The dreaded changing of the bulletin boards

Every teacher knows about them, and most of us dread them...bulletin boards. Personally, I love bulletin boards- but not the way I'm being forced to decorate them. They have to be academic and are supposed to be literacy based...ugh. Sometimes kids just need to have fun! So I was super excited to find this little gem from a good friend I used to work with at a preschool many years ago: Pumpkin Writing! I saw it, fell in love, and immediately saved the template to do with my students (with a lot of help) the next day!

And for once, I don't dread the changing of the bulletin boards!

The best part? They got to use their creative juices to make jack-o-lanterns and to practice using adjectives. Double the fun and double the win!!

So, onto the actual activity! First I gave them paper and let them make their own pumpkins. Some needed help cutting and others had no problems. Then we began the tedious process of writing the accompanying sentences...and I mean tedious. English is not their first language and it shows. ASL is not a written language so it's extra hard to get them to understand the conventions and nuances of the English language...heck, I've spoken English for 29 years and I still don't understand it all (though if you ask anyone I'm a huge Grammar Nazi).

Anyway, I decided I would make life a little easier and less scary for my little, little ones by writing the sentences for them so they could just trace the words instead of attempting to track from the board to their paper. Let's face it, if I made them track it, we'd be here until Winter Break working on 5 sentences about pumpkins. They did provide key words though, so I'm happy with them!

My bigger little ones needed less help with writing. We worked on each sentence one at a time and they filled in the blanks on their own. These guys have no problem tracking and could easily do most of this on their own. The hardest part was deciding on a name for their pumpkin as names are not something they learn easily.

Honestly, I'm super impressed with them and the end product and can't thank Lori enough for being kind enough to provide this activity and template! I can't wait to spend my afternoon changing my bulletin board (ok, yes I can wait, but at least I know it'll be a cute board when I'm done!)