1-2-3 Come Celebrate Birthdays With Me
Since I just turned the big 60, I experienced first hand, how even the smallest acts of kindness, can make one feel special, and are wonderfully appreciated.
Birthdays truly are a "big deal" to a child. I enjoyed thinking up new ways to help make my Y5's feel extra special. One of their favorites, was simply getting to sit in the birthday chair (old piano stool that I decorated), while everyone sang to them. When we got to the part: "Are ya 1 are ya 2 etc." I'd spin them around once, when we stopped at their new age. They absolutely LOVED this and it didn't cost a dime.
I like designing student-made bulletin boards, and thought it would be fun to make one centered around birthdays. It's a wonderful way to get to know your new students and review or introduce the months of the year.
Having a little "craftivity" the 1st day of school is nice, because a teacher has so much mandatory office trivia to get accomplished for each child. If they can independently work on something, you have a few moments of sanity to figure out who's getting what for lunch, and how everyone is getting home etc.
Getting to color and decorate a paper cupcake is perfect for little ones. Older students can complete their cupcake via glyph questions. I LOVE glyphs. They are terrific for assessing listening and following directions, and completed glyphs make adorable bulletin boards. In this case, your birthday one. To make the cupcakes even cuter, take a group shot of your students and cut their faces into a circle that they can glue to the middle of their cherry.
Print off the Birthday Graph Glyph header, laminate and put it at the top of your board. Choose whatever monthly cards are appropriate for your classroom (There are 27 to choose from.) and then hang them up, starting with the beginning of your school year (August or September).
Children complete their cupcake, and wait their turn for their month to be called. Students show and share their creation, or if you did the glyph, the teacher asks: "What's Kelli's favorite color?" "Does she have a brother?" etc. This works as a nice icebreaker and fun way to get to know your students.
The completed bulletin board will be a graph, and provides a perfect teachable moment to explain or review what graphing is all about.
Click on the link to view/download the Birthday Graph Glyph packet.
If you're looking for more birthday ideas, click on the link to zip on over to that section of my site. I have quite a few more birthday ideas coming up, so be sure and check back. I also try to blog daily, writing about my newest FREEBIES. Be sure and stop by tomorrow for some more back to school ideas.
Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find worthwhile. My "Pin it" button is at the top. If you'd like to see the awesome educational things I spend way too much time pinning, click on the "Follow me" heart on the right.
"Sometimes you never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory." -Dr. Seuss
