Who doesn't love brand new, shiny, just-out-of-the-package back-to-school supplies? Ever since I was a kid, shopping for school supplies was one of my favorite end of summer activities! And as a teacher, I always felt like Christmas when unboxing my supply orders or shopping school sales. Amazon is a great resource for must-have teaching supplies and I've listed some of my FAVORITE, must-have teaching supplies from Amazon here. This post includes affiliate links, so I earn a small commission if you purchase through them, BUT I have only included items I've used myself, so you can rest assured these are great supplies! And I'll also mention if I've seen these items cheaper elsewhere. I've organized these supplies into categories to make it easy to find what you're looking for. Also, look for the *TIP note to read little tips for each school supply. Must-have supplies for Centers Plastic sleeves-huge paper saver! I used ... read more
Search Results for: back to school
Back-to-School Read-Aloud for Phonemic Awareness
Don't you love when you find a great book to read aloud? I am always looking for amazing read-alouds and when I found The Hungry Thing by Jan Slepian, I hit the jackpot! It's such a funny story that's perfect for rhyming and phonemic awareness. If you don't have the book, I included links in my Hungry Thing freebie (in my free resource library) that you can use to purchase it (about $5) or to watch it on YouTube for free. Summary: It's about a monster who comes to a village and asks for food but people don't understand its language, then they realize he is just changing the first sound of what he wants. For example, he asks for shmancakes instead of pancakes. Some townspeople make up what the words mean, but a little boy explains what it is the monster wants. The food is revealed each time you turn the page, so it gives kids a chance to guess what the monster wants before finding out. So cute, right?! Every year I use it with ... read more
What To Do on the First Day of School
The first day of school always brings me joy, excitement, and..... some anxiety! What will I do? How do I set routines up? How do I keep students engaged? What if I don't have enough planned? After 16 years, I still get the 'first day jitters'! Once I meet my sweet students and my day gets underway, though, everything goes smoothly and I can breathe a sigh of relief! If you are wondering what to do on your first day, here are some sample first day lesson plans (and FREEBIES) that I've saved from past years. I always overplan and sometimes don’t even get half done, but I definitely would rather have too much planned than not enough! Take your time, though, and don’t rush through anything because the kids will feel it and your day may not go smoothly. I’d rather not accomplish as much and have a smooth day than accomplish everything but feel rushed and harried. There are 179 more days to go, so don't worry about anything you didn't get ... read more
Tips for New Teachers
Hey there, new teacher, and welcome! Right now, you are probably feeling so many different emotions and have tons of questions. My goal is to help answer some of those questions with this mini-survival tip kit and help make you feel more confident in getting started in this amazing career! Now, I said amazing, not easy! The first piece of advice I want to share is to NOT try to do everything perfectly this year. It took me many years to realize that “Done is better than perfect.” There are SO many different aspects of teaching, that it’s impossible to be an expert in all areas, especially when starting out, especially on the elementary level, and ESPECIALLY with the added unknown factors of Covid and distance-learning. One of the most important things to do is to stay organized, as it’ll help you work smarter (not harder!). So, in an effort to be efficient, I’ve organized this post into the following ... read more
25+ Classroom Organization Tips For the New Year
If you're anything like me, you love to start the new year very organized! It may not always last as long as I plan, but I do take some measures to refresh, improve, and organize my systems for the remainder of the year. When I started this list of classroom organization tips, I had no idea I would have so many. Talk about the mother lode of organization tips! I asked the teachers in my FaceBook group for their best tips as well and they came through with some gems! You'll see them quoted throughout. To make it a little less overwhelming and to save you time, I've organized them into categories. Make sure to grab your organization freebie before you go! ORGANIZE YOUR TASKS: PRIORITIZE! Organize your to-do list! A comprehensive to-do list in one place is overwhelming and wastes time! Use the freebie below to organize and prioritize your tasks. Edit the headings to meet your needs, print and laminate, then use post-it notes ... read more
