Back to School Classroom Stuff & Where to Find It

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Well, it's that time of year again, and I thought I might help out by sharing some classroom storage and decor items and where you can actually get them.

First off here is what I use to house my student mailbox and extra supplies: I set the first shelf lower so that my mailbox would fit. The other two shelves house my extra supplies which are in plastic shoe boxes and large clear, see through plastic containers.

This is a baker's rack that I purchased 12 years ago.  You can get one at Target for $59.99.  It might seem like a lot of money, but it is very durable and should last a long time.

You can purchase plastic shoe boxes at the Dollar Tree for $1 each ~ not a bad price!

Walmart has the larger storage boxes that come 4 to a set for $17.88

The next items I want to show you are for center storage. I am going to use the multi-color tall one for math centers and the other blue one with baskets and hanging pockets for my Daily 5 Stations.

You can get a similar one at Walmart for $50.04 online.  I purchased mine at Big Lots last year, but doesn't look like they are carrying them this year. 

This Hone Can-Do All-purpose Teacher Caddy came from Staples online.  I got a great deal. They had it on sale for $59.99, regular price $199.99.  Just checked, and it is back to regular price :(  Target has it for $114..39, though.

I just ordered these matching magazine holders and baskets from Really Good Stuff for my Guided Reading groups!

The magazine boxes were $18.99 for a set of 4 and the baskets were the same price for a set of 4. You can get a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $50 or more if you sign up using your email.

Well that's all for now.  I hope you picked up a few ideas for your classroom this year. Check back soon to see some ideas for storage and decor in your classroom library!

Happy Back to School!

Teacher's Notebook Back to School Sale!

Teacher's Notebook is having their annual BTS Sale on August 9th and 10th.  My entire store will be 20% off , and in addition, Teacher's Notebook is taking a total of 10% off your entire purchase for a total of 28% off! Head on over to my store and browse around, check your wish list, or add to it.

Back to School Tip, Blog Hop, Freebie, & Giveaway!

That's right. It's back to school time again!  Where did the summer go?  I just got back from vacation at the coast.....

 

What am I going to do the first week of school?  Well, one of the most important things to do is to create a classroom community, a sense of "togetherness", and one way to do that is with "getting to know you" activities. 

TIP:
One great activity you can do with your kiddos is have them interview someone else in the classroom, and then write an article about them.  One year we had students make people out of construction paper to look like the person they interviewed. We had them paste the written interview on the "body", then we attached a head, arms, and legs.  We even had them use "google eyes" (Kids love google eyes)!

In order to guide your students through the interviewing process, I have created the following freebie just in time for Back to School!

 

Click the pic above for your very own copy from my TpT store!

This freebie includes suggested interview questions, a paper to write the questions on , and a "final copy" paper that they can write their article on. Students can use the final copy page instead of notebook paper to glue on the body of the person they are writing the paper about. 

And now for the BLOG HOP!!!!

My friend, Laurah The ESOL Odyssey is hosting this blog hop, and I have donated an item that usually corresponds with what is taught in the first month in math: Place Value!!! It's one of my top sellers and it is in a cute safari theme.

You can check it out more in detail at my TpT store by clicking on the pic above.

Blog Hop and Giveaway runs August 12th-17th .

Grand Prize ($122 value)

• Pencil Sharpener in color of your choice from Classroom Friendly Supplies
• Your choice of $25 in products from Tools for Teachers by Laurah J OR A blog design
• 10 units donated by Awesome TpT Teacher-Author-Bloggers (see list below)

2nd Prize ($88 value)

• Your choice of $25 in products from Tools for Teachers by Laurah J
• 10 donated by Awesome TpT Teacher-Author-Bloggers (see list below)

Items donated by participating Teacher-Author-Bloggers:

Elements of Fiction Posters

First Week Back to School Classroom Essentials Bundle

Write with Me Journal (Common Core Aligned)

Latin Greek Vocabulary Through the Year, Set 1

Getting to Know You- A Back to School Math Game for your Class

Place Value Safari

Back to School Icebreaker Pack

Ten Real Life Applicable Area and Perimeter Cards 

Back to school and end of year foldables

Common Core Writing and Editing Checklists

Click on the Back to School Blog Hop and Giveaway pic below to visit The ESOL Odyssy!

Good luck!

Do Your Kiddos Know Their Parts of Speech?

Every year I am amazed at how many of my students do not know what a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb is.  I know when I was in school this stuff was pounded into our heads. I also remember taking sentences apart and diagramming them, labeling each part.  It sometimes seems that we are so caught up with "higher order thinking" that we forget the basics.

I know memorization and recognition might be on the bottom of the Blooms Taxonomy Scale, but we as educators cannot ignore the importance of these basic components of a sentence. I also know that it seems like we have so much to teach and so little time.

A suggestion.... quiz your students on Parts of Speech whenever you have a few minutes such as lining up for lunch or recess, or before leaving for the day.  Kids often see this as a "game" and don't even know they are learning.

And to assist you, I have created a set of Parts of Speech Posters that you can put up in your room.  One teacher said that she copied several to a page and had her students glue them in their writing journals in the Word Work section.

Click on the picture below to get your free copy from my TpT store: A Series of 3rd Grade Events. Please leave feedback if you feel these posters are helpful.

You can pick up even more great BTS freebies by entering the blog hop at The Teaching Tribune. A $25 GC and a tablet are still up for grabs in the prize category as well!!