of patterns- a.k.a. patternese.  Lame.  I know.  I found an old pattern piece and then labeled each part.  I also included a scrap of fabric for the selvage, a blurb about the grain as well as a mini piece explaining a fold line.  For the border I used measuring tapes as we had a gazillion laying around.

This is one of the bulletin boards I created for one of my masters projects.  A FFA (Future Farmers of America) adviser asked me to create something inspired by the Snapple commercials to display the many photos he had from a variety of events.  The idea is all his and his assistant.  I just executed it.  I think it's fun.  I put 2 FFA symbols over pictures of Snapple bottles.  Not sure if that is wrong or not... but I think it added to the whole theme. 

Another Masters project made for someone else advertising FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America).  I found all of the information on their website and just typed it all up in an organized way- Mission Statement, Purpose, Creed, Fun Facts, Programs and what it is!  I included blank pages for her to include the names of her advisers, student leaders and happenings in their chapter!  I connected everything with red and white ribbon- the official FCCLA colors!

The finished product from her classroom- including bags of sugar to represent how much is in different foods.

Yet another board for someone else.  She requested a board explaining calories in vs. calories out.  I explained that 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories.  In order to lose a pound, you need to create a deficit of 3500 calories.  This can be done by eating fewer calories and burning extra calories through physical activity.  I also included a list of activities to explain how many calories they burn (such as shoveling snow for an hour will burn 360 calories).  To help encourage students (and teachers) to make wiser choices at their favorite restaurants, I presented a high calorie food vs. a lower calorie food.  On some I included a speech bubble explaining how many hours of a certain activity they would have to do to burn it off.

The above photo is what the final bulletin board looked like in the classroom of the teacher I made it for.  It's a little blurry but you get the idea.  She had her students research sugar amounts in different foods and represent the amounts with bags of sugar.
The below photos are what I took of the information before I mailed it out.  I didn't have a classroom to use so I hung everything up on my kitchen wall- thus the drab background and horrible everything.  :)  

What it looked like on my kitchen wall.  Not perfect but a little easier to see the big picture.

Sew... This is a simple yet informative bulletin board teaching the different equipment used in sewing.  Underneath each picture is the name of the item and a brief description of what it is used for.

Another bulletin board made for another teacher.  The topic she requested was Body Mass Index. Each box explains something different about BMI answering the questions: What is BMI?  Is it 100% accurate?  How is it calculated?  What do the numbers mean?  Is BMI the same for everyone? 
Then included lists of possible effects of a high and low BMI, as well as the charts to see it visually.








This Who are You?  bulletin board alternated with my Patternese board.  This board started the semester as the first unit was Personal Development.  This is such a simple (almost boring) bulletin board but it filled the space and hopefully made them think about the different roles they play.  I did find a piece of mirror-like scrapbook paper that I put in the middle of it the last few times I put it up- but a real mirror would work better although would likely become the place for makeup and hair checking rather than pondering who they are.  ha.

NOTE:
Some of the Bulletin Boards you see on this blog are now available for purchase from my etsy shop  or Teachers Pay Teachers!  Just purchase the desired bulletin board and instantly download a PDF file.  You just need to print, trim and paste a few parts before hanging up in your classroom or hallway!  If you would like the printing, trimming and pasting done for you, let me know.  The final cost will be higher and shipping will be charged!

If there is a bulletin board you see on here and would like to purchase, please contact me by leaving a comment, convo-ing me through etsy or emailing me at imasewingmachine at gmail dot com.  If I made it, I would love to share it.


www.applestozippers.etsy.com
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Apples-To-Zippers

more bulletin board ideas

NOTE:
Some of the bulletin boards you see on this blog are now available for purchase from my etsy shop or Teachers Pay Teachers.  Just purchase the desired bulletin board and instantly download a PDF file.  You just need to print, trim and paste a few parts before hanging up in your classroom or hallway!  If you would like the printing, trimming and pasting done for you, let me know.  The final cost will be higher and shipping will be charged!

If there is a bulletin board you see on here and would like to purchase, please contact me by leaving a comment, contacting me through one of my shops or emailing me at apples2zippers(at)gmail(dot)com.  If I made it, I would love to share it.


