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.

Model and Diorama, originally uploaded by Mulsanne.

Today’s classroom display has an environmental theme in honour of Blog Action Day. I love this project which was done as part of the International Polar Year .

Dee, the teacher writes:

I began with a classroom standard, a KWL chart. On the KWL chart, students first listed what they knew (K) about Antarctica. Next, they listed questions they wanted (W) answered. Eventually, they would list what they learned (L) on the last part of the chart. The students asked some very good questions. Where do icebergs come from? What do blue whales eat in the waters surrounding Antarctica? How tall are emperor penguins? How did Shackleton and his men survive being trapped in ice? Why don’t fish freeze in the cold waters? What’s on the ocean floor? These were just a few of the questions they listed.

Not content with getting groups doing lots of online and book based research the children were able to follow and interact with the expedition team on their blog. The display came about because:

……we decided we wanted a visual representation to go along with our research. “Our Visit to The Ice” was created to provide us an avenue for artistic expression.

And it certainly did that! Have a look at all these detailed models:


My particular favourite is a model of Shacklton’s Endurance trapped in the ice:

But the penguins are cute too

I think my students would agree that “Our Visit to The Ice” was the next best thing to a field trip to Antarctica.

I chose this display because I can’t think of anything better to be exploring with children than the wonders of such a unique and threatened environment. This is one of those projects that brings the unfamiliar to life for children and gives opportunities for deep learning. Those children will remember this project and I hope their generation will forgive ours for not taking better care of this fragile and special place.
Note Any earnings from today’s post will be donated to Common Ground a UK based charity. (As of 16/10/07 = $3)

Update: If any UK schools fancy doing something similar there are some UK teachers heading South in a few weeks . You can follow their exploits here and here - you can also find lots of lovely resources in their blog sidebars. If you create any displays based on the project please let me know

Maths Words, originally uploaded by angela_oxon.

Continuing the theme of quick classroom displays I noticed that quite a few people were searching for numeracy ones this week. This one is simple enough. I think if I’d been doing it I would have grouped the words ‘add’ ’subtract’ ‘multiply’ and ‘divide’ into the centre next to the symbols. I might also have colour coded each group.
This displays is only a quick one if you already have the letters cut out or are lucky enough to have a school alphabet die cutter. I have done a similar one with the words hand written (large) in vivid marker pen colours and then cut out and laminated. This gives you the opportunity to use them as a class or group sorting activity.
Top Tip
Once you have cut out the letters, laminate them and store in a plastic envelope. Ideally each word should be held together with a paperclip. Saves ages sorting them out next time you want to use the display!

Originally uploaded by Vikellis

A collage designed and made by a Yr8 form, from used plastic bags. It was part of an environmental issues unit, and was displayed in the Hall, in an attempt to raise awareness of “the plastic bag problem”.

It can be hard to make meaningful displays in shared areas - especially in High School. There’s a tendency to go for the “Wow!” factor rather than to engage with the pupils. They are often seen as spaces for the school to showcase work to visitors rather than somewhere for classes to share learning and connect with the wider school community.

This one however, is a really good example of using the space to tackle a topical issue. The display itself may be a little messy but that suits the subject and it is obviously the work of the students rather than that of a TA. I think that’s one of it’s major strengths. This display sets out to engage and educate the school community rather than to impress visitors.

It’s good to see that there’s a regular flow of senior school work starting to appear in the Classroom Displays Group and I hope to feature it more regularly on the blog.

Shelters Display (2), originally uploaded by kardon.

I love this set of displays for a design technology topic. Click though to the original and see the annotations.
Tom Barret says:

This is a set of photographs of my Design and Technology display on shelters. It is in a Year 6 class and is a unit that we teach alongside our World War 2 work in history. The final piece of work that the children produce is a model bomb shelter. Take a look at the notes on each photograph for more details as to what makes up the display.
What you currently see is the final, finished display - we had the display up throughout the unit and we slowly added to it as our knowledge and skills progressed. So it truly acted as a learning display for us.

In his excellent blog ICT In My Classroom he encourages others to add their photos of displays to the Classroom Displays group on Flickr:

why not take a photo of one of your good displays and contribute to the growing pool of pics. This would also be a great professional development opportunity and helps contribute to portfolios of work. I have started my own School Displays set in my Flickr account to keep such evidence.

Quite right