Birthdays in Rm. 128

    I wish I could say this is an original idea, but I've seen it before on *gasp* pinterest.  On their birthdays, I give my kiddos a little bag with goodies in it, along with a certificate, sticker, etc.  It's not extravagant by any stretch of the imagination, but they love having a little surprise on their special day!

      My goal for today was to get my  bags/ cards finished & organized....I accomplished it, in a round-about way!  First off, assemble birthday bags.  That would mean shopping for said bags & booty.  YAY shopping!  I hit the dollar tree to buy all the awesomeness that will go inside the bags.  See all the junk I found....(yes, I'm a horrible teacher--there is candy in there,) but I spent less than 75 cents a bag--that's pretty rad!  Now assemblage.  Putting these together is easier said than done with all my "helpers" aka hungry dogs.  I finally got them all put together and tied, and now I have one for each of my students.  All I need to do is grab one on the appropriate day.

There are a few other things I do to make them feel special.  I have a file of pre-addressed and stamped birthday postcards that I send them the week of their birthday.  This takes a little planning, but it's totally worth it when they come flying in the next morning to tell me all about their mail!  All you need to do is find some postcards (I get them at the teacher supply,) and write a little note on one side.  Then pre-address each one at the beginning of the year.  I write their birthdate on top of the card so I know what order to file them in.  I keep them filed by month in a little coupon holder I found at the dollar store (not the prettiest, but it does it's job!)  Each month, I note the birthdays and write myself a reminder on my lesson plans  to mail postcards each Monday of a birthday week.  Pretty easy. 

     The best part....making new friends in line at the post office.  Yes, buying postcard stamps today was quite an adventure.  Here's a shout-out to "crazy-stamp-hoarder-lady"....you know who you are.  You went around to 3 post offices this morning in the Heights and bought ALL of their post card stamps before me. Oh yeah, that meant I got the extreme pleasure of going to FOUR post offices today looking for stamps.  Almost as much fun as the DMV.  Almost.

Here are the fruits of my labor....






     And lastly, the illustrious birthday song.  I actually borrowed this one from neighbor at school (thanks Uno,) and the kids love it!  I have a poster of the song laminated, and the birthday kiddo gets to fill in the blanks with the first letter of his/ her name.  Then we all sing them the silly song.  So, if it was Kinley's birthday, the song would be "Kappy Kirthday Ko Kou."  The kids find this hi-larry-us.  It gets a little dicey if their name starts with a vowel, but hey--another teachable moment on vowel pairs! 
    
     Tell me....what do you do in your classroom to celebrate birthdays?

*cupcake clip art was a freebie from www.dreamlikemagic.com
Thanks to Heather @ Heather's Heart, I've linked up with 4th grade frolics Made It Mondays...check it out..