Back to School!

It is time for our Back To School!

 Great first day activity to get children talking and interacting!

 

School Compound Word Puzzle Match Set using All School Words 

Here are 30 self-checking puzzle matches of compound words that can be used with the whole class, small groups or in centers. These are words that are used in the classroom!

The instruction page has several games to play using these pieces. For example, give each child a puzzle piece, making sure that another child has the matching piece. The students then scramble to find their match.

 

It can easily be adapted for the littlest learner by only using the simplest word concepts introduced. Plus little ones will use the pictures, while the

older student will read the words.
 Print, laminate, cut apart, and use year after year!

 

 A new product that I have added to my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store

 

Apples and Baskets Number and Ten Frames Matching

What a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of apples and baskets!
There is a set in color and a set in black and white for less ink use. Plus the black and white lined set can be run on colored paper to add more creativity to the activity!

Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Glue and scissors are required if using them for worksheets! Great center or group activity too!
 Download Preview in my store to see the complete activity.

 

 

 

As a way to promote, share my educational activities and get my products in the hands of people that need them, I have been marketing with several other educators in exhibits at educational and homeschool conferences!

I am always delighted when I see and hear that something I created,

made a difference for a child!
We need your help! As back to school begins, help us get the word out about TeacherspayTeachers, so educators are able to work smarter and not harder! Teaching is stressful enough, without having to reinvent the wheel for every learning skill!

 

Best Year Ever

If you teach in a classroom, homeschool, preschool, daycare, afterschool, roadschool, worldschool or are a parent, grandparent or sitter and need fun educational activities and products for children. you need TeachersPayTeachers!

Visit my

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart TpT Store.

I have a wide variety of activities for all subject areas,

plus decor for your educational settings!

Click on the drop down menu and go to "Most Recent" to see the new products I've added.

 

This makes me smile!

I realize this poster doesn't include the homeschoolers or roadschoolers,

but it is very real for

PreK, first grade, second grade, third........ 

 

I just uploaded a new

Tiny Book of Numbers

which is becoming a popular line of activities in my store!

Click on Tiny Books in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES to find others, 

plus I will be adding many more!

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 Directions: Run the three booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The ten little number examples can be run colored or blackline.

Activity: Pass the three pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the short dotted line and again in half on the long dotted line. Place the three folded pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet numbers and ten frames can be traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass the set of ten little pictures to each student. They cut the ten pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct number page.

Other ways this can be used is to laminate, cut the pages apart, put Velcro on the number boxes and the little picture cards so that children can match the number of objects to the correct pictures or set it up on a magnetic board.

 

Tip: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases by leaving feedback on Paid products!

 To do this, go to your My Purchases page, you may need to login to TpT. Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product.

I truly appreciate your feedback!  



Planning For Next Year.....Already!

Is it too early to start thinking about educating little learners for next year?

No!     Yes!    No!    Yes!    No!    Depends.....

It is never too early to start thinking about getting ready for the next group of littles, 

but I may not be ready to act on it yet. It varies from year to year. 

Sometimes I just need a break. 

Other times I am ready to jump right in creating new activities and products! 

Jumping in now!

I have created a fun product to welcome each student.

Hello and Welcome Animal Rhyme Cards & Posters, Farm, Zoo, Jungle & Wild Animals

 What an exciting and fun way to have the children enter or lineup each day!

There are 3 poster pages, 22 card pages with two animal welcomes on each sheet for 44 sentences, 4 welcome sentences without animals, the title page and a page of directions.

Assembly: Print the pages out on the front side only. The thicker the paper, the more durable they will be. Laminate if desired.

Poster: The poster has three parts, simply line them up together. The page with the top line is at the top and the page with the bottom line goes at the bottom. Notice the middle section does not have a top or bottom line. They can be stapled or taped together. You can also not use the middle section and just put the top and bottom together. 

You will need to trim a little off the posters to have the border match exactly right.

Cards: There are 44 welcoming animal cards with words and pictures. There are two animal card sentences to each sheet. These can be cut apart into two separate cards or simply keep them together.

The name of the animal is on each card with a rhyming word of welcome or movement. I have also used the color words red, yellow, green, blue, purple, orange, black, brown, gray, tan and white in some sentences.

Activity: When introducing the activity at the beginning of the year show the children the cards and explain what each animal is. Read the sentences and discuss the meanings of the different words.

 

You decide or decide together what movement or motion is to go with each card. For example, “You rock, peacock.” could be a fist bump as they come in the door. “High ten, brown wren.” could be two high fives with both hands. Part of the fun is making up and creating an action that goes with each animal!

As the little learners practice the different cards and sayings they will be able to read them, plus they become a learned memory. They will also be able to pick and choose which animal they might decide to be as they enter each day or lineup and doing their own movement or motion! 

What animal do they feel like today! 

See other jungle or zoo activities and products here:
Zoo, Jungle and Wild Animals Calendar Pieces Make Monthly Patterns
Math Zoo, Jungle or Wild Animal Theme Skip Counting Color or Blackline
Zoo or Jungle Picture Attachments For First Day, 100 Day, & Last Day Of School
10 Little Zoo or Jungle Friends Songs, Number Flashcards and 10 Puppets
Back To School Jungle or Zoo Welcome Banner
Zoo or Jungle Position Word Posters Left, Right, Front and Back
Zoo or Jungle Song And Posters For T-I-G-E-R Was His Name-O
Zoo or Jungle Alligator Bite The Bigger Number Greater and Less
Zoo or Jungle Geometric Elephant 2D Shapes

 

Are you ready to jump in?

