Classroom Displays - theory and practice October 18, 2008
Posted by Linda in : classroom display , add a commentClassroom displays advice to students
I am occasionally contacted by students, teachers or TAs, who want to read about some of the theories that underpin our use of classroom displays in schools. These are books that explore the reasons behind our use of displays rather than give us ideas for making them. There isn’t a massive amount of current research available but I have some standard advice I hand out to students and I thought the start of the new academic year might be a good moment to share it.
Classroom Displays Books
First, great, but you could struggle to find it as it’s out of print:
Display in the Classroom: Principles, Practice and Learning Theory (Paperback)
by Hilary Cooper (Author), Phil Hegarty (Author), Penny Hegarty (Author), Neil Simco (Author)
Publisher: David Fulton Publishers Ltd (23 May 1996)ISBN-10: 185346404 ISBN-13: 978-1853464041
This one actually looks at the theories but be aware it’s 10 years out of date!
Also:
Primary Practicals for CPD: Rules of Display - The Essential Guide to Nursery and Primary Classroom Displays (The Completely Practical Development Series)
By Lynn Taylor
These mention displays in passing:
Chambers, A (1995). The reading environment: How adults help children enjoy books.. York: Stenhouse.
Johnstone (1994). Teaching Modern Languages at Primary School Approaches and Implications . Scotland: SCRE.
Pgs 34-6
Smith, A & Call, N (2002) The ALPS Approach, Bodmin, MPG Books LTD.
Pgs 194 -199
Anything by Reggio Emilia
but you’ll have to really root around to find some direct relevance.
Lella Gandini, just about anything she’s written - she is cited in Tarr’s paper but she’s really talking about the Reggio approach.
Papers
Tarr,P (2004). Consider the Walls. Journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children
Theory Into Practice
2007, Vol. 46, No. 1, Pages 40-47
(doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4601_6)
Teresa Strong-Wilson
Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University
Julia Ellis, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta.
My best advice is to join the Classroom Displays flickr group, look at other people’s displays, decide what you like and try to analyse what’s good and bad about it, post your own efforts and ask for feedback. Get involved!!!
There’s also my usefulwiki site classroom displays workshop
And of course the Classroom Displays bookshop
Your favourite classroom displays theory books
If you know of any other good theory books please add them in the comments. Let’s see if we can put together a really comprehensive list of classroom displays books.
Quick Autumn Displays - The Thinking Tree September 28, 2008
Posted by Linda in : classroom display, pshe, quick display , add a comment
66/365 - 9/26/2008, originally uploaded by snelly23.
I couldn’t resist this great quick display for Autumn! The maker says:
I was looking for real fall leaves to photograph on Monday, the first day of fall, and I failed. Our class used “glue paint” over and under tissue squares on construction paper to make these shiny fall leaves.
I love the tree with its ‘glue paint’ leaves and it’s wonderful affirmative messages. I’d love to add some photos of class members caught doing and being all of these great things, and to add some affirmations of their own, perhaps on more leaves building up at the base of the display, over this term.
People are always looking for 3d tree displays and I think this is a simple but excellent example.
River Display April 9, 2008
Posted by Linda in : classroom display , add a commentI was pleased to see that flickr had introduced video this morning so I thought I’d add this example from my degree research.
This was very much a joint effort with the children involved at every stage, including the planning. Groups worked on the display over the course of a week. Vocabulary and concepts were introduced verbally as the elements of the display were built up. Labels were generated by the children, typed on the computer and laminated (by me). Finally all the sections were labelled by the children in a whole class session. This involved children choosing and agreeing where labels should go with very little adult intervention. This allowed for formative assessment and checking of grasp of concepts.
The completed display:
The same topic and method, with refinements, were used the following year:
Handy Santas and Angels - quick Christmas card classroom displays November 23, 2007
Posted by Linda in : Christmas, KS1, Seasonal, classroom display, quick display, winter , add a comment
Perfectcircle says:
These were done with hand prints. the heel and thumb painted red, and the fingers white. Messy, but fun!
I think they are great fun 
and I’m sure the kids did too. They also provide a jolly, almost instant Christmas display.
Here’s another gem from the same classroom:
These are so simple to do - everyone does one hand print in the middle, washes hands, then both hands into lovely gold paint (I think I’d be tempted to add some glitter ). Leave to dry then decorate as desired. They’d be nice hanging from a washing line too. Talking of washing lines…..
Just to finish off, from the classroom of an old friend, how about these?
Electricity display - making connections October 29, 2007
Posted by Linda in : Science, classroom display , 1 comment so far 
Electricity display - making connections, originally uploaded by LindaH.
This classroom display uses a good combination of photos of the children making circuits and experimenting, text boxes of their findings and a mock up of a circuit. On the bench underneath is a related book and at times there was a tray of parts for children to access and continue to experiment with.
It’s a good example of a fairly simple design often having more impact than something that is more cluttered. It’s important to note that the TA worked with groups to produce the texts and that the children’s own words were used. This and the use of images of the children gives a sense of ownership which helps the children to continue to engage with the display. It also makes up for the lack of student work on this display.
I don’t usually like using such bold colours in the main classroom but I think it is justified in this instance. The display is situated on the back wall of the classroom and no tables directly face it. It’s unlikely to be much of a distraction for a group using the classroom computer.
This display was in a Year 4 classroom and was popular with the children.