Now to the bulletin boards...

I recently (1.5 years ago) finished my Masters in Family & Consumer Sciences. One of my projects was all about bulletin boards. I LOVE creating bulletin boards. I had FACS teachers from all over contact me with topics they wanted turned into a bulletin board. Here are some of those creations. Please forgive some of the photos. I took a picture of each one before I sent it off to the teacher- and I actually assembled the boards on my dining room wall, which doesn't have the greatest light.

Please contact me with any questions about any of the boards.


Measuring Equipment:
Divided them into 3 categories: measuring spoons, dry measuring cups, liquid measuring cups. Shares the sizes they come in, what ingredients are measured and how to use them.
NOTE: This bulletin board is available for purchase at Teachers Pay Teachers!

Wash Your Hands:

2005: This was one of my first bulletin boards I made when I started teaching! See below for my updated version! 

2015: Updated but still full of interesting (and disgusting) facts!

Hand Washing. This is always an important lesson to teach. I had students trace their hands on different colored construction paper to create a border. Then found some interesting (and kind of disgusting) facts to display!














Family Types:



This board was inspired by the stickers people have on their cars to show the members of their family. I created a ton of combinations- represented each family with people, the type and a definition. To finish it off, I included a quote about families from Barbara Bush- "Family means putting your arms around each other and being there." What a lovely quote!

International Foods:


The countries featured in the class are displayed on methods of travel. The things learned (what you will take with you) is displayed on luggage. Pretty sure I found all of the pictures from clipart or google images.

Stay tuned. More to come. I promise.

Soapy Solution

Holy Molies. Has it really been OVER a year since I last posted?!?

Never again.

In fact, I have a goal to post something a couple times a week.
Sometimes it will just be an idea... like today.

When I heard this idea I thought "why didn't I think of that... 6 years ago?!"

Such a simple idea, but in my opinion a GENIUS idea.

I am a fan of having a small bottle of dish soap in each kitchen. Small being the key word as I find students use more when they see more.

Instead of scouring the stores for those small dish soap bottles that are never in stock when you need them but everywhere you look when you don't and get all gunky, and the lids break off, and the paper labels get soggy/saggy/sticky... use these: Squeeze Bottles.

Easy to clean. Easy to refill. Easy to spot when they are in need of a refill. And easy to find at craft or restaurant supply stores.

I'll take 8 please.

Storebought vs. Homemade

I just posted this on the FACS teachers listserv so I thought I would post it here too... just in case. This is a lesson I teach on comparison- store bought versus homemade and nutrition labels.

The very first recipe I "let" my students cook is Homemade Oreos. I have made (and loved) these cookies since my childhood. They make a great first lab as they are easy and delicious. My class periods were 47 minutes and there are some groups that struggle getting them done on time- but it is possible. Because they are easy, they are a good way for groups to learn how to work together- since it is their first time in the kitchen together. Whenever cakemixes and icings are on sale I try to stock up so it can be an inexpensive lab as well. You can use any cake mix you desire- chocolate is the best with cream cheese icing. Mmmmm. I always demo this lab (since it is their first) and have a LOT of cookies leftover. You can be "mean" (their words, not mine) and not allow them to taste them the day of your demo- or you could give them halfsies and should have enough for both purposes. Unless you have longer class periods than I did, you likely won't have time for a demo and this activity... but you can try. These cookies are also great in the freezer if you want to freeze them after your demo and do this activity at a later date.

