• Use engaging spaceships as a bulletin board theme to motivate students.space shuttle line image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com
  
  Classroom bulletin boards can be used to welcome, engage and provide motivation to students. Along with adding color and excitement to an otherwise bland classroom, these common classroom features can be used to enhance students' academic performance. Spaceships make an engaging bulletin board theme. These cool interstellar explorers can be integrated into classroom bulletin boards in an assortment of creative ways.
  
  

Blast into the New Year

• Welcome students back to the new school year by setting up a "Blast into the New Year" bulletin board. Cover your classroom bulletin board with star print fabric or a sheet of black bulletin board paper with paper stars scattered across it. Place a "Blast into the New Year" title across the top of the bulletin board using pre-cut or die-cut letters. Before the first day of school, find a coloring print of a spaceship. Create one copy for each student.
  
  As an engaging first day of school activity, allow your students to color the spaceship picture. After decorating the image, ask students to cut the ship out, and write their name on their creation. Allow the students to place their ships on the bulletin board in whatever position they would like.
  
  

Aim for the Stars

• Motivate students with an "Aim for the Stars" bulletin board. Use a night sky printed fabric or large sheet of black or blue bulletin board paper to cover the board surface. Use a yard stick to measure six-inch increments up the board, placing a small pencil mark at each measure. Stretch black or blue yarn across the bulletin board surface, creating horizontal strips every six inches. Create card-stock spaceship cutouts, and label them with student names.
  
  Explain to students that the spaceships will be used to keep track of their class performance. Place all student spaceships at the bottom of the board, and tell students that their spaceship will move up every time they receive an A on an assignment. Each time a student is successful in earning an A, allow him to move his spaceship up to the next yarn line. Reward the students as they reach the top of the board.
  
  

Shoot into Summer

• Allow students to dream about an exciting summer trip by creating a "Shoot into Summer" bulletin board. Create a sheet that contains writing lines and a spaceship clip art or photographic image. Ask students to imagine that they are going to go on vacation this summer, but, instead of taking a plane or car, they will be riding in a spaceship. Instruct students to fill their sheet with a descriptive story of their spaceship adventure.
  
  Cover the board, and scatter the students' stories around the surface. Allow students time to review all of the stories that populate the board.