1-2-3 Come Make A DIT Award Folder With Me

You’ve probably heard of DIY (Do It Yourself) stuff, but how about DIT (Do It Themselves)?
Maybe not, because it’s something I just made up for this particular packet.

I’m a firm believer in delegating when possible.  I try to give my students as much responsibility as they can handle, which helps build their confidence and self-esteem.  This responsibility also makes them more accountable,  so they put forth their best effort.

As teachers and parents we know how hectic the end of the school year is.  While it's certainly exciting, it seems that my “To Do” list usually gets longer instead of shorter.  I must confess I’m guilty of adding a few things that weren’t on the list that I somehow accomplished, just so I could have the satisfaction of crossing them off!  Anyone else relate?

Any hoo, having a “red-carpet” or special awards ceremony the last week of school, is super-fun for students of all ages. 

It’s a celebration of the vast amount of things they’ve accomplished and stuff they’ve learned along the way. They’ve succeeded and grown in the process.   You are spotlighting the importance of school too, and the value of a job well done. 

Simply roll out some red bulletin board paper, scatter with gold stars you can buy at a party store. If there's enough room, write your students' names on them. 

At the end of your "run way" have a poster that says: "Congratulations! You're Shooting Into First Grade!" or whatever the next grade level is for your kiddos.

Giving certificates, ribbons, candy bar awards etc. is truly exciting and fun for them.  
I’ve done it in the past and my students absolutely LOVED feeling extra special,  but let’s face it; it’s another thing that takes more work on your part.   

There’s dreaming up and designing the awards, figuring out who gets what and stretching yourself to make sure something fits every child, then running them off and writing them all out.   

Now trot yourself out to buy some candy bars or whatever other little treat you want to add, then assemble, plan the ceremony and deliver them to each kiddo.   This is all you-you-you.

With this in mind, I designed the Do It Themselves (DIT) Awards.  All you do is decide what you want your students to work on, then run off the “ingredients”.  The focus is now off you, and on your students. 

They pick a partner, interview them and design an Achievement Folder especially for their classmate.  There is a huge variety of award options in the packet, so each student's will be different and tailor-made for their friend. 

Many of the activities in the packet also work perfectly for "bucket fillers" and as separate end-of-the-year writing prompts that make awesome bulletin boards; such as the "high-flying balloon". 

This can be done as computer-generated word art using words to describe a fellow classmate, themselves, or things associated with their wonderful year in kindergarten, or done by hand using the balloon template. (The photo shows it being used on the Award Folder).

For that finishing touch, add a school photo to the "bowtie" and tie with some curling ribbon. 

Suspend back-to-back from the ceiling or on a wall with one of 3 "Celebrating Our Success" posters.  (I've included "word cloud" tips, tricks and 8 websites in the packet.)

The "You're a Sharp Student" writing prompt pencil, is another one that also stands alone, and perfect for an end-of-the-year "bucket filling" activity.

On awards day children also run the show, as they call their friend up and give this awesome gift to them, proudly sharing with the rest of the class what they’ve created. 

Believe me, your kiddos will really be excited for Awards Day, not so much because they are receiving an award, but because they made one and get to be a presenter!

Because students are making these, they are practicing the skills you’ve helped them master throughout the year. 

They also know how much work went into creating it, so they are much more appreciative than if you had done all of the work. 

This activity fits in well with your Daily 5, writing block, or as an independent center.

You decide how many award items you want your kiddos to include.  I've made samples using 2 folders glued together, as well as a single Award Folder using a variety of options.

What would have been a pile of extra “homework” for you, now turns into a super-fun classroom crafivity for your students that they can happily work on independently, freeing you up to check other things off on your "to do" list!

You can still buy those candy bars, but keep in mind this might not be your students' favorite candy. Just because a particular kind of candy fits a cute slogan, does not mean they'll be thrilled with it.

Once again, I like to make the "treat" thing totally DIT, so I’ve included a note home to parents letting them know what their child is working on.  

Via their interview, each child now knows their classmate’s 3 favorite types of candy.   Parents are asked to give their child a job to earn that dollar, then take them to the store to buy ONE of those items. 

Shopping for the candy goes on our "chore" list. However, children get truly excited about this, which helps make them beyond thrilled on Awards Day, and that favorite candy treat especially sweet. 

I've also provided headers for them to add to their treat Baggie

As children present their awards, self-esteem is built on both the receiving end, as well as making the presenter feel especially important too.

You’re teaching valuable life skills, and each child is getting a treat that they will truly enjoy, plus you save yourself time, gas, and at least $15, at the same time shortening that “To Do” list in the process!

Win-win; woo hoo! Take a bow! You deserve an award. The packet is a whopping 150 pages long (!) so you have plenty of options to choose from.

After students pick a partner, give them several days to work on their folder.  Remind them that this is all "top secret" and they shouldn't share what they are doing with anyone. 

The packet includes:

• 14 certificates
• 3 ribbon badges

14 "I'd like to praise my friend" writing prompt worksheets

• A "Tweet It!" writing prompt bookmark.
• A "Text It!" iPhone writing prompt, with samples of each.
  
• (Besides using these for the Award Folder, students could also "Text" and "Tweet" a note to one of your next year's students.)
• A "Star Qualities" writing prompt bookmark.
• A Wanted poster writing prompt.

An alphabetical list of 236 positive adjectives to help describe their classmate.

An interview-investigation worksheet to collect data.

53 page options to make a  "Flipping Over Your Awesome Achivements" booklet.  With a full-color sample booklet for you to share with your students, to help explain things.

• A medal of honor.
• A trophy, balloon, high-five, pencil, pennant and star writing prompt worksheets.
• An explanation and list of 8 word cloud websites with word art ideas and matching samples.

An explanation and list of word search options, to make a  complimentary word find that describes their classmate, plus 4 samples.

• What a super-fun way to increase vocabulary and practice spelling too!
• 5 templates filled with "You Rock", "You're a sharp student", "High Fives", "Applauding you" and  "You're a star student", stickers to embellish their folder with.
• And finally, lots of samples and photographs to make things easy and give you some ideas.

All of this for only $5.95 (Just 4 cents a page!) It's regulary $6.95, but I knocked a dollar off to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Month. I hope you and your kiddos have as much fun creating award folders, as I did designing them. 

Click on the link to pop on over to my TpT store to grab the Student-Made Awards packet.  I still can't believe I have a store, after 5 years and 1,000's of FREEBIES, my family and I are pretty excited.

However, lots of FREEBIES will continue to be featured here on TeachWithMe.

Since you waded through this long blog, you deserve not one, but 3 little FREEBIES from the packet. 

There's the iPhone "Text It" freebie with 2 samples, the "Tweet It!" bookmark writing prompt, with a sample, a "Wow!" mini award certificate, where you can write in whatever you want in the "speech bubble", and finally, the list of 236 positive adjectives.   Click on the link to enjoy them.

 Thanks for visiting. The month of May always flies by and I still have so much I want to get finished.  For now, I'm dragging this aching old bod to bed.

The packet took much longer than I anticipated, then toss in finally getting to plant flowers, along with my oldest son's graduation from grad school, and my middle son's wedding last Friday, and this senior citizen is running on empty.   Wishing you a sunshiny, fun-filled and relaxing day.  

"Summer is when laziness finds respectability." -Unknown