Back to School Freebies

School starts for me on Monday! I'm nervous, excited, and stressed all at once. But, most importantly, I'm finally PREPARED! To celebrate, here are some freebies and ideas for you! I will be using these activities the first week.

Here is a cheap back to school gift idea for your kiddos. I'm really trying to save money right now so I was looking for the cheapest ideas possible.

Ignore the packet below. The "gift" is the red card with the smiley eraser. I got the erasers from Target for $1 and there were about 60 in the pack {don't quote me on that, but I know there were BUNCHES}!! I printed the template on assorted colors of construction paper and taped the eraser on. Quick, simple, and cheap. Click here to get the template.

The next freebie I will be using the first day of school. I want my students to set goals for themselves for the year. I'm going to place these on a bulletin board as a constant reminder.

Normally, I'm not sure I would do this the first day of school because I don't want generic responses like, "I will do a good job in math" or "I will try my best." However, since I know most of my kiddos already, I feel confident I can guide them to responses that will be specific and pertain to their area of weakness.

Since I haven't completed this with them yet, I have no sample. But here's what the page looks like. There is a small and large version for you to choose from. Click on the first page to pick up the freebie.

 And my finally freebie is a graphing activity. I saw an idea similar to this on the web, but when I went to search for it again, I couldn't find it. So, I made my own.

Click here to pick this up!

And I'll leave you with an idea that I use every year on the first day of school. When my kiddos first arrive, here is what is waiting for them:

It's a word search with each of their names in it. There are so many free word search makers on the web, but here is a link to the one I used. Sooooo many of them create tiny puzzles with tons of ads and this one doesn't. Enjoy!

My Classroom Reveal!

I'm pretty much done with my classroom! However I haven't even begun thinking about planning for 2nd grade yet. Yikes! In fact, that's what I am supposed to be doing right now. Instead...I created a presentation of my room. Ha! Take a peek.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour! Now I'm really off to plan! I'm linking up with a few of you:

 

Monday Made It

I'm joining in on another Monday Made It!

First up, I made myself a new cover for my lesson plan binder. I am very happy with how it turned out {besides the fact that if you look closely, the lines are crooked}. I just used Word and markers to color it. I'm trying to save my ink!

I also reworked my rules poster. I've had the same poster for 7 years!!! And I used it for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades...

I was going to use ribbon for it, like Aimee did, but I didn't like how mine turned out...so I just taped them all together.

Next up, I made 33 reward coupons for my kiddos! I am soooo happy with how these turned out! If you would like your own copy, they are currently on sale for $2.00 at my TpT store. Click here!

 And lastly, this isn't something I made, but the container is too cute not to share! I got this to hold my daily schedule cards. It was 88 cents at Wal-Mart! Love it!

If you'd like to link up too, head on over to 4th Grade Frolics by clicking below!

Looking for Classroom Reward Coupons?

I finished my reward coupons just in time for the BIG sale! My store will be on sale too!

And more importantly (in my opinion), I finally used PowerPoint to do it!!!!! And, oh my gosh, I can't believe I didn't use it earlier. SOOOOOOO much easier! (Well...after I spent half my day trying to figure out how to use it! Ha) I am a PowerPoint girl now!

Have you been looking for coupons that don't use a lot of ink? Well, I have! I'm sure I'll be printing a bunch this year and I didn't want to waste all of my ink. Plus I couldn't find ones that matching what I wanted to do in MY classroom. And so that's why I created these:

Hopefully they will work for you in your classroom. I love the idea and my kiddos do too! You can get them on TpT for $2.50! Click here to take a look. Now I'm off to all items to my wishlist for tomorrow!!!

It's Almost SALE Time!

I am sure you love a good sale as much as I do! And that means I'm sure you're just as excited as I am to hear about TpT's upcoming sale on the 12th and 13th! This is just the motivation I need to purchase all those items in my wish list. 

Be sure to use the Promo Code to get that 28% off!

And in case you need some additional items to all to your wish list, here are some goodies I've posted recently. Just click on the picture to head on over to my store!

I spent this evening cutting out the Common Core Scoot activities. Here's a better look at all that is included! And those dark spots are shadows...not stains. :)

 Happy shopping!

Brain Breaks, Center Light, and Dismissal Routine

First of all, I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to those of you who provided me with links to all of those fonts I love. I *think* I have recovered them all. Now onto Monday Made It!

I officially declared this weekend DIY weekend. I had several pinned projects that were just waiting to get done. And since I'm running out of time before school starts, I got to work!! Here's a look at what I did:

These are brain breaks! I've seen several versions online recently, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the ones I saw. So, I created my own! 

Another idea I've pinned and loved, is this:

This version comes from The Lesson Plan Diva.

Here's my version. 

                                          Before and After

This is a reminder to my kiddos who constantly like to talk to me while I'm pulling small groups during center time. If the lights off, they can talk to me. If it's on, I'm invisible. :)

I used these pens to decorate the light. I am in love with them! They are permanent and work wonderfully! I got them at Wal-Mart for about $3.

I also pinned a dismissal routine chart from Pinterest and it's been on my to-do list for awhile. Not anymore! I made it specific to my kiddos and I'm excited to have a posted version of my dismissal routine for next year. I plan on cutting it down and laminating it when I can get into my classroom. Hopefully soon!

Finally, I created these birthday balloon pencils a couple days ago and wanted to share them again with Monday Made It.

If you're beginning to think about back to school time too, here are some recent additions to TpT I've made for back to school time.

This contains 18 back to school literacy centers! Check it out by clicking the picture.

Also, I created 16 "Scoot" activities relating directly to the Common Core standards. I created one set for first grade and one for second grade. Click on the pictures below to view them!