The Birthday Wheel

I needed to get a new sign to post classroom birthdays, but when I looked in the catalogs and at stores, I didn't really see any that caught my eye. I had been using a "birthday wheel" that I had gotten out of an educator's magazine, but it was filled with staple holes, marker stains, and tape remnants. It needed to be replaced.

I took all the things I loved from what I saw of birthday posters, birthday signs, my old "birthday wheel," and things I saw on Pinterest and made what you see. Come the fall, it will get laminated, and I thought I would have the kids get together by month to take a group picture. Then those pictures will get placed in the empty spaces for each month.

I like to use the different "-ology" symbols because:

1. The kids love to look at it and learn what they are.

2. It's great for discussions on symbolism.

3. The kids are reading. There may not be very many words on it, but those are some tough words (especially those flower names), and they are invested in figuring out what they say.

4. It leads to some great discussions and tie-ins when teaching Native Americans and other cultures along with mythology (which is mentioned in the common core).

5. The kids make great connections with the books they read. Those symbols and references to them are found all over literature.

and 6. I just think it's pretty, interesting, and I love making artsy stuff.