How to Make a Daily Folder Bulletin Board

ByLeslie Simpson Classroom Setup
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Teach students how to organize their daily folders in kindergarten using a bulletin board.

It can be tricky to give keep on top of those gosh-darn flyers from the office, parent notes and daily papers.

Plus, we know daily communication is important between parents and their child about the day’s events, and between parents and me, the teacher.

I’m sure I am preaching to the crowd. So, what can we do to make that easier on everyone?

My solution is a daily folder system that is quick and effective for parents and me – but still age-appropriate for my kinders.

Now, as awesome as the folder is, it doesn’t teach itself.

That’s where this daily folder bulletin board comes into play.

This bulletin board is the giant-sized model of my students’ folder (except for colors that match my classroom color scheme) and students use it every day.

My absolute favorite part? It teaches responsibility.

Okay – let’s break down how I made it.

Create the pieces

Front and back cover

I cut two rectangle pieces of bulletin board background paper to represent the front and back cover of the folder. I laminated them and folded up the bottom and stapled it on the sides to represent the front and back pockets.

They actually did function as pockets, but I normally didn’t shove stuff down in them since the papers would flop over.

The front and back pockets make our “empty” and “work” sections.

Slash divider

I cut a rectangle piece to be our “slash divider” poly pocket in the middle. I cut a plain piece of lamination at an angle to look like the slash pockets.

Calendar

I enlarged a copy of our calendar to be roughly the same size as the rectangle pieces.

Pull it together

Then I laid out the pieces so that it appears as if a folder is laid open, but that all sections of the folder are visible. Then stapled everything in place.

I made an enlarged version of their folder labels for each section. It turned out to be a pretty good giant version of their daily folders.

I added push pins or stikki clips (but I prefer a push pin) to the front cover, back cover and slash pocket.

This allowed me to fan out the flyers and papers to go home and push pin them right onto the section they were supposed to go home in.

For example, if we had 5 flyers to go home, I’d pin one of each fanned out into the home section. That way, at a glance, students could see how many papers and which papers were supposed to go where.

Learn to use it

Teaching students how to use this bulletin board and their folder at the same time was part of our first days of kindergarten.

I used icons to teach them how to get their folder ready.

And I used a social story to help them learn the routine for the end of the day.

Both of these helped lay a foundation to create a smooth daily folder system that lasted all year!

It eventually became part of our normal, everyday classroom life. I could just put up papers at any point of the day (before students packed up to go home) and they would know what to do without me saying a word.

There you have how I created a bulletin board to teach students responsibility to organize their daily folders to enhance daily communication and stay on top of all of those pesky papers.

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.

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Leslie Simpson

Leslie is the teacher behind KindergartenWorks. She believes in teaching kinders how to be pretty incredible along with teaching them to read, write and think for themselves. She enjoys drinking hot tea, making mud pies with her four kids and sharing what she's learned with teachers.

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29 Comments

  2. I recently bought the calendar pack from TPT but I am missing the calendars for students’ responsibility folder….was it not included? I have the book log. Any help???

    Thank you! Your blog and products are helping me so so much.

    Amy

    Reply

    1. Hi Amy, Thanks for reaching out! There is one calendar for each month – they are each a Microsoft Word file located in the monthly folders. So to get August’s student calendar – look in the “1-August” folder and click on the “August student calendar” file to open it. I’m tickled to know that you find what I share helpful – thanks!
      – Leslie

      Reply

  4. I have 1 inch binders for my kinder-bears, but I use the same ‘responsibility’ concept. I love the labels. The past two years, I have just written ‘home’ and ‘school’ on the pockets with a permanent marker. For my little guys, the binders seem a sturdier choice. However, by mid-year, and we can’t figure out how or why, even those sturdy binders have developed a limpy-wimpy posture. I place three or four pocket protection sheets in the binders. One is for our monthly behavior calendar, based on our behavior clip chart, one is for our ongoing sight word list, and the others are dedicated to specific target skill areas. For example, I teach my kinder-bears a specific method to do addition in the classroom with boxes, circles, colors, etc. I place a copy of this method in their binders so parents can help them with homework or practice. I may have their concept vocabulary words for a unit in another pocket. Our school has spiral planners and our big binder is the perfect place to keep everything all together. That being said, all this works beautifully ONLY if the child brings their binder to school or someone at home is reviewing their binder with them. Thanks for sharing the labels.

    Reply

    1. You’re welcome Betsy! I know that it’s tricky to help some transfer the level of responsibility to/from home… but it’s why we try! Sounds like you have some great resources at the students’ and parents’ fingertips – awesome.
      – Leslie

      Reply

  5. Fabulous as always! Thanks for sharing this idea…made me rethink my take home folder and get to creating something new!
    Stacie

    Reply

  7. I like your ideas. I have similar items in my students’ Take Home Folders. One tip, I use a quarter long calendar stapled to the front of my student’s folders with a space for their name at the top. This way I don’t have to change it out but 4 times a year, once for each quarter. Of course I include dates for ongoings at school and classroom specifics. I really like your site! Thanks for posting such helpful things!

    Reply

  12. Anxiously awaiting this fabulous product!! Summer has barely started and of course I’m already thinking, planning and preparing for next year!

    Reply

  15. Thanks Deedee! I’m so glad to hear about your sub binder – I’d love to see pics. So glad to hear that it helped both you and your sub. Your comments made me smile – thanks!

    Reply

  17. You continue to inspire me! I can’t wait to see what you put together. I made my substitute binder off of your blog post and samples. I was out of the classroom today for a RTI workshop and the binder was a big hit! It made my planning SoOoOo easy and the sub LOVED it!

    You are going to get me organized yet! Thanks Leslie!
    Mrs. Wills Kindergarten

    Reply

  18. Love the idea of having a bulletin board to show exactly what it should look like….something for me to consider for open house!

    Reply

  19. IteachK, I will be including the chicka themed labels in the calendar pack. I love how creating a simple polka dot border makes for simple and beautiful bulletin boards. Thank you so much for your nice compliments! And thanks for purchasing the sight words pack – I’d love to hear your feedback!
    -Leslie

    Reply

  20. I have been following your blog and Tpt store. Just finally purchased the sight words and songs. I will be using Chicka Chicka theme in my classroom next year so your name tags really caught my eye! Will you be putting any of your Chicka stuff on TpT? I would definitely be interested in them. I love your stuff…it has a very original look to it!

    Reply

  23. Thank you for sharing these great ideas! I will definitely be making a display board of our take-home folder for parent orientation in August.
    I also can’t wait to see your completed calendar pack!

    ReadWriteSing

    Reply

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