Common Core Bulletin Boards Ideas for Your Library:

Focusing on the "shifts"  here are a few good ideas for interactive bulletin boards.  Remember, bulletin boards should not be static, but should be interactive making them dynamic.  Learning is not a passive activity but an engaged process.  With that in mind, here are nine new ideas to support the CCSS via your big fat bulletin board! 

1. Vocabulary shift -  Choose a label such as "Word Families - FIND A BETTER RELATIVE"   and place  papers with big bold simple academic  words printed on top such as:   ARGUE,   LOUD,   KIND,   LOVELY,    TRASHY,   RICH,    POOR,    UGLY,    YUMMY,    and ask your students to contribute BETTER word choices that will help them sound  richer, smarter, and ready for success.       These suggestions may include "relatives"  such as quarrel, boisterous, benign, exquisite, shoddy, philanthropic, destitute, hideous, scrumptious, etc.    
2. Vocabulary shift -   Your BB heading could read "Words are the Building Blocks of Success"  and then you can have pre-made/copied Lego blocks, building blocks, etc... for the kids to suggest "cool"  words they find within books.  Together all the students could build their word wall from books.  
3. Positive vs. Negative words - Another Vocabulary BB idea was suggested by a librarian from Ossning, NY:  Wanting to build vocabulary subtle differences in word meaning, Dawn divided her BB into 2 halves and labeled one side "positive words" and one side "Negative Words."  Her students built the wall with words innately having  subtle differences in connotations.  She said the kids "got it."  They had to critically view the word beyond just face value meaning.  
4. Citing Evidence from the text -  BB heading could read "Why Earth is a cool place: 100 places I'd like to see someday...."   and  whenever someone comes across something cool in their reading, they could "pin" it on your world map."  You could even have citation cards with the book and page number where the student read about this cool location, building, cave, mountain, sea, etc.  
5. Citing evidence - "Fiction or Fact" - True or False?   This bulletin board could have hanging cards posted.  Each card would contain a question a student had from a fiction book, that they had to investigate to ascertain whether this was fact or fiction.  This has often been called a "Wonder Wall"  when the purpose is to get kids to ask questions needing investigation.  
6. Close Reading -  "What did you learn today in a library book?"   Colorful index cards will provide your students an opportunity to share their knowledge based upon what was in print (rather than their opinion).  
7. Complex thought -  "Today I had to digest this difficult word meal:"  In the center of the board, you could place a captivating poem, with difficult words.  This doesn't have to be stodgyl, but could be Sid Fleischman's Headless Horseman Rides Tonight, even... Checkout the vocabulary in that book!   Or, a difficult quote needing digestion.   Challenge a few students to post a sentence that tripped them.  If they have to "stop in their reading" to digest something...then it deserves to be digested.  
8. 50%-50% mix -  With the CCSS claiming kids should read more non-fiction to build their "common knowledge"  or "prior knowledge"   you could have your students build their own "Knowledge is Power"  wall.   Once again using a template such as a power plug, lightning bolt (or something to denote power) you could have students write down great "facts" they found in their books.  
9. 50% - 50% Connection - Quotations worth sharing -  Challenge students to value ideas found in books by asking them to share meaningful lines found in either fiction or non-fiction texts.   Kids could denote whether this was in a fiction book or a non-fiction.