Hey Taylor Swift teacher, have you been thriving with the “In My Reading Era” trend? I mean who better than to get our students to read than the queen herself: Taylor Swift? If you want to promote more independent reading time in your classroom, it all starts with capturing your students’ attention. That’s why creating awesome Taylor Swift classroom decor that draws your reluctant readers in is an easy solution. Surprising your students with a new Taylor Swift bulletin board should do the trick to get them started! Check out these 7 easy steps below to create the In My Reading Era bulletin board.
Hey friend, while you are thinking about independent reading, I have a great resource for you! If you are tired of tedious book reports, quizzes, and conferences, I have a solution for you. Check out my Book Spine Templates! These templates come in both print and digital formats. Give students a chance to showcase their reading while decorating your classroom. Check out these Book Spines and get started right away!
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Taylor Swift Teacher Tricks for Independent Reading
How I Became a Taylor Swift Classroom
Once upon a time, I was just trying to share my love for Taylor Swift. I kept talking about her to my students, playing her music, and wearing her shirts. And, I thought, how can I take these personal conversations and make them about our learning? That’s why I decided to start adding pieces of Taylor Swift in my classroom.
As a teacher swiftie, I started with a Tay Tay playlist on Spotify for individual work time. When Taylor Swift came out with her Midnights album, I transformed my room for a Midnights Listening Event. Then, we analyzed “All Too Well” to show Taylor Swift Poetry. Now, we use the T.S.W.I.F.T. method to analyze all poetry. Don’t forget that I now have Taylor Swift First Day Stations and of course Taylor Swift Agenda Slides. And now we have the In My Reading Era bulletin board. All it is for the kids… And me of course!
Independent Reading Ideas
You too can add a little Taylor Swift in your classroom with the In My Reading Era bulletin board. But a bulletin board is not enough of a plan. Here are some ideas to support your independent reading:
- Ditch the Independent Reading Project
- Let’s Students Read What They Want
- Give Independent Reading Time
- Make Their Reading Visible
If you want more details on how I do independent reading in my classroom, Click HERE.
Creating In My Reading Era Bulletin Board
Step #1: Take Your Eras Photos
The best part about this bulletin board is the photos. And they are so simple to make! Choose ten different books for the pictures. I recommend choosing your favorite books from your independent reading library. That way if a student sees a book in your photo, you will be able to pull it off your shelf and recommend it. If you don’t have a library in your classroom, choose your ten favorite YA books for these pictures.
Once you have your books, you are ready to take each reading book selfie. Grab your phone and set it up to be shoulder-level. Switch your camera to selfie mode and set a timer for at least 3 seconds. You will need to take a selfie with each book. If you want to match the Taylor Swift Eras poster, you can set up your poses to match each era. You do not need to worry about any filters just have clear lighting and nothing too distracting in the background.
Step #2: Design The Color Blocks in Canva
Once you have your photos, you are ready to start the design. Log on to Canva and search for “Instagram Post (Square)” and choose the blank template. This template will create an 8×8” square. Before you add anything to this square, you need to click the + in the top right corner of the square. This will add a page. You need to repeat this process until you have 15 total squares.
Then, you will need to go to Google and search for “Taylor Swift Eras Tour Poster”. Find an image that is the authentic poster from the tour. Save the image and then upload it into Canva. Go to your first square in the Canva template and insert the Taylor Swift Eras Poster. Click on the border of the square to select the background. You will then click on the color and the eyedropper tool. Once you have the eyedropper tool, hover over the top left square of the Eras Tour poster to match the background. Repeat this process for each of the nine outside photo squares from the poster.
Note: Do not worry about the larger middle image or the message in white at the bottom of the poster. We will create those later.
Step #3: Upload and Edit Your Reading Book Selfies
Now that you have each of the nine outside squares colored, you are going to insert and edit your reading book selfies. First, you need to upload all ten images into Canva. Then, choose your top left photo and drag it into your olive green color block.
Once you have your photo in the square, you are going to edit the photo. Select the photo and click “Edit Photo”. First, go to the fx Effects section and scroll over to find the Duotone feature. Once in that feature, scroll to the bottom and select the “Classic” filter. Then you will need to go to Edit Photo again and select the “BG Remover”. This feature will remove the background from your photo. After you have applied these two effects, resize your image to fit the size of the square. Repeat this process for the other eight outside squares.
Step #4: Create a Custom Size Design for the Middle of the Eras Poster
In order to create the middle image, you will need to create a custom-size template in Canva. Go back to the Canva home. Instead of selecting a template, click “Create a Design”. And then select “Custom Size”. You want your custom size to be 8” (Width) by 24” (Height).
You are going to repeat Step #2 & Step #3 for the middle image. Choose the midnight blue background color for the background. Insert the reading book selfie for the middle graphic into the color block. Use the Duotone filter and the BG Remover on the image. Stretch the image to fill the custom square space. Once you are finished, creating this image, download the image as a PNG and save it.
Step #5: Split Your Middle Eras Tour Photo into Three Pieces
In order to be able to print your bulletin board easily, you need each image to be an 8×8” square. We can easily split your custom image from Step #4 into three separate images by using an image splitter. I use Image Splitter by Postcron. It’s free and easy to use.
Upload your image from Step #4 into the appropriate area on the site.
Once uploaded, split the image into 1 column and 3 rows. Once you have the image ready, split the image. Download your new three images and upload them to Canva.
Open your original Canva creation and head to the 10th square in your design. Place your first split image into the square. Stretch the image until it fits the entire space. Repeat this process for the second and third split images for the next two squares.
Step #6: Repeat Process for Custom Taylor Swift Teacher Message on Bottom Row
The only part left to do is the bottom message on the poster. You need to Repeat the process for Step #4 & Step #5. Go back to the Canva home. Instead of selecting a template, click “Create a Design”. And then select “Custom Size”. You want your custom size to be 8” (Height) by 24” (Width). Note: This template is the reverse dimensions of the middle design.
Choose a white background for the design. Insert a text box to determine your message. I chose to add my name using the DM Serif Display font. The size was 282 pt. I wrote “The Reading Tour” under my name to mimic the original poster. Once again I used DM Serif Display font, size 191. Download the design as a PNG.
Once again upload this image to an Image Splitter site. Split the image into 1 Column and 3 Rows. Download your three new images and upload them to Canva. Open your original Canva creation and head to the 13th square in your design. Place your first split image into the square. Stretch the image until it fits the entire space. Repeat this process for the second and third split images for the final two squares.
Step #7: Print and Assemble
Friend, you have made it to the fun part. You are now ready to print and build your bulletin board. The first step is to download your design as a PDF for Printing. Once you have that document open, print the design in color.
I like that the PDF will give a little edge for each square when you print. I kept that border on the edges of all the outside images to give it a nice contrast border and look like the original poster. Cut out all the squares and you are ready to assemble! Once you have all 15 images up in a nice 3×5 design, you are all set to grab your students’ attention.
More Taylor Swift Teacher Ideas
How to Teach Taylor Swift as Poetry For High School Students
The Taylor Swift Classroom: How to Transform Your First Day of School
How to Create Classroom Transformations That Excite High School Students
I know that you love reading and you want your students to be interested in independent reading too. By creating this eye-catching bulletin board, you can have students start that conversation. I would love to see how your new Taylor Swift bulletin board looks in your classroom. Tag me or send me a DM @theteacherrewrite on Instagram. If you want your independent reading made easy, check out my Book Spine Templates. The best thing to do is to think smart, not hard! Your new In My Reading Era bulletin board is just the spark you need to launch your independent reading interests.
