How to Create a Bump It Up Classroom Display

What is a bump it up wall in the classroom?

A ‘live’ data wall for the classroom.

Bump it up walls combine the importance of visible learning in the classroom with an easy way to track your students’ progress towards a specific learning intention in any subject area.

Creating learning goals and success criteria help make explicit to students what they need to know, understand or do as a result of a teaching unit and included learning experiences.

The purpose of the bump it up strategy is to create a display where students can visually track their learning progress. It also helps you keep track of where your students are up to. But, where do you begin?

We have developed this colourful, We’re Aiming High – Bump It Up Data Wall template to help you!

To allow you to customise this display, we have created the editable parts in Microsoft Word. Please note: this display was printed all on A4 size paper.

Simply click on the arrow beside the download button to download the Microsoft Word document. This download will only include the parts of the display that are editable.

Once you have downloaded the classroom display, as a class, you begin with a learning intention; what do you want the students to be able to do by the end of a teaching unit?

For example: Write a recount of something that happened.

Then, as a class, discuss and decide upon the success criteria steps that the students will need to take to achieve the desired learning intention. This is specific to your class and should relate to your students’ current abilities.

For example:

• Success criteria 1 – I can write about the main idea.
• Success criteria 2 – I can write what happened in order.
• Success criteria 3 – I can use sequencing words like first, then, after, next and finally.
• Success criteria 4 – I can include who, what, where, when and why.

We’ve made these cute little characters to display on the wall to show each success criteria.

If you need further guidance with developing the learning goals, read our blog – Using Visible Learning Goals in Your Classroom.

We also have Mathematics Learning Intention Cards and English Learning Intention Cards aligned to the Australian Curriculum that may also help!

Your students then receive a hot air balloon that moves up the wall as they achieve each success criteria.

What about the self-esteem of the lower ability students?

How to display and track each students’ achievement with their self-esteem in mind!

I wanted to add this bit as I feel very strongly about creating a visible learning environment where every student feels comfortable and happy with their individual abilities.

Displaying individual student names on this type of display can be tricky! However, there are definitely ways to ensure the self-esteem of every student is kept in mind. Here are three ways you can do this:

1. Use the colours of the hot air balloons to colour code your students’ abilities. For example, your lower level ability group may be given the red balloons. As the teacher, you know that they have progressed to each success criteria, with teacher support.
2. Print out the success criteria poster for those students that require their own individualised goals. Set the success criteria so that it is achievable for those students. This can be kept in a special spot that the student and teacher can refer to when needed. This way, they are still moving up the bump it up wall, but with their own individual goals.
3. Lastly, a little more time consuming, however, will still work! Display only the four cute characters on the We’re Aiming High display. Each student is then provided with their own success criteria and move up the different levels depending on their individual goals.

We would love to hear from you! Do you use a bump it up wall in your classroom? How do you manage it?