I like to tell my students that Oreo heard of my homemade version so they came out with Cakesters to compete. :) So to show the Oreo makers I like a little friendly competition, I came up with this activity to compare the two. This is the front of the worksheet. I figured out how much each of the ingredients in the homemade oreos cost- cake mix, oil, eggs and icing. We do the math as a class to figure out the total cost, the total number of cookies made and finally the cost for one cookie. This is a little challenging as you have to get the cookies to be the exact same size as the cakester. I have yet to accomplish that so when I do, I will give you the correct numbers. We then figure out the cost for one cakester.
Then comes the discussion on which is the better buy. It SHOULD be the homemade by almost half.
I then give them a few minutes to think of some reasons why you would purchase food instead of make it at home AND why you would make something at home rather than buy it from the store. Then the fun REALLY begins with more math on the back. I cut the nutrition labels from each product and pasted them on the worksheet. Using the amounts on the front and the serving sizes, they need to figure out the fat grams and calories for each ingredients. This can be a little tricky since the fat grams/ calories for the ENTIRE cakemix are needed but the serving size is only 1/12. So they need to multiply the calories for one serving by 12. Likewise for the fat grams. The oil serving size is 1 Tablespoon but you use 1/2 cup in the recipe. This is a good review of equivalents.
Once that is all figured out, you need to add it up for the entire batch of cookies, then divide by the number of cookies made to figure out the information for one homemade Oreo.
The Cakester math is much easier as you just need to divide by 2.

If the cookies are the same size, the homemade oreos should be a little "healthier".

I try to do this as a class since some parts can be challenging. There are a few that give up or drift off so I give a tasty reward at the end to those who turn in a completed and correct worksheet- half a Cakester and half a Homemade Oreo. This of course tends to motivate those that gave up or drifted off.

You can do this activity with anything that you can buy at the store and make homemade. And if you choose something that has even more "versions" you can add more math to the mix- such as pizza- homemade, restaurant, frozen, deli, etc.

The possibilities are endless.

Signs

I made these signs a couple years ago when my students seem to think the fridges were there for them to investigate. They would look in them for food, drinks or anything else that might suit their fancies. Some teachers are okay with that.

I am not. Not that I have anything to hide.

I just like my space to untouched by teenagers. Especially when I see what they do/scratch (or don't do- like wash) with their hands.

I left the signs at my old school so I made new ones for my new school. I made "Do Not Open" ones for the fridges and "Do Not Enter" ones for the pantry and office.

Feel free to use them as you wish!!
These signs are available for FREE at Teachers Pay Teachers.  Check it out!

I know this is probably a silly question... but there is a reason why I am not an English teacher- it is teacher's right? Not teachers. Just checking.

Need ideas? Join this group.

Do you know about Yahoo groups? There is probably a group for anything you are interested in.
There is even one for Family & Consumer Sciences/ Home Economics teachers.
You need to join to be able to read/post ideas questions. Sign up today!

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/familyandconsumerscience/

More Display Case Ideas

I can't take credit for these as they were at a school I was subbing at. It is always fun seeing other teachers ideas.

Books & Food.

I came up with this display case a few years ago when the librarian kept telling me she had some great books about food. She was nice enough to pull them all out for me. I just had to come up with a title... which was the biggest struggle. Luckily my sister helped me come up with this one. So easy. And fun.

Family & Consumer Sciences is LOADS of fun!

Like what you see?  You can purchase this bulletin board kit from  Etsy  or Teachers Pay Teachers . Just print, trim and hang!  I think it is such a fun, eye catching way to advertise what Family & Consumer Sciences (or Home Economics) is all about!  You can put any labels on the clothing to fit your class.  Contact me for a custom version for your class or subject!  apples2zippers@gmail.com

Keep scrolling for a fun 3-D addition if you have a display case rather than a bulletin board!

2008: Here is my current display case. It took me a long time to come up with this- with help from my sister and a friend. It is time for a change ... any ideas. (click on the picture for a better/enlarged view)

 Did you notice the actual Load of Fun at the bottom?!?  Ha ha!  I printed the word fun in different "fun" fonts and on various colored paper.  I filled the laundry basket with crumpled up news paper and then positioned (and in some cases, pinned) the paper strips on top until the news paper was covered.  

Display Case...

It was a huge struggle trying to think up something for my display case this year. Finally I thought of something... and it worked. Alot of the teachers in my school loved it! Now, I just need to think of something else to replace it!
p.s. the money is just printed off from google images. People kept asking me if it was real money!

We Need HELP!

It's the beginning of another school year. I am trying to think of ways I can make this the best year yet... and I am struggling. Doing this has been a thought I have had for a long time- since I have amazing friends that do amazing things. This is a way we can share our ideas, get help and just chat about our classes!