Looking for an exciting new way to welcome your students back-to-school? Mrs. Hodges' design, featured on Colleen Gallager's site Teaching Heart's, embodies the excitement and anticipation of her "new releases" with this theater theme! All that's missing is the popcorn!

Now Playing...Bulletin Board

• Background: White bulletin board paper.
• Title: "Now Playing...'Mrs. Hodges' Wonderful Kindergartners'"
• Border: Plain black bulletin board trimmer or movie themed trimmer.
• Decorations: 1) The Clapboard. Use black construction paper and teal construction paper to create the clapboard. Red construction paper or sticker letters to script "Starring" on the cutout. 2) The Stars. Draw or find a printable star shape online. Use this template to trace stars onto yellow construction paper/card stock or make photocopies. Once the stars are cut out, use a black Sharpie marker to write the names of your students, one per star.

If you have the time...

We were thinking about ways in which you could expand on this theme and here are a few suggestions. They might require a bit more work, but the results should be worth it!

• Try creating an actual marquee. Here's a picture of the mock-up. Many traditional theaters use a mixture of red, yellow, and blue, but you can certainly choose different colors. Size depends upon the board layout, but this would look great centered at the top with the stars floating around it.
• Punch up the bulletin board by using red bulletin board paper for the background and a special trimmer. Actual film, including old negatives or new film pulled from the dispenser, or a prefabricated film-strip themed trimmer could work great. Additionally, if you left the marquee plain, you could create the illusion of 'twinkle lights' around the outside edge.

• Create a replica clapboard. If you're changing the background color to red, you can use authentic clapboard colors and markings.
• To commemorate the starting of school and your student's movie star status, take a picture of each child on "the red carpet" in order to hang by their star. If you'd like to continue the celebration, think about party treats. Tying a ribbon and welcome tag around a bag of microwave popcorn could be a fun surprise!

However you decide to design your "Now Playing..." bulletin board, you can be sure it'll be a hit with your students. And, of course, it'll provide a nice splash of color to your classroom walls!

How do you welcome your students back to school? Ever treated them like "movie stars"? We'd love to hear about it so leave us a comment!