Phonological Awareness Activities and Games to Engage Your Students
"C-a-t. . . . MAP!" Ever have students who do that? Even when students know letter sounds, they may still have trouble reading because they don't blend the sounds correctly. The likely cause is a lack of phonological or phonemic awareness. Phonological, Phonemic: What's the Difference? First things first, phonological awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate sounds in spoken words. While phonological awareness can include syllables or parts of words (ex: onset and rime), phonemic awareness deals with individual phonemes, or sounds. For example, blending or segmenting the sounds in the word CAT is a phonemic awareness activity. Identifying the number of syllables in the word CAT is not. They are both phonological awareness activities, but phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness that deals with phonemes, or individual sounds. So, in a nutshell: phonological = individual ... read more
End of Year Memory Book: Grades 2-3
End of Year Activities End of year Memory Book Perfect way to wrap up the year. Students will love these fun, adorable pages to remember the year by! NOW INCLUDES DIGITAL: Google Slides and Seesaw This includes a GRADES 2-3 version of my original memory book. For the original version (grades K-2), please click here End-of-Year Memory Book K-2 Table of Contents: 6-10: End-of-Year Covers 11: All About my School 12: All About my Teacher 13: All About ME 14-16 My Favorites (boy/girl, 2 options) 17: My SCHOOL Favorites 18-19: My Summer Plans (2 options) 20: My Summer Goals 21: My Friends 22: My Classmates 23: My Friend and I (Venn diagram) 24: Teacher Award 25-27: My Favorite Book (3 options) 28: My ... read more
Theme Word Wall Writing Pack: Digital and Printable
You don't have to worry about creating any more themed writing centers or creating theme word walls! This pack includes at least one word wall and fun stationery for each month! Perfect for inspiring writing ideas, supporting beginning spellers, and motivating reluctant writers. ****PRINTABLE & DIGITAL!**** Each theme includes: 2 Writing prompt versions Color and B&W printable word wall B&W stationery: with and without writing space Digital version for Google Slides Digital version for Seesaw Topics included: School Fall Halloween Thanksgiving Christmas Winter Animals in Winter Chinese New Year Dental Health Valentine's Day Election Spring Earth Day Cinco de Mayo Community Workers Summer Great for creative writing! In the classroom, teachers can either post word wall on center sign ... read more
Don’t Leave the Classroom Before Doing these things!
Looking forward to the last day of school? Do I hear a “heck yeah!” Teachers and students alike can’t wait for summer break! Before you run out, though, here are some important things to do before leaving the classroom for the summer. The last thing we want at the end of the year is more work. I know, you’re exhausted. However, a little extra work now can save you so much stress at the beginning of the year! Believe me, there are few worse things than coming into your classroom at the start of the new year to find a hot mess and not knowing where to start. It doesn’t have to be that way! Here are my best tips for sailing into summer and cruising into fall. Some things are obvious, like finding a home for your class pet and remembering to take home your chocolate stash so you don't walk into a melted mess in the fall! Other things aren't as easy to remember, so get out a pad and make yourself a to-do list. Feel free to comment ... read more
Tips for Making a Unique End-of-Year Memory Book
There's not much I remember from my first-grade class and end-of-year memory books weren't really a thing back then, but I SO wish I did have one to look through now that I'm older! Nowadays, there are all kinds of wonderful end-of-year memory books and most teachers I know have their students complete one each year. If there is ever a year to appreciate and celebrate getting through, this is it! Whether you create your own or use a pre-made paper or digital one, here are some ideas to make a unique end-of-year memory book your kids and their families will cherish! 4 Ideas for Unique End-of-Year Memory Books 1. Include a Mix of Pictures Most memory books allow space for kids to draw themselves, which is great because their pictures are just so adorable. I also love to add some real photos taken of them in school since parents likely don't have any of them in the classroom. In my end-of-year memory book, I have a ... read more