Back To School Stress

Feeling overwhelmed with back to school, especially as a first year teacher or a new homeschool educator. Reach out to another staff member or homeschooler for help!
A good peer is always willing to come to the rescue and
help you keep your head above water!

 If you see a teacher or new homeschooling teacher "drowning" in the classroom, maybe you can throw them a few lifeline tips to help them tread the educational water.

Picture Frame Attachments for the First Day, 100th Day, & Last Day Of School!

A popular way to create special memento pictures of each child during the year is to use picture frame attachments! I have a wide variety of themes in my store and I am always making more!

This one is called

School Picture Frame Attachments

There are pieces for the First Day of School (shown), 100th Day of School, and Last Day of School. The quickest way to use this activity to put Velcro on the empty picture frame corners and on the back of the picture attachments. Then just add or change them as needed. There are extra pictures for added decoration. You can use the extra pieces to write your name or grade level to add to the frame! 

 

Decide what size empty picture frame you are going to use. The 8” by 10”, 11” by 14” or 16” by 20” are great sizes for these attachments. The example frame shown is 11” by 14.”

Picture Frame Themes 

Have the child hold the empty frame with the pictures attached, centered in front of their face and smile! You take their picture and they will have a wonderful remembrance keepsake! 

This activity is fun for teachers, parents, homeschools, daycares, preschools, and even roadschoolers!

Tiny Books!

Do you need some activities to make your teaching year successful or have items in your TpT wishlist, that have been sitting there? 

 

Try this new educational activity, Tiny Books!

 

Christine Maxwell Hand to Heart

 

Well, I have added a new search label in my CUSTOM CATEGORIES!

Tiny Books

I have several different topics of booklets listed and I plan on adding many more!

 

Tiny Book of 2D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

This is a quick and easy way to introduce or review shapes. The six shapes included are circle, square, triangle, rectangle, rhombus and hexagon. Simply print, fold, cut and glue.

Directions: Run the two booklet pages, printing on the front side only. The six colored shape examples can be run colored or grayscale. There are three sets to each sheet, but each child only gets one set of six pictures for their booklet.

Activity: Pass the two pages out to each student. They are to fold each sheet in half on the dotted line and again in half on the dotted line. Place the two pages together with the title on the front and The End page last. The booklet then gets stapled or glued together on the left side.

The booklet shapes maybe traced or colored during introduction or review. Pass out the set of six pictures strip to each student. They cut the six pictures apart and glue them in the box on the correct shape page.

 

Tiny Book of Solid Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

Another easy way to introduce or review solid shapes. The six shapes included are sphere, cone, cube, cylinder, pyramid, and rectangle prism. Again simply print, fold, cut and glue.

 

These two booklets can also be found in a money-saving bundle too!

 2 Tiny Books of 2D and 3D Shapes Print, Fold, Cut and Glue.

 

 

There is a money tiny book called

Tiny Book of Money.

 

Here is a simple intro or review of money. The six money pages included are penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar. Plus there is a money poem for each one, to help them remember the amount it is worth!

 

The tiny book of colors which I have talked about in a previous blog post called

Tiny Book of Colors.

In this activity are the colors; red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, brown, black, white, and pink.

 

The newest tiny book is  

Tiny Book of Numbers, Counting, Writing and Ten Frames.

 

The quick and easy way to introduce or review numbers. Plus each child will have a great take home and review booklet to keep! Included in this activity are the numbers 1-10.

 

Each of these books can also be cut apart and used in centers, magnetic boards or with Velcro! 

As shown in this picture!

 

 I always like to give my Followers something extra for following my blog and social media! All my media links are included in the blue strip line under the Blog header picture too!

 

So be sure and Follow, you never know when I might post a new freebie to enjoy!



New Activity, Free Back To School Bookmarks, Papers, Papers and More Papers

I love creating educational activities and products for children!

 

Being a former scrapbooker and cardmaker, sometimes I can mix the two ideas.

I have many lovely reams and bundles of papers!

Papers in glorious solid colors, plus beautiful designs, prints and

delightful holiday patterns!

 

When I created my newest activity

Fall Pumpkins and Leaves Number Matching Color or Black & White

which is 50% off for 48 more hours,

I was thinking about all those different papers and decided to have some fun with them!

 This activity is a great way to practice number matching with a fall theme of pumpkins and leaves! Just laminate and use over and over every year!

 Introduce or review the concepts of number matching. This activity can be used, even if only a few number concepts have been introduced. Then add the other pieces as they are learned.

Great center or group activity too! Download Preview to see the complete activity.

 

The product can be printed in color

or black and white to save on ink!

I printed the black and white set on bright colored cardstock.

I also ran them on some printed design papers just for fun! 

I love the extra touch added to the activity!

Cute, cute, cute!

I found you need to be careful about the design or printed papers,

some children will be too distracted by the print, while others will learn to

focus on the activity and tune out the designs.

 

I have a new FREEBIE that I am sharing for Back To School.

Free Back to School Bookmarks.

Color, black and white or shades of gray to color.

Make every child feel special !

Enjoy!

 



Back to School EBooks Are Full of Free Activities!

Welcome back to school!

The teacher-authors of TpT want to wish you the very best as you enter this new school year.

 

You can view eBooks for other subjects and other grades PreK-12 through the links in the description of this book!

 In this eBook, 50 PreK and Kindergarten teachers have offered their best tips and freebies for your consideration. We hope that you will find inspiration as you read these pages as well as fantastic teaching lessons and materials that you and your students will love.

PreK-K EBook

Please note: Each page of the eBook features one freebie, a back to school teaching tip, and some have links to a paid item as well.

 

These activities are great for homeschools, daycares, preschools, roadschools, after school programs, also parents and grandparents!

Have a great school year!