Amazon Top 10 Back to School Must Haves

I know it feels like school JUST got out for summer, but we know how Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc. LOVE to start the Back to School season in July.

So thought I would share my tried and true favorite items: 

• Better Than Paper Bulletin Board Roll
• I have tried many different things on my bulletin boards. I have used the paper the school provides, I have used sheets or fabric, and this has been my favorite so far! It is thicker that paper or fabric (so no wrinkles!) and the best part is that you can easily wipe it down with a damp rag which is perfect for that summer dust that we all know loves to collect in our rooms.

• AFMAT Electric Pencil Sharpener
• This is the first pencil sharpener that has actually survived an entire year! It also has an automatic stop so students know when the pencil is done sharpening.

• Nano Double-Sided Tape
• Do you have concrete walls that you can't ever get things to stay up? If so, then this is the tape for you! It only takes a small amount to hold things up so the roll has lasted me 2 years already. It is VERY sticky, so make sure that your posters or items are laminated before using this.

• Assorted Colors Electrical Tape
• I use this for color-coding EVERYTHING! Students journals, table colors, and most importantly our technology cart/chargers so students know which charger goes with their device and avoids pulling them out super far.

• Scotch Thermal Laminating Sheets
• If you plan on laminating anything smaller than a piece of paper then a personal laminator is a must. No matter what brand laminator you get, these sheets are the absolute best. The items don't fall out when you transfer them to the laminator and the thickness is perfect for making things last.

• Elmer's Glue Sticks
• You can never have enough glue sticks no matter what grade you teach and Amazon always has the BEST price for this 30-pack. I always keep this on my classroom wishlist in case parents ever want to get something off my list throughout the year.

• Mr. Sketch Markers
• Anchor charts just look better with good markers. I will be honest I tried a different brand this past year and immediately regretted it. Just get them!

• Acrylic Sign Holders
• These sign holders have so many different uses. I start off the year using them for Open House/Back to School Night to showcase different information I want to share with parents. Then throughout the year we use them for station learning by putting the directions in the sign holder so they don't go missing or get messed up as students rotate through the room.

• Paper Mate Flair Pens
• Just like with the markers, this is another item that I restock every year. There is just something about grading papers or taking notes in colorful pens that write oh so well! Since I get a new set every year or so, I save the older ones that still work and let students use them to self-check their papers or to use for notes or fun things in the classroom.

• Water Bottle Stickers
• Students LOVE these stickers to put on their water bottles, laptops, folders, etc. There are so many different varieties out there so you can try and find some that match your students' interests. PLEASE make sure you look through all of the stickers before your kids do! There always seems to be at least 1-2 that are NOT kid-friendly.

There are SO many other items that it was hard to pick just 10, but I focused on items that are my must-haves for every school year. I will probably make more posts that focus on specifics like organization, student incentives, or my soft start boxes.

What are your must haves that aren't on this list??

Math Intervention - Division

Do you ever spend hours scouring the internet looking for a resource that matches your vision?? I did that this year with math interventions. I had an image in my mind of what I wanted to use and honestly was hoping someone had already created something similar... but no luck!

So, that means I created it myself!

I was looking for simple, quick, easy-to-use lessons for a math intervention. I only had about 20 minutes with the small group. I created the lessons using the Engage-Teach-Practice-Closure routine.

Engage - this part of the lesson either reviews the strategy from the previous day or it gave students a problem or question to think about in order to set up the teach part of the lesson

Teach - this part of the lesson the teacher is explicitly teaching students how to use the focus strategy, it allows the teacher to model how to solve 1-2 problems (I Do) and then asks students solve 1-2 problems with the teacher to practice (We Do)

Practice - this part of the lesson gives students 2 problems to complete on their own while the teacher monitors and corrects any mistakes

Closure - this part of the lesson allows the teacher to go over the practice problems, remind students of the strategy used during this lesson, and lets them know what strategy is coming next

Up first is my division intervention. There are 14 lessons that starts off with the basics of relating division to multiplication and equal sharing and progresses all the way to using partial quotients with 3-digit by 2-digit numbers.

The lessons are designed so that you can start wherever your students' needs fall, but the lessons do build off of each other. For example, partial quotients starts off with 2-digit by 1-digit problems, then goes to 3-digit by 1-digit, and then 3-digit by 2-digit problems.

Each lesson includes the easy to follow lesson plan, a student page for students to use as they follow along with the lesson, and an answer key. The student page has 6 problems, 2 problems from the teacher model, 2 problems for the We Do section, and 2 independent practice problems.

Click the link to get your copy!

 

Morning Slides - On This Day in History

My experience in many schools is that social studies instruction often gets put on the back burner. We are told to integrate it into other subjects, but depending on your curriculum that is easier said than done. So a few years ago I started creating these morning slides that give students a little piece of history each day, plus a vocabulary word that goes along with it because vocabulary is another area that students seem to really struggle.

Each day the slide is set up so that you get a fact about something that happened on that particular day in history. There is a vocabulary word with the definition that goes along with the historical fact. In the speaker notes at the bottom is a link to more information about the fact. So depending on how much time you have it can be a quick 5 minute mini-lesson on something from history.

The best part is that these slides are completely customizable. Want a different fact from on this day? Change it out! Don't like the vocabulary word that goes with that day? Pick a different one! Use the checklist to get your students set up for the day and just leave this on the board for students to read as they come into the classroom.

Below are a few examples and then if you want to check out each month, just click on this link!

Apple Teacher Loading...

If you have known me for awhile you know that I am a GOOGLE education queen. I have done the Google educator trainings, I have helped my school learn the ins and outs of all things Google, and I have even presented at the Google summits a couple of times.

So finding out at the end of the year that we are switching to Apple products next year left me feeling all types of emotions. However, after getting over the negative feelings I am trying to have an open mindset.

