Birthday Cookie Cards

I have about 10 birthdays in my class between April and August and I wanted to do something special for my students since I won't see them for the rest of the academic year. 
Cheryl's is my most favorite place to order cookies from, they are by far the best cookies I have ever tasted! They are known for their frosted buttercream sugar cookies however I enjoy the oatmeal raisin and lemon cookies too.
I decided I would send Cheryl's Cookie Cards to my students near their birthdays. So far, one has received theirs and the mom emailed me to tell me that he had been so sad about not having a birthday party this year and the cookie card and message I sent cheered him right up! They are $5 each and well worth the price to bring a smile to my scholar's faces during this time of great uncertainty. 

I even sent a card to my #teamBFF, she loved hers as well! 

Made it Monday: Summer Recap 2017

Today teachers in my district report back to work for Teacher Work Week. I've enjoyed creating memories with my family and friends. I've been blogging regularly during the summer and hope to continue once the school year starts. Let's take a look back at all the creations I've shared this summer...
7*3 Long Range Plans- This week I shared my long range lesson plans. 

7*10 Open House Stations- This week I shared my idea for a Cookie Themed Open House.

7*17 Leadership Teams- This week I shared my idea for classroom jobs. 

7*24 Erin Condren Teacher Planner- This week I shared how I adapted my planner to fit my specific needs.

7*31 Classroom Library- This week I shared my organization for this year's chapter books. 

8*7 Fabric Tassel Curtains- This week I shared my classroom curtain project. 

8*14 Seven Habits Posters- This week I shared my new 7 Habits of Happy Kids posters from a template on TpT.

8*21 Team Birthday Gifts- This week I blogged about the birthday gifts I'm giving my teammates this school year. 

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Made It Monday 8*21*17

I've been super busy this week! My students finally showed up in my gradebook and I love looking at their lil' cute faces, in one short week teachers in my county will report back to school and I'm beginning to get a little anxious. 

This week I finalized my team members birthday gifts. We are a team of 9. My school is the largest in our county with over 1,200 students. Most teams have 9 teachers, a couple have 8. I don't give birthday gifts every year but this year I decided I would. I've already put together the gifts for those team members who had summer birthdays. We're meeting for breakfast and for a team meeting this week , so I'll give them to them then. Each gift bag includes:

• a mini bag of Tate's Tiny Chocolate Chip Cookies, they are my most favorite cookie and Kroger had the mini bags on sale 10 for $10. I racked up!
• a hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works that says Happy Birthday.
• a Starbucks Gift Card

Now that I can see my students I can begin to put names on things. I don't know their nicknames yet but for the most part most students will go by their first name so I like to get a head start in labeling things. Here are past photos of the Welcome Bunting I put outside my classroom. 

My last idea came with the help of my #teamBFF Kaitlyn. She attended "Camp Chromebook" in our county last week and came up with a Digital Citizenship Poster for our classrooms. She sent it to me and I added some graphics and fonts. I love the way it turned out. I also love the fact that she used the SMART acronym, it goes with our school motto, Coal Miners are SMART!

Looking for more Made It Monday ideas, check out 4th Grade Folics!

Made it Monday: Summer Recap

Next Monday teachers in my district head back to school for Teacher Work Week. I've enjoyed not teaching summer school and allowing myself downtime to reflect on this past school year. I've also created some amazing memories with my family and friends. I've been blogging regularly during the summer and hope to continue once the school year starts. Let's take a look back at all the creations I've shared this summer...
6*20 SMORE Folder Insert- This week I shared the new design for my SMORE Folder's (Take Home Folders) this year. 

6*27- Long Range Plans- This week I shared my long range lesson plans for the upcoming school year. 

7*11 Hydration Station- This week I shared an idea about creating a Hydration Station in my classroom this year. Hop on over to this post for a copy of the sign. 

7*4 & 7*18- Brag Tags- Thanks to my great friend and coworker I jumped on the Brag Tag bandwagon and created tons to share... hop on over to this post for a wide variety tags to use in your own classroom. 

7*25 Student Welcome Gifts- This week I shared the gifts I created for my students. I can't believe I'll be meeting them in two short weeks!

8*1 Parent Resources- This week I talked about the Parent Flipbook and the Parent Handbook I'm sharing this school year. 

8*8 Student Birthdays- This last creation focused on how I want to celebrate my students birthdays this school year. I've got everything ready to go in their cute birthday bags. 

This blog as well as the Teaching Oasis website is supported by donations from readers like you. The website domain, monthly hosting and clip art can become quite an expense, please consider making a donation to keep all this possible. Thank you for your continued support and have a great school year!

Made It Monday 8*8*16

This week I decided to focus on student birthdays. This past year I gave students a card and a gift certificate to the local Sweet Frog frozen yogurt shop. It was pricey, but super easy... when I remembered to go buy them. This year I decided to scale back a bit.

Each student will receive a Happy Birthday Brag Tag to add to their chain.

I ordered these Happy Birthday Wristbands from Teacher Created Resources. Well technically I ordered it with my supply money from school.

I saw this class student birthday card from Teaching Maddeness. I decided to incorporate this idea into my classroom this year. I'll have a class set of these sheets run in color at the beginning of the school year. The day before a student birthday I'll have classmates sign the card so I can have it waiting on their desk the morning of.

This idea came from Doris Young at Third Grade Thinkers, she had cute Smile Treats waiting for her students during Open House. I already had my Welcome Gifts but thought this would be a great inexpensive birthday gift. You can find them at your local Wal-Mart.

In addition to the 1-Brag Tag, 2- Class Birthday Card, 3- Birthday Wristband and 4- Smile Fruit Snacks, we also do the Go Noodle Koo Koo Kangaroo Birthday Hooray during morning meeting.

That's how I'll be celebrating my students this year. We start school in September so I spend the 1st week recognizing August Birthdays. The last week of school I recognize July Birthdays. What do you do for your students on their birthdays?


For more Made It Monday ideas, hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics!

Student Treats

In preparation for my upcoming surgery I was busy putting together all types of treats I knew I would need once school started.

The first treat they'll get will be their Welcome to 3rd Grade boxes they'll get during Meet the Teacher which is held before school starts. To any student that doesn't come, it will be waiting on their desk when they return.

Welcome to 3rd Grade Treat Boxes

Welcome to 3rd Grade Treat Boxes

I purchased these cute favor milk cartons from Michael's. They came 12 in a pack, I believe they had pink, blue, green, red packs to choose from. In each pack was 4 chevron printed, 4 polka dots, and 4 solid colors.  I added a mini bottle of hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works {5 for $5 with a 20% off coupon}, Target Brand Fruit Snacks and 4 Tootsie Rolls. I picked up some sheer ribbon from Hobby Lobby and made some tags on my computer. You could easily just use the adhesive that came with the carton to create them but I had to be difficult and punch holes and use ribbon to hold it together.

Student Birthday Treats

Student Birthday Treats

I ordered these cute little containers off of Etsy. They came with the cup and the dome lids. I bought a set of mini slinkies from Party City and a bag of Wonka Mix Up Candy from Walmart and added the slinky and 4 pieces of candy to each cup. Then I added white shredded paper that I got from Michael's on top and put the lid on. They turned out super cute!

What do you do for welcome treats and/or student birthdays.

Birthday Krazy Straws

Time for another Pinterest Inspired Idea... I usually give my students a birthday bag with a book of their choice, stickers, pencil, certificate and a couple pieces of candy. This year I decided to make them birthday krazy straws after seeing it on Pinterest. I purchased some birthday themed scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby and used my Cricut Create a Critter Cart to make the balloons. Then I attached the balloons to the straws.