Volume Control: Mastering Classroom Management with Voice Level Posters

Has your classroom been feeling a bit noisy lately? It’s so difficult to get students back into learning after interruptions due to unnecessary chatter. 

Voice Level Posters can be an effective solution! This simple and easy-to-implement visual tool helps keep student noise levels at an appropriate level, so everyone has the chance to learn.

Plus, this calm-colored visual reminder is fun and creative – it’ll help you engage with your students while teaching them important social skills.

Read on to learn more about Voice Level Posters and how to implement them in your classroom!

Setting Up Your Posters 

Choose your Posters 

First, you need to pick a voice level chart that you like! 

Find a style or color scheme that goes well with the classroom theme you currently have in your classroom. 

Here are some of my voice level charts that have been created in the Modern Calm Colors theme. 

As you select voice level posters, think about the wording you plan on using in your classroom. 

Are you going to simply go with numbers? Add fun sayings like “Silence is Golden”? Or are there specific words you use as a whole building? 

The best part about my voice level posters is they are text editable, so you are able to change up the wording on any of the posters to match what works in your classroom! 

Additionally, these voice level charts come in two different styles. 

There is a primary version voice level chart with pictures, a clear font, and a very distinct number. 

Check out this classroom display from @craftingintheclassroom for a close-up of the primary version! 

And an upper elementary version without the pictures and in a more fun font! 

If these posters look like something that would go perfectly in your own classroom, snag them from my TPT store here! 

Edit Your Posters

Once you have chosen your posters, make any edits to the text on the posters you wish to make them customizable for your classroom! 

Print & Prepare the Posters 

Print, cut, and laminate (if you desire) your posters to get them ready to be hung in your classroom! 

I don’t always laminate posters I plan on hanging on the wall because they can get hard to read if there is a lot of glare from overhead lights. I often will just print them on some cardstock paper and call it good! 

Choose Where to Hang the Posters 

I recommend putting the posters somewhere toward the front of your classroom like @megchandler18 on IG 🙂⬇️ 

That puts them in a spot where they can be easily referenced by both you and your students throughout the entire day. 

Having a visual is super important so students can quickly glance up to remember each appropriate noise level with each number.

Teaching the Voice Level Posters 

Now that the hard work is done, the question becomes: “Okay, but how do I actually USE these in my classroom?” 

The first step is teaching your students what the different voice levels mean. 

What are the differences between a level 2 and a level 3? When might you use these different voice levels throughout a normal day of school? 

Engage your students in a discussion to make sure everyone is on the same page about what these numbers mean (because some people need to know that their normal, “low flow” voice is a level 4 to everyone else 😂). 

Beyond discussing, have students practice each noise level.

Give them a fun saying like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and have them practice it in each of the different levels. 😊

This is key to for students to really understand each appropriate noise level. 🙂

Voice Level Posters in Action

Once you have made it this far, you are ready to actually put these posters into action! 

A good practice to get into is to draw your student’s attention to the voice level posters before you begin any activity, lesson, or really anything in your classroom. 

Remind students what your expectation for their voice level is during this time and have them practice ahead of time. 

One of the hardest lessons we teach our students daily is voice level. 

Grab a set of these voice level posters to make this lesson a little more structured, manageable, and fun in your classroom!