Back to School Shopping

So my school doesn't start until August 21st, and teachers go back around August 17th, but I am still thinking about going back to school! I've even started doing some back to school shopping, even though I really don't need much this year. I'm really excited for that. :-) I was moved to a new grade level and a new classroom last year, so I decided on a theme last year and I'm going to stick with it again this year. Regardless, I can always spend money on my classroom, so I've bought a few things this summer that I'm excited about, and thought I'd share them with you!

My first stop was Meijer. While I actually stopped there for dog treats, I came across these cute butterfly placemats for $1 each and couldn't pass them up! I thought I could use them for placemats during math games so the dice wouldn't make such a loud noise on the tables. Or maybe as some sort of wall decoration. I haven't decided yet, but aren't they cute?

Then I went to the dollar store. I was inspired by another blogger who mentioned that they went to the dollar store and found those foam counting blocks. She mentioned using them as dice, or for word work, and I thought it was a great idea! So I bought 4 packs, just in case.

I also bought some subtraction reproducibles, which are subtraction worksheets (for homework) that are black and white. I just wish they had addition! (I'll just have to try another Dollar Tree!) I loved the giant money too- I can definitely use that in first grade!


This is a page from the reproducibles packet. Though it's supposed to be about subtraction, there were also a few pages about money and fractions!


Blue striped paper and green polka dotted paper. I haven't decided how I will use these yet, but I have a few ideas in my head! Possibly as backgrounds for student work or something?



Butterfly cutouts- I will use these to make number puzzles. For example, I can write a the number, then different ways to represent that number (tally marks, number sentences, etc...) and the kids can put the puzzles together. I have flowers at school that I can use for this too!



I took a class this summer that was all about parent engagement and involvement, specifically in literacy. We had to write an "Action Plan", and mine involved inviting parents in for Morning Meeting. I thought I could use these as the invitations for the students to write their note to their parents on.



I bought these 2 items at Hobby Lobby. The butterfly is a corkboard which goes with my "garden" classroom theme. The pink box is a toolbox.


You never know when you'll need tools in 1st grade! Seriously, my classroom has the worst placed, world's smallest bulletin boards ever. So I took a tablecloth and hung it on the wall and made my own! However, it is really difficult to hang stuff in the drywall, so I wanted a hammer to make it easier to hammer the tacks holding up my calendar pieces into the wall. The pink makes my eyes bleed a bit, but it was really cheap so I guess I'll put up with the pink.



The last thing I've bought for my classroom this year are these labels for my books. They are from VistaPrint, when they had 140 free labels in June. They are so cute! I'm just waiting for VistaPrint to have another sale like this so I can get some more!

I wanted to get matching postcards to send to my students at the beginning of the year, but you can only buy a minimum of 100. Since I have no more than 20 kids, that's 5 years of postcards- and there is no guarantee I will be in 1st grade for 5 years! I considered just putting "A Note from your Teacher" or "Welcome to Ms. B's class" on them instead. If I put "A Note from your Teacher", I could use them for positive postcards as well as welcome postcards. I am waiting for a sale on those too, so I guess I have a while to think about it!


So that's my shopping so far this year! Not very exciting, but it's still early! What have you purchased for the new school year?


Thanks for reading!


Erica