Carpe Diem! - Seize the opportunity to give your students a voice on a bulletin board.
1. CAUTION! At your local hardware store purchase a roll of yellow CAUTION tape and use it to surround your bulletin board as trim. Provide a center yellow paper template stating "CAUTION! These books will keep you awake at night!" Ask students to contribute book covers for captivating page-turners. I remember one at-risk student sharing that when he read the book, DUNK, (David Lubar) "It was so good and hilarious that I'd rather read than watch TV." I hadn't read DUNK at the time, but took mental note that it must be a winner! 
2. Global Connections: Flat-world? Place hints on the board, and ask the students to figure out where this place is. The questions should or could, come from the news and cause the students to: identify keywords for correct searching skills, or increase their global exposure. A world map from National Geographic would provide a good background.- Bujumbura is the capital of this impoverished nation. How can they crawl out from poverty?
- This nation is below sea level....
- Tell me about the city of Chittagong. How could we help them?
- Timbuktu is a real city located at what longitude and latitude
- Where do the Hutu's live?
- This country's currency is a Baht. How many would you need to purchase a $10.00 (US Dollar) toy?
- Etc. - Or, ask the students to create questions for others!
3. WONDER WALL - What are you wondering about? Allow students to post their random questions and then teach them to find answers. When the bulletin board gets full, you can teach a lesson on "investigating" or finding answers, keyword searching and more.
4. Life's a Puzzle -- Using a colorful puzzle, ask the kids to complete the puzzle on the bulletin board, by gluing pieces in place when they find one to fit. Every week include a puzzle-riddle near the board that they can contemplate as they look for pieces to fit.
5. WANTED a Few Good Readers! Have students suggest titles and create Wanted Posters with book covers. Hang them on the bulletin board. Wanted a reader who [fill in the blank]! Ex. Wanted: A reader who likes to read murder mysteries and who wants to figure out who killed the mother!" "Wanted: Readers to learn about paranormal probabilities!" "Wanted - someone to help me find another book this good!
6: Notable Quotable! Cut out some speech bubbles from copied black line masters such as those pictured below. Ask the students to find a great quote within their books. For instance, I just finished reading, The Silent Boy, (pre-publication to be released Oct 2015...a page-turner-murder-mystery). While I'm reading, I always stop and note a good quote or two that I stumble upon. In The Silent Boy, the main character comments, "Facts are solid things. You can trust them, unlike people." These quotes can arose curiosity in readers and be a platform for discussion and discovery.
In case you've missed previous ideas!...
Good luck and feel free to post some pictures, of your creation!
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