Student Gift Idea

Okay, this post is going to be really similar to the last.  I just love how these gifts are turning out! I have also struggled with what to do for students at the end of the year.  My students are going to middle school next year so I thought I should do something nice.  

I gave my students a questionnaire to gather information.  They kept asking what it was for and I just told them for an activity later in the year.  Sly... 

Here is the questionnaire I used: Student Questionnaire

I then used the fabulous Tagxedo to create my gift.  I just typed in all of the information I gathered from the questionnaire.  Then I chose the font color based on their favorite color.  I also tried to pick a shape based on something that interests them.  There were a lot that didn't have shapes that correlated so I just chose a fun shape.  

I purchased frames from my local dollar store and voila! 

I love the way they turned out and I can't wait to see my students' reactions when they get them.  Such a quick and cheap gift!

What gifts do you do for your students?

Parent Volunteer Gifts on a Limited Budget

I always feel like I should do something for my parent volunteers or room parent.  I choose to do a committee instead of having just a single parent in charge of everything.  There is one parent that is kind of in charge of the committee but she has just made sure everything was divided up and taken care of throughout the year.  I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about the committee.  Parents seem to like not having to commit to and entire year of activities.  However, the committee means I have more parent volunteers to get a gift for! The end of the year also means the end of my budget.  

I have tried several different small things throughout the years as gifts. Last year I used wordle to create an easy gift.  This year, I think I found the perfect gift.  It's thoughtful and easy on the wallet. All I had to buy was a frame.  I purchased a few at my local dollar store.  I then used this amazing website to create the item that will go in the frame.  

Here is the website is used to create this cute gift: Tagxedo

 

After entering all of my students names, I just needed to pick the font, font color, and shape of the finished product.  I decided to go with a hand because it went with my theme.  You can pick from a variety of shapes if you don't like mine!

I made my cute tag using a frame designed by  

Dancing Crayon Designs.

Here is the final product!  

Not bad for $1.00! What do you think?

 

Fun in the Sun

I have to admit that I am counting the days until the end of the year. (Even though I will miss my students terribly!) I have Spring Fever!  I can't wait for the nice, warm (more like hot) weather.  I know that my students are suffering from the same illness.  I wanted to have some fun activities for them since we're getting so close to our vacation. These are perfect to have during my crazy testing schedule.

1. Beach Ball Maze- This activity is pretty much self explanatory and it's FREE!! (Makes the activity even better!

2. Summer Crossword Puzzle- This puzzle has 15 summer word clues.  A word bank is also available depending on how much of a challenge you would like for your students.

 

3. Summer Cryptogram- My students always love figuring out "secret codes".  Students use the code to solve the riddle.

4.  Summer Vacation Word Bank- This is a great way to make your students think and brainstorm.  They try to create as many words as they can only using the letters in "I Love Summer Vacation."

 

5. Summer Word Search- Students search for 21 summer words.

I hope these activities will help any others that are suffering from Spring Fever!