1-2-3 Come Make Some Banners With Me

More and more schools are telling teachers that they only want them to put up student-made bulletin boards that showcase their work, so I thought I’d take it a step farther and have student-made banners too.

I LOVE how festive a classroom and hallway look, when they are decorated to the nines with children’s “mess-terpieces.” As I’ve shared before, I have spent a small fortune on decorations for all of the seasons, months, and themes that I taught, so I like to design lots of FREEBIES so that you don’t have to.

A “Welcome” banner suspended from the ceiling in your room or hallway, is a wonderful way to greet children on their first day of school.

I thought it would be fun for them to help create that banner by coloring it.  A "full shot" of the banner, isn't that good, so I decided to just show the 1st pennant and the first letter in welcome, so you can still get an idea of  how they look.  The 1st and last pennants also come in black and white if you want your students to color them as well.

The first few days are often very hectic with all sorts of rules and regulations to go through, along with a lot of forms to fill out for each student. It’s nice to have an independent quiet activity little ones can do, so you are freed up to get some of that one-on-one stuff done.

Even if you have already started school, your students will enjoy having a part in decorating their classroom, making it look comfy with their special creations.

I have designed a color as well as a black and white version, of the cute “saying” pennant that starts your banner. (There are 3 "saying" options for the cow.) Because I’m all about things looking symmetrical, I suggest putting a duplicate at the end of the banner as well.

Run off and pass out the pennant pieces to your students. They color and cut them out. When everyone is done, gather on the carpet circle and put your banner together, spelling out the word “Welcome.” To add a bit more pizzazz you could tie ribbon bows inbetween each triangle.

So that you have enough pieces for each child, and your banner looks great from both sides, put the other set back-to-back. This will give you 16 total pennants.

If you have more than 16 students in your class (At this point with budget cuts I think we can only dream of small class sizes.) make another banner for a total of 32 pieces.

This can be hung as one long streamer down the hall above your door, or as 2 separate banners across your classroom ceiling. If you don’t have that many students in your class, allow early finishers to color the extra pennant pieces. You could also do one.

I tried to think of the more popular themes so that the Welcome Banners would match your room. Click on the link for the OWL welcome banner, the COW welcome banner, the APPLE welcome banner.

The WESTERN welcome banner & the PIRATE welcome banner, both feature a different pennant for each letter.

I've included a pennant for preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade.  I thought they were a bit too cutesy for older grades, but if you don't, and want one for 2nd or 3rd grade, drop me an e-mail and I'll make you one.diane@teachwithme.com

I've seen a lot of frog themed activities, especially about "leaping into a new grade, so I also made a  FROG banner.

Superheroes continue to be very popular so here's a SUPER HERO banner  as well. To view/download them, click on their links.

Why not  change your banner every now and then, as you switch themes.   If you’d like me to whip together another themed-banner, simply shoot me an e-mail and I’ll see what I can do.

Thanks for visiting today.  If you’d like to see all of the wonderful educational FREEBIES that I PIN, simply click on the “Follow me” heart on the right of the blog.

“Our success multiplies each time we lead someone else to success.” –Susan Collins

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"Paper love." Leave it somewhere as a pleasant surprise.

1-2-3 Come Decorate With Me!

I LOVE posters.  I spent a small fortune on them, which is a big reason I design a lot of FREE posters so you don't have to. 

I not only use them as decortations and reminders, but anchor charts and writing prompts.

Keeping with the pencil theme from yesterday, I whipped together 2 pencil posters perfect for your back to school decorating.  I've seen the reminder name poem pinned from a huge variety of sites, so if you created this adorable poem, please let me know, so that I can give credit where credit is due.

Click on the link to view/download the Pencil Reminder Poster Poem.

Encouraging my students to take risks was something I endeavored to do all year long.  If they didn't take risks, it took them so much longer to become better readers and writers.

I have always loved this anonymous quote and decided to make it into a poster.  Hopefully it will reasure your students that it is really OK to make mistakes.

Click on the link to view/download the Pencil Mistake poster.

If you're looking for more free classroom posters & anchor charts, click on the link.  I have over 100!

Thanks for visiting.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.  My "Pin It" button is at the top.  If you'd like to see all of the cool things I PIN, simply click on the "follow me" heart to the right.

"If you don't risk, you can't grow.  If you don't grow, you can't become your best!" -Unknown

1-2-3 Come Hang Up A Poster With Me!

The school year is coming to an end and many will be cleaning and sorting their classrooms.

I always made a list of new things that I wanted to look for, or things I wanted to make, during summer break. 

My husband found it amusing that even though I was finally on vacation, my teacher-mind never turned off.

Although I rested and enjoyed summer, I was always cutting, pasting, and "playing school" for a great part of "vacation."

Planning how I would decorate my classroom and acquiring those goodies, was one of my favorite things to do.

With that in mind, I decided to design some new classroom posters.

I used posters to not only decorate my room, but to inspire, challenge students to think, and remind them to make wise choices.

I turned many into anchor charts, that would help review a variety of concepts in a concise and interesting way.

I also used posters to ignite discussions, that would lead to interesting writing prompts, which my students of various ages, seemed excited to give their opinions about.

I've added 10 new posters this week.  I hope you find something that you're looking for.

To view/download the posters pictured, click on their links: Im Possible, I Choose, Wake Up, Don't, and Actions Speak.

To zip on over to the poster and anchor chart section, click on the link. There are over 100!

Simply scroll through and select whatever you like.

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson