How Math Bulletin Boards Can Build a Sense of Community in Your School

Young mathematicians learn best when there is a strong math community around them. In a strong math community, learners feel a sense of belonging, feel comfortable to share their ideas, feel safe to make mistakes in front of their peers, and feel intrigued to learn new concepts. Curiosity paired with confidence is what makes a mathematician successful, and the boost in confidence that comes from a strong math community helps create a positive learning environment. Schoolwide bulletin boards can promote that math community from a classroom level to a school level.

As math leaders in our building, we wanted to use our bulletin board space to strengthen our school community of mathematicians for the students and teachers. We believe that an emphasis should be placed on building the math community throughout the entire school year, not just the first week of school.

The schoolwide math bulletin boards that we created were inclusive, interactive, and accessible. A strong math community is the foundation for a successful math learning experience. We felt that expanding this concept of a strong math community to the entire school would make it even more impactful.

Idea 1: Notice and Wonder 

“What do you notice? What do you wonder?” These two simple questions can open the doors for mathematicians of all ages to share their mathematical thinking. A “Notice and Wonder” bulletin board invites all mathematicians to engage their creative thinking skills. This interactive board encourages students to explore mathematical concepts in everyday school surroundings by observing photographs taken around the school, such as the playground, floor tiles, classroom desks, windows, and other features. Using markers, students add their observations and questions directly onto the paper, sharing what they notice or wonder about the images.

This task opens up discussions around grade-level standards involving shapes, angles, patterns, etc. Third graders were commenting on what some fifth-grade mathematicians wrote. This board provides mathematicians an opportunity to talk with their math peers by doing a task that feels safe to them. A notice-wonder activity encourages participation because there is no right or wrong answer. All students were able to access this task, and that is what makes it so powerful.

The beauty of this activity is that students are able to observe that math is all around them and it simultaneously builds their math confidence. As classes took place in the hallways, conversations around math occurred, but students were also making connections with one another around the photographs. All of this contributed to building the math community.

Idea 2: An Estimation Mystery

A “Schoolwide Estimation Mystery” bulletin board transforms math into a collaborative, schoolwide adventure. First, we chose an image with possibilities for estimation. We were inspired by Steve Wyborney’s Esti-Mysteries. These images show a mystery jar filled with objects (like marbles, erasers, or pom-poms), and students are invited to estimate how many are inside. Weekly clues—such as “The number is greater than 300 but less than 500”—help students refine their guesses over time. Students record their estimates on the board or as a class, and the big reveal at the end of the month sparks excitement and reflection.

This activity encourages lively classroom discussions as students compare strategies and adjust their thinking. For example, when a clue shows a group of 100 objects, students might reason about how many groups could fit in the jar. Teachers can facilitate conversations, guiding students to think critically and collaborate.

The benefits are clear: Students build number sense, practice mathematical reasoning, and strengthen peer connections as they engage in a shared challenge.

Idea 3: Four-Quadrant Graph

A “Four-Quadrant Graph” bulletin board is a creative, interactive data activity that connects students through shared interests. For this activity, a large graph is divided into four quadrants, each representing a category. Our four-quadrant graph was about winter activities. We used a range from indoor to outdoor for the x-axis and a range from group to solo participants for the y-axis.

Students participated by placing a sticky dot with their initials in the quadrant that best matched their favorite winter activity. Their choices of sledding, drinking hot chocolate, or building snowmen created colorful clusters on the graph and sparked curiosity about their peers’ preferences.

This simple but engaging exercise blends math with social connection, as students explore patterns and discuss why certain activities are more popular. Teachers can join in and add their dots to build community and encourage participation. Once most students participated, we encouraged mathematicians to discuss their findings. Here are a few ideas:

• Notice/wonder: Simply ask students to describe what they notice/wonder.
• True/false: Share statements and have students decide if they are true or false (e.g., More people in our school like to be inactive than active).
• Quick writes: Invite students to use sentence stems to write about the data (e.g., Most people…, More students enjoy… than…, Few students…, Many students…).

Math bulletin boards foster a sense of curiosity, connection, and community among students, making math an engaging and shared learning experience. These interactive tools offer a simple yet effective structure to spark conversations and enhance your classroom culture. Adaptable to any grade-level standard or topic, math bulletin boards are a creative way to strengthen the math community in your school.