Reading Grows Your Mind Bulletin Board

Supplies Used: Cardstock or Construction Paper, Bean Seeds, Book Jackets, Eye Dropper, Paper Clips, Paper Towels, Plastic Bags, Push Pins, Scissors, Staple

The teacher will die-cut the materials for student use prior to the lesson.

1. Die-cut Notepad Letters and Grass Border. Title the board with four inch Notepad Letters embellished with the Grass Border. Die-cut the subtitle from a two inch Block Alphabet.
2. Trim a plastic baggie so that the zip lock top is removed. It's easier to water the seeds if the back of the trimmed bag is left longer than the bag front. Save the trimmed plastic strips for step 12 (Figure A)
3. Fold a paper towel to create one accordion pleat in the middle. Trim the sides so it will fit inside the trimmed plastic bag (Figure B).
4. Poke holes (with a push pin or the end of a paper clip) in the bottom fold of the pleat — these holes are where the roots of the plants will grow through (Figure C).
5. Place the paper towel into the plastic bag with the accordion pleat at the top. Attach the towel-filled bags to the bulletin board but allow a little slack to make bean placement and watering easier (Figure D).
6. Select a variety of seeds to plant — it's fun to see the differences in things like, the time they take to sprout, the shape and color of the leaves, etc (Figure E)
7. Drop the bean seeds into the pleat inside of each plastic bag (Figure F).
8. Water the seeds with an eye dropper (or straw). It's good to keep the seeds moist at all times. Even if water is pooled at the bottom of the bag, it will wick up the paper towel to keep the seeds wet (Figure G).
9. You can either leave the bags exposed for the kids to see or cover them with book jackets from some of their favorite books (Figure H).
10. Die cut pairs of Hands and cut cuffs from patterned and colored paper to attach to each hand. Embellish the cuffs with buttons made from circle punches (Figure I).
11. Staple the cuffed hands so it looks like each pair of Hands is holding a book jacket (Figure J).
12. Attach the clear plastic strips (the left over strips from the bag tops) with push pins, positioned so that they support the bean sprouts as they grow (Figure K).
13. With the book jacket removed, it is easy to see the roots of the bean plants as they grow (Figure L).
14. Enjoy your interactive bulletin board for scientific inquiry or literary appreciation (see Main Photo).

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  Figure A
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  Figure B
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  Figure C
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  Figure D
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  Figure E
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  Figure F
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  Figure G
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  Figure H
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  Figure I
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  Figure J
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  Figure K
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  Figure L