Posters should be posted in schools for a variety of different purposes. Some of them are meant to simply provide students with tid-bits of information related to the locations of their classes. Others, however, are meant to inspire knowledge and learning. Posters should never be thought of as a mere wall decoration. They are great learning tools, and whether teachers and school administrators know it or not, students look at posters and read them on a daily basis.

When choosing posters to be displayed in schools, it is of the utmost importance to choose ones that are relatively large in size and boast large pictures and text. The information being displayed on posters should be easy to read from down the hall or across the classroom. It's also best to choose posters that fit the subject being taught. For example, a Social Studies teacher will benefit more from hanging posters related to American history than those related to mathematics. It's important to keep in mind that posters can be used as learning games, helping students to acquire and retain a wide range of knowledge.

Posters in the Classroom

Let's take a close look at different ways posters can be used in the classroom.

• Alphabet Posters: There are literally thousands of posters that have been created to help students learn the alphabet. These posters make learning each letter of the alphabet a breeze. When it comes to using the posters in the classroom, they can be taken off the wall and laid on the floor. Students can be given dice and instructed to roll them one at a time on a particular poster. Whatever letter it lands on will be that student's letter for the day. He or she would then return to his or her desk and practice writing that letter. 

• Learning Fractions Posters: Most students learn the ins-and-outs of fractions by being able to visualize them. They tend to understand fractions better when they see that three-fourths is greater than one-fourth or one-third. Because of this, it's always a good idea for mathematics teachers to hang up several posters in the classroom related to fractions. 

• Spelling Word Posters: Even though teachers may not be able to purchase a poster for every list of spelling words that they give to their students to learn, there are ways to use posters for spelling word advantages. For example, hanging a poster in the room with 50 types of fish on it is a great start. At the beginning of the year, students can be instructed to go to the poster, choose 30 different fish and by the end of the semester, it is their responsibility to identify each fish by name as well as correctly spell the names; this poster learning technique tends to be more appropriate for students in grades six through 12.