Interactive Fall Bulletin Board Idea

Here's a bulletin board idea I used last fall that the kids really liked, and it covered a lot of area!

In 4th grade math, the students were reviewing the concept of equations and practicing writing them. So, I made enlarged patterns of oak, maple, elm, and alder leaves. The kids picked a leaf pattern and traced it onto orange, red, yellow, or brown paper - their choice. They cut out the leaf they had traced. Their assignment was to write a rhythm equation on the leaf in notation so that each side of the equal sign had 4 beats. The two sides couldn't be the same, so they had to remember/review different note value combinations that added up to four beats. They wrote their equations on scrap paper and showed them to me. When I OK'd it, they wrote their equation on their leaf with magic marker and their name on the back of the leaf. We hung them up, and they covered a huge bulletin board area. I captioned it "4th Grade Rhythm Equations."

Pluses were: 1) The kids did the bulletin board. 2) There was a math/music tie in. 3) We could use them as rhythm reading exercises. 4) The third graders, who hadn't done equations in math, were very curious about it and kept asking if they would get to make leaves, too. I told them that if they worked hard on rhythm reading and notation last year, they might be "ready" to make leaves this year. Later in the year, I cut out drums for the third graders, and they added a sticker to their drum each time they successfully read a rhythm to me.

I love interactive boards! The kids are more interested if it is something they helped create. It also saved me hours in getting that board covered!