Alright, it’s mid-July! I know you are thinking about back to school time. You can’t go shopping without seeing school supplies on sale or displays of new shoes and clothing, and I know you are getting excited.
It’s a fun time of year, isn’t it? But… it’s also stressful. You have ten tons to do in getting your classroom set up and your family ready to get back in school mode.
So, let me help! I have some amazing resources for the first month of school that are already completed for you. Time-savers!
Motivational Posters
This poster set is, by far, my favorite of all my sets- and I have a ton of them. The watercolor backgrounds are gorgeous and print so nicely. I decorated the posters with cactus or succulents and found some amazing encouraging quotes. (By the way, there are 2 posters with pineapple decor and one with donuts. Because…donuts)
There are 30 posters in the set! There are ten quotes from women, 10 from men, and ten that are unknown. Add a few of these to a bulletin board with a welcoming title and change the posters out each month.
For more motivational poster sets try this post: Amazing Ways to Use Quotes Posters
Nonfiction Booklets for the Entire Year
This resource is also amazing. When I taught third grade we started making these booklets in August. Students used old textbooks, magazines, and web searches to find samples of nonfiction text features. We cut them out and glued them to each page of our booklets. We clipped these into folders with a title page and then used the folder all year long.
So, how did we use the booklet? When our weekly news magazine arrived I would go through and label all the text features with alphabet letters. Then students would label their copies by looking at my projected magazine. Next, they would use their text features booklet to find the name of every feature in the magazine. Wow, hands-on discovery and it doesn’t take long for them to begin to recognize the features without using the booklets.
Back to School Escape Room
This is such a great ice-breaker, community builder, and fun way to ease into the new year. And, bonus- it includes a STEM Challenge that you will love so much.
In this Escape Room, students match words to categories and then unscramble a message for the first lock code. For the second task, students complete a math puzzler to open the locked box. For the last task, they use a secret code to decipher a message that will lead them to the lock numbers.
My students love every Escape Room we have tried. This one was created with you in mind- there is not a huge amount of prep! There are papers to print for each task, boxes to add labels to, and one of the pages you print needs to be cut apart for the students to use. There are optional items you can also print if you choose to. I made sure this one was low prep because you have enough to do as school begins! Now, for the STEM Challenge part! (This is included in the Escape Room or you can grab it separately- for FREE!)
The Perfect BTS STEM Challenge
I love this STEM Challenge so much! We have used it for several years. It’s really very simple. Students choose the materials they will need from the array you set up. They are designing a scene to represent one of your classroom rules.
But, the best part is the sharing time. Each team will share its rule model and teach the rule to the rest of the class. What a fun way to learn your classroom expectations! (And, did I mention, this challenge is free? Just click the image.)
Print and Read
Need something quick and easy to set up? A quick center idea? Something for a sub day right as school begins (it happens)? I have you covered in two ways!
This Back to School Print and Read set is perfect. There are four reading passages at two levels and these are suitable for third to fifth grade. Each has basic comprehension questions and text features are prominent. Answer keys for you, of course!
Print and Solve
Next up, I have back to school math worksheets for upper elementary grades. These are perfect for setting up math groups, or something for students to do while you are working with small groups. I also like to use worksheets as I am testing students at the beginning of the year to decide which groups they will benefit the most from.
This resource also has 2 games students can play by rolling number cubes and it has a math jot-it-down (doodle) note page. SO much fun and ready for you to print!
Newsletters for the Whole Year
I love sending home a weekly newsletter! How about you? Let me get you started with editable templates that are already made for you. You just type in your information, print, and send home. Or here’s an idea- attach this to your email that you send home and parents will receive the newsletter in color- (without you printing it out!)
Best of all, if you are new to editing or just need some extra help, the resource includes links to a video you can watch featuring my southern accent!
I know I can save you some time, friends. Grab one of these resources and have a great start to your year!
