Arrgh! A Pirate-Themed I Can Statement Bulletin Board
What ARRRRGH We Doing in Music Class? It was a total game-changer when I realized that I could use a pirate-themed I Can Statement bulletin board to explain the National Standards for Music Education to students, parents, and administrators. Pirates are just the perfect thing for elementary kids, aren’t they? You get to speak in a funny but not too complicated accent. You have avenues for awesome and easy-to-create costumes. There can be parrots involved! Pirates are totally comical and hey, if you want you could make a character lesson out of it. “Only a PIRATE would drop their paper towel on the floor and not pick it up! If you’re going to be a pirate, be a clean one!” I love pirates. Love love love pirates.
That’s why I created a pirate-themed I Can Statement bulletin board set about pirates who ask “What ARRRRRRGH we doing in music class?” At my school it’s a requirement to post your “I Can” statements on a daily basis but there are not rules about how you display the statements or convey your message. I thought it would be fun to make this a pirate-themed bulletin board to draw kids attention. Here’s a blog post all about I CAN statements and a variety of ways you can display and use them throughout the year.
Don’t worry, these pirates are nice pirates and not the swashbuckling kind. These friendly musical pirates hold xylophone mallets and French horns and smile while they teach students how to look for objectives and ask the right sorts of questions. I use this pirate-themed I Can Statement bulletin board set in my outside hallway at the beginning of the year.
My intention for this set to was to create an “I Can” bulletin board without making it an overt “I Can” bulletin board. In my school we are required to post our objectives and “I Can” statements for kids to see. I wanted this hallway bulletin board to make the content a little more relatable and entertaining for kids. My hope was that kids would see this at our Back to School open house and during the first few weeks back at school. I hope it built a little bit of excitement about what they could expect in music class in the coming year! The bulletin board has definitely been a crowdpleaser for adults who walk by my classroom and want to stay informed.
Soon I’ll have to take my pirate bulletin board down to make room for a bulletin board showing off my third graders’ upcoming concert. I wanted to show off how cool this bulletin board looked before I filed it away to be used again sometime down the line. I created the pirate-themed I Can Statement posters and the hanging sign, tree, and toucan I got at the Dollar Tree!
I guess the moral of the story is that you don’t have to make everything strict and academic to get your information out there. It’s okay to have a little fun when teaching kids and parents about the national standards and objectives for class. If you’d like to learn more about what I included in this specific bulletin board or get the set for yourself
P.S. Enjoy this photo of me dressed as a pirate! You never know when you’ll need a pirate costume handy.
P.P.S My finger is clearly my “hook hand” in this photo and not just a finger. There were no “hook” props for this photo so I had to improvise.
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