I love this time of year! You can’t walk through Target without seeing kids picking out backpacks and carts loaded with school supplies. I catch myself browsing the aisles, smiling at their excitement. There’s just something about a new year. A fresh start. The endless possibilities. To make your back to school season a little easier, I’ve put together a few freebies, favorite products, and a bonus sale too.
First up, I consider my newsletters a back to school must have. Parent communication is so important, but your weekly (or monthly) letters don’t have to take you a lot of time. I like that mine are quick, easy to edit, and still cute so they look like you spent a lot of time on them. 😉 They look great in color or printed in black/white on colored paper. Easy as that and a ton of different themes to choose from!
Next up, back to school freebies! I made coordinating welcome postcards, contact cards, and birthday cards. I’m all about making things match and like that these work for boys or girls. I put my contact cards on magnets so they can easily be stuck up on the refrigerator.
My Big Kid Units are another must have for me. I use them for thematic fun that my third graders are still into while also integrating across the content areas. I check off reading, writing, math, science, and social studies standards while the students think we’re “just” having fun. 😉 I’m sneaky like that. I recently bundled my fall favorites so it’s equivalent to getting one FREE when you buy the bundle. That’s before the sale price, so it’s an extra great deal right now.
Finally, here’s another freebie for you. I mixed up our 100% work club last year with my Top Pop Stars board. Students who complete all of their assignments for the week get to roll the dice for a reward on Friday. I found it to be a great motivator for them and visual for me about how our assignments were coming along. Students who missed an assignment had to remove their tab for the week. You can read all about it on my previous blog post or just grab the reward card freebies here.
You can start shopping early in my store with 20% off everything on Sunday. The official sale will be Monday and Tuesday where you can save an extra 8% using coupon code BTS14.
If you need ideas for more great resources for upper elementary, check out my teacher friends:
I am totally in LOVE with your Top Pop Stars BB. I might just have to find a place for one of these in my classroom.