Becoming Lifelong Learners LLC

This week has been dragging. Assessments galore. Report cards are due. Halloween craziness. So I thought I’d spread a little love to my two teams today to help them survive the craziness.

If you’re looking for a little pick me up for your team, I picked up the flair pens, bags, and chocolates at Target. It’s a quick and easy way to brighten their day. 💕

Looking for a fun way to keep your kiddos engaged with reading this month? I found these witch fingers at Target for $1 a pack. We’re using our “magic witch fingers” this week and next week to touch each word as we read instead of our “magic reading fingers” and the kids are absolutely loving it.

“Mis estudiantes will change the world!”

It’s been an interesting start to the year with a lot of changes at the school, but our kinder babies are reading and writing in both languages little by little.

Remember that every little thing you do is working towards helping your students become lifelong learners and change makers. It may not always seem like it, but you are making a huge difference in their lives and impacting the future every single day.

Pocket Chart Stand Teacher Hack

I didn't have a pocket chart stand in my new kindergarten classroom and when I looked for one to buy, they were $60 or more 😳

Well, Ikea has a rolling clothes drying rack for $13. It looks and works the same exact way as a regular pocket chart stand and doesn't break the bank. Make sure you get the one with wheels though so you can easily move it around your classroom.

It has been such a whirlwind back to school week and a half. I’m loving my new class though and being back in kindergarten.

Here are some of the anchor charts I used to help build classroom community and safety expectations this year. The first one goes with Shannon Olsen’s book Our Class is a Family which is my absolute favorite. The second goes with You’re Finally Here! which gets the kids laughing every time. I used the last one after reviewing how we could be safe and healthy at school this year and reading my If You Give a Mouse a Mask book on TPT.

Teacher hack - if you laminate the charts after you create them, then you can use sticky notes to add student ideas and reuse the chart from year to year.

Read alouds are life savers the first two weeks back to school. They help with building classroom community, teach valuable lessons we want our students to learn, and help with social emotional learning.

These are a few of my back to school favorites. Do you have any other fun back to school read aloud suggestions?

Time is running out on the TPT back to school bonus sale. Can’t decide what you’d like to get? Check out some of my favorites.

Don’t forget to use code BTSBONUS21 to get 25% off my entire TPT store today and tomorrow.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Becoming-Lifelong-Learners-Aschlyee-Braswell

Tell me you’re a teacher without telling me you’re a teacher.

Has anybody else had a date with their lamination machine this back to school season?

I’m so blessed to have spent the day with my family at the happiest place on Earth. A little Disney magic is always fun.

Being here made me think about how important it is this year to help our kids find the magic in learning. Why does Disneyland inspire so much joy? We’re captivated by the stories, the characters, the laughs, the tears, and the fun. How can we bring that into our classrooms?

Think of ways to help make your classrooms happy and safe spaces this school year whether it’s through fun read alouds, making crafts or art projects with your kids, theme days, singing songs, being silly with your kids, and doing your best to make each day engaging and fun. If Disney found a way to make a mouse magical, then we can definitely find ways to make our classrooms magical this year.

I just finished creating some color word posters that use real life pictures/photos. I know the clipart is cute (I’m kind of a ), but sometimes it’s nice to have the real photographs to show your kiddos too. (Don’t worry, I’ll be making a clipart version soon.)

I made the set in English, Spanish, and also created a bilingual version that includes both the English and Spanish on the same page. Glance through the pictures to get a sneak peek at the set.

The colors included are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, pink, black, white, and gray/grey (choose your gray spelling of choice). For Spanish, the colors are rojo, anaranjado, amarillo, verde, azul, morado, café/marrón (choose your preferred wording for brown), rosado, negro, blanco, y gris.

I hope these help make your back to school decorating a little easier. Link to my TPT store in my bio.

I love how Liz is using my If You Give a Mouse a Mask resources to have a safe and engaging first day back at school tomorrow!