My middle school students are in awe of Michael Jackson’s dancing. They all practice and try to copy his moves! They didn’t know much about his songs, though. I thought I’d capitalize on their fascination with him for an anti-bully day activity.
I found some great svg files of MJ silhouettes on the Sure Cuts A Lot forum and cut them out of black poster board at the largest size my 12 x 24 Cricut mat could manage. I covered a prominent bulletin board at school with pink paper and mounted just the MJ cuts. Students noticed right away. They got very interested and curious, and excited to have a Michael Jackson bulletin board. Later in the week, I added some lyrics from The Man in the Mirror. I put up some reflective “mirror” paper in various spots on the bulletin board.
I explained that Michael Jackson was against bullying, but he must have noticed something inside himself that he wanted to change to make the world a better place. I bought the Man in the Mirror music video from iTunes and showed it to my students. The images are really striking. I brought a mirror around the classroom and had each student look at him/herself. Then I asked them to think of one thing they might want to change about themselves to have a positive influence on the world. They each wrote down what they wanted to change on fedora hats that I had cut, and they stapled them to the bulletin board. It was a great lesson for the students, and a great use of my Cricut!
Evelyn
Lovely! What a beautiful way to teach children and help them learn such a valuable life lesson! Thanks for sharing this.
You’re welcome! I hope someone else can use the idea, too!
This is great! Thank you I’m already preparing my board!
Thanks! I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine did!
I just wanted to thank you for this idea! I hope you don’t mind but I am using it my classroom this year. I just moved from elementary to middle school and was looking for ideas for my many bulletin boards. We are doing an anti-bullying ‘project’ within our school and this is perfect. I downloaded the video for the first time and it is really inspiring. Thanks again!
Natalie
Hi, Natalie, I’m so glad you’ll be able to use it! Let me know how it goes, and good luck in middle school this year!
Evelyn
Hi, thanks for the ideas! Where did you purchase the mirror paper?
Lakesha, I found it in a closet in school! But you can look on amazon or google shopping and search for “mirror paper” or “mirror board.”
Thanks for your comment.
Evelyn
I did a Google search, and found some, thanks! Our theme this year is “Making the Pieces Fit… You Are an Essential Piece!” I was going to cut some of the mirrored paper into various puzzle shapes and title the bulletin board “YOU are an essential piece!” This way, when individuals throughout the school glance in the mirror, they see themselves as an integral piece of the school community! I’m going to buy enough paper that allows me to implement the “Man in the Mirror” theme, later in the year. It really is a fabulous idea… Gotta love the internet!
Yours sounds like a great idea, too, using the mirrored paper to show them as an integral part. I think your students will love the “interactive-ness” of your bulletin board!