I decided to kick off my summer with the Apple Teacher trainings that are available online completely free! Check it out here: https://education.apple.com/

Here are my takeaways so far. Click on this link to take you to my rough notes or check out a nice looking infographic thanks to ChatGPT: 

(click on the image to make it larger)

Using Pages on the iPad:

Using Keynote on the iPad:

Using Numbers on the iPad:

Using iMovie on the iPad:

Stay tuned this fall as my students and I navigate this new world of Apple!

Family.

I took a year off of blogging last year, so I never got around to writing a reflection post. I was also in a weird spot. I was getting ready to leave another school that I absolutely loved, but I knew that the move I was making was a good one for my family. In my 2 short years at New Hope I accomplished a lot. I received my National Board Certification. I was nominated to be the school's Teacher of the Year. I felt seen. I felt supported. I loved the community. However, working in a different county than your kids has so many challenges. Different school calendars including a completely different week for Spring Break. We also had times where my county was open, but the kids county was closed for snow. I found myself having to take off more days than I prefer. So when the principal of my kid's school said that she had a position open for this year I jumped at the opportunity.

And boy am I glad I did! Obviously I have had experience with the school for the past 3 years as a parent. I knew many of the teachers, I knew the admin and so many staff members. But becoming a teacher opens your eyes to how much this school prides itself on family. We do things together at school and outside of school. I feel like I actually know every single person that works there, not just by saying hi to them in the hallway.

Oh and my 5th grade team... AMAZING! There were so many times throughout this school year where I would pause and wonder is this really our first year working together?! We clicked from the moment we started together in August and it just kept rolling from there. We planned together, shared ideas/resources, and our students were OUR students. We want all of students to do well whether they are in our homeroom or not. We also shared more than just work, we shared emotions, family, life. We were there for each other through the good times and the bad. Also, if you aren't aware... we LOVE matching outfits!

My word for this year is Family. Because this school community truly feels like a family.

I love summer time to rest, relax, and rejuvenate, but I am already excited for next school year!

Will we ever get to 100 days??

In North Carolina we have been pummeled by these past 2 weeks with ice, snow, and temperatures that refuse to get above freezing. Last week we were out of school all week and here we are on Monday morning still sitting at home. I am hopeful that we will be back in the building soon since it is supposed to be in the upper 30s and 40s all week.

Since I am back in 5th grade this year, I decided to revamp my 100th Day of School activities. In 5th grade, students get to celebrate their 1000th day of school. Most counties go to school for 180 days per year (or the equivalent of that in hours), so the 100th day of 5th grade is the 1000th day for them.

 

Click on any image to download a copy

My 1000th day packet has students figure out how they have been in school for 1000 days and then make $1000 words by assigning each letter of the alphabet a value. I also have a decimal version included where they make $10.00 words. There are also a few writing activities including a what would you do with $1000 prompt and a letter to yourself on the next 1000 days, which will be in high school.

Click on any image to download your copy

This activity has students read about what life was like 1000 years ago and compares it to life now. Then they complete a 3-column chart that has them compare life 1000 years ago to now, and then predict what they think life will be like in another 1000 years.

         

Click any image to download your copy

I used this pizza activity when I taught 4th grade and students were learning how to connect fractions to decimals. They create a pizza with 100 toppings from the options on the page and then determine the fraction of each topping. They then model the fraction as a decimal on the decimal grid.

Click image to download your copy

This 100th day packet has been around since I first started teaching 3rd grade, but has been updated throughout the years. The cover page allows students to color each section of the 100 as they complete the task. Activities in the packet include: coloring stars for 100 seconds, a hundreds grid activity for primary and upper elementary, 100th day poem, drawing circles for 100 seconds, top 10 lists for primary and upper elementary, roll a die and flip a penny 100 times, and a writing prompt for primary and upper.

Hope everyone has a Happy 100th Day of School (whenever that may be!)

Social Emotional Learning Slides

Do you ever have a picture in your mind of something that you want to use, so you scour the internet, Teachers Pay Teachers, blogs, etc. and still can't find what you are looking for? This happened to me with my SEL lessons. I was not happy with the program that the county I worked for at the time used. I wanted something that was going to follow the same routine each week and just swap out the topic and activities. 

So I started working on this project in the summer of 2024 and built it throughout the year. I have gone back and fixed things that I discovered worked better as I was using the slides and now I am ready to share with everyone!

Each week follows the same routine.

Monday - Introduce SEL Focus

• ask the same three questions: what does it look like, sound like, and feel like?
• show a short video to introduce the topic

Tuesday - Read Aloud

• I tried to include 2 different books to choose from for each SEL focus
• I also tried to include a link to a video of the book being read aloud if possible

Wednesday - Activity

• the activities that were planned for Wednesdays tend to be more hands-on or independent activities that allow the student to explore the SEL focus

Thursday - Let's Chat

• one slide has a quote that students should think about the meaning of and how it relates to the SEL focus for the week
• one slide has a what would you do scenario for students to think about and discuss with a partner or whole group

Friday - Fun Activity

• this day is a little different each week depending on the topic, it may be a whole class or small group activity or it will sometimes be another independent task

Check out the entire Kindness Slides here!

Check out the SEL tab on my blog to see all of the slides.

Social Emotional Learning Topics Included:

• Awareness
• Choices
• Circle of Control
• Consequences
• Diversity
• Empathy
• Express Yourself
• Flexibility
• Friendship
• Goals
• Gratitude
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Kindness
• Listening
• Mindfulness
• Organization
• Patience
• Perseverance
• Power of Yet
• Respect
• Safety
• Self-Advocacy
• Self-Controls
• Sportsmanship
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Values
• Work Ethic
• Zen