Second grade teacher, Dana Naylor, submitted this classroom helper bulletin board to our site and, we have to admit, it's 'out of this world'! Perfect for a space inspired classroom theme, a unit of study on space travel, celebrating "Space Day" {May 6th} or "Transportation Month" {May}, or just letting your students know how 'bright they shine', the bright colors and practical use are sure to be ideal for any early childhood learning space!

Classroom Helpers

Not only does Ms. Naylor use this board to assign traditional classroom duties {i.e. line leader, paper passers, etc.}, she also uses it to display student roles and jobs unique to her classroom structure {i.e. morning math, etc.}. Whether the job appointments change daily, weekly, or monthly, be sure to include every task your students are in charge of. This will help you stay organized and keep your students on their toes since the board will be 'ever-changing'.

Out of this World Classroom Helper Bulletin Board

• Background: Black bulletin board paper. If you're intention is to keep the board up year-long as part of themed classroom decor, you might also consider purchasing a piece of black fabric with silver or gold sparkles for an added effect.
• Title: "Out of this World Helpers!" - Ms. Naylor used a purchased bulletin board banner/title, but you could also use traditional bulletin board letters or create your own heading with word processing software, fun fonts and colored papers {like the example below}.
• Border: Colorfully patterned trimmer or complimentary solid color bulletin board border.
• Decoration: 1) The Rocket. Find a rocket clip art image online, using your classroom projector system to enlarge and trace it onto a piece of orange background paper. Use the rocket cutout in the original bulletin board design as a guide, create something a bit more simple like the one in this bulletin board idea, or use a more 'retro' design like the clip art on this preschool worksheet. Decorate your cutout with colorful pieces of background or construction paper, adding windows, rocket boosters, 'wings', etc. {There's really no "set design" you have to follow, just make sure your rocket has as many windows as there are student jobs in the classroom!}. Add a label at the bottom of each window announcing the classroom job to be filled. 2) The Stars. Create star templates of various sizes, using these to trace and cut star shapes from white or yellow construction paper. You might also consider finding a black and white clip art image of a star online, printing it {in various sizes} directly onto the paper. 3) The Student Helpers. Make 5" x 7" prints of your students' school pictures. Create a circle template, using it to trace and cut each students' image. Attach the newly created circular photos to the rocket windows {effectively "assigning" the student a classroom duty} using Velcro dots. The extra photos can be attached to various stars on the board using the same method. By attaching them with Velcro, the pictures can easily be moved around as students' jobs change.

[NOTE: By adding enough windows for all your students, this could be turned into a cute attendance board for your preschoolers or kindergartners. Each morning, as they walk into the classroom, students could find their picture in an envelope, bin, or along a Velcro strip at the bottom of the board, and 'settle themselves' into their seat on the learning rocket!]

Supplies for this bulletin board...

• Black and orange background paper
• Bulletin board letters {optional}
• Colorfully patterned border or complimentary solid color trimmer
• Construction paper/art paper in various colors
• Velcro dots
• Student photos

This is a fantastically colorful way to provide your students with a bit of responsibility in the classroom! How do you assign classroom jobs? We'd love to know about your methods so be sure to leave a comment below!