Interactive Bulletin Boards to Promote Literacy: 3 Little Pigs

Children LOVE visual aids when learning about fairy tales. Have you tried an interactive bulletin board? It’s a great way to extend learning beyond simple re-telling and to see stories in a new light. You can also use felt boards.

This process can help

• Create a deeper understanding of the story
• Challenge children to think about the long-term ramifications of slight changes to one part of the story
• Encourage verbal skills for storytelling
• Provide a place for developing convincing arguments (that is, selling their ideas to others)
• Act as a writing prompt
• Develop alternate endings by challenging children to make it funny, sad, happy or unexpected

Bulletin Board Elements

• 3 little pigs (mine have split pins so the arms and legs can be manipulated)
• 1 wolf
• 3 houses of brick, sticks and straw
• scenery: such as trees, paths, signs & barrels
• building materials: random bricks, sticks and straw (using 3D or real artefacts would be excellent)

How it is Used

• Initially I use the pieces as prompts, helping children grasp and re-tell the story
• Then I start moving the pieces around each morning before the children arrive
• During the day we have a class discussion debating why the pieces are where they are and what it might mean to the story
• Over time students gain confidence in their ability to alter story lines and will often start chatting about their ideas together as soon as they enter the classroom
• Sometimes we use objects from our Sound Box to create sound effects and engage more children in the storytelling process

3 Literacy Activities to use with Interactive Bulletin Boards

•  Small groups: Children work together to devise a scenario to fit the bulletin board then act it out for the rest of the class (great for communicating, negotiating skills and team work)
• Whole group: Children create a completely new story by brain storming together while the teacher writes the evolving story onto large butcher paper (this can be turned into a class book with students writing and illustrating individual pages)
• Individual: In their writing journals, children use the board as an on-going writing prompt. For eg, Today a pig will….; The wolf wants to…; Why are the pigs…?

Here’s a link to another post with a free download focused on creating variations for the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill.

What other literacy activities could student engage in while using interactive bulletin boards? I’d love to hear your ideas!