Jimmy has 5 cans. Joey has 5 cans. How many cans do they have altogether?
There were 4 kids playing tag. One more kid joined in. How many kids are playing now?
These are the types of word problems I’m used to seeing on my daughter’s kindergarten math homework. I guess it’s the librarian in me, but I find myself wanting a little more from the stories.
Like, I want to know, why do Jimmy and Joey each have five cans? What are they planning to do with these cans?
And that kid that joined in the game? So, how did that happen, exactly?
I got to thinking that these word problems are a bit of a missed opportunity. Instead of an ambiguous story about some random dudes with cans and kids playing tag, what if the stories had just a teeny bit more depth? What if math time could also be a time to teach kids about kindness? Perhaps we could find out that Jimmy and Joey were collecting cans to give to a food pantry! Why couldn’t we find out that the four kids who were playing tag saw a new student sitting alone, introduced themselves, and invited him to play?!
Enter KIND-ergarten Math
I decided this type of math resource should exist, so last week I sat down and started making what I call “KIND-ergarten Math” resources for my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I wanted to create math worksheets that would allow teachers to weave some character education conversations into their math lessons. Each of my “KIND-ergarten Math” worksheets has word problems that do tell a little bit more of the story, giving the teachers the opportunity to take a few minutes to talk to their students about kindness.
So now, those flowers we’re adding up are a gift for Grandma. The crayons we add are crayons we are helping to pick up when a classmate dropped them. The shirts we are counting are for a clothing drive.
So far, I have two of these resources in my store – a KIND-ergarten Math Free Sample and KIND-ergarten Math for Springtime. (Update 04/07/18: I just added another KIND-ergarten Math Resource – KIND-ergarten Math: Subtraction! Feel free to check it out!) I am so excited to think about all the positive conversations that can accompany these assignments. I can imagine all the awesome things that amazing teachers will do with these, and I’m totally pumped to make more of these resources.
Grab a copy of my KIND-ergarten Math freebie!
To my librarian friends, don’t worry – I do have several library resources in the works, too! But I’m hoping that by developing new types of resources, I can reach out to a whole new group of students and play a little role in their education as well.
And as a celebration of my new resources, EVERYTHING in my Teachers Pay Teachers store is 15% off from now until Monday, March 19, 2018.
Happy New Year, everyone! If two of your New Year’s resolutions for 2018 are to save money and to treat your students to brand new resources in your school library, you definitely found the right place to start!
I wrote a post a few months ago with links to over 40 free downloads from Teachers Pay Teachers that can be used in the school library, and so far, it’s been the most visited post on my blog. I have been digging up more awesome free Teachers Pay Teachers products lately, and since we’re now almost halfway through the school year, I figured you guys might be ready for another list of fabulous freebies!
I tend to get a little enthusiastic when I go on my free download sprees…I apologize in advance if I seem a bit giddy. (But…ALL THIS STUFF IS FREE! FREE! FREE! IT COSTS NO MONEY!)
Are you ready to shop til you drop? (Or, in this case, point and click a lot of times?)
Parts of a Book / Text Features
This awesome product by Wife Teacher Mommy will help you teach your students about text features! It includes a great Venn diagram that will help kids understand the similarities and differences between a table of contents and an index!
I downloaded this freebie by Anderson Academics for my students when we were reviewing using a glossary. It includes a nonfiction article about bats complete with a little cute mini glossary, so it gave my students good practice working with an informational text and referring to the glossary as needed. Love it!
Genres
Here is a cute freebie by inourlibrary that you can use to help your students understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction!
SPO Resources designed a gorgeous poster and coloring page that will help you teach your students about the fairy tale genre!
And here is a free and wonderful set of genre posters by Kristina Civali!
Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you.
Reference Books
When it’s time to introduce different books in the reference section of your library, save time by using this already-made PowerPoint presentation by Jessi Olmsted!
And try this resource by Oak Roots and Arrows! It includes signs that explain each type of reference book!
Download this free worksheet by The Introvert Teacher to give your kids some practice with their dictionary skills!
And for more dictionary practice, how about a free dictionary packet by Nolan Resources?!
Using a Card Catalog
Check out this product by The LibraryFox that will give your kids a chance to practice using their online card catalog!
And to give your students more practice with the card catalog, here’s a freebie by Library Princess!
Poetry
Get your school involved in Poem in Your Pocket Day with this free resource by More Than a Worksheet!
Library Decor
Is it time to add something new to those library walls? Just download, print, and hang these Dewey Decimal signs by Little Library of Learning!
Extension Activities Designed for Specific Picture Books
If you read How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky with your students, download this free resource by The Library Patch!
This resource by Trina Deboree Teaching and Learning includes some terrific ideas and activities to go with Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems!
This cute booklet by Staying Cool in the Library goes with the popular picture book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman!
This sequencing activity by Little Miss Librarian is designed to be used with another great library read aloud: Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss!
This awesome freebie by Kathy Goosev Howell will knock your socks off! It has activities to go with not one, not two, not three, but SEVENTEEN picture books. Definitely something for everyone in this free product!
Seasonal/Holiday Activities
For Groundhog Day, your students can color these free bookmarks by Let’s Learn S’more!
Thanks to Sweetest Seconds in a Day, your students can practice their ABC order with this cute Valentine’s Day themed product!
This Valentine’s Day resource (by me!) will help your students practice differentiating between a fiction call number and a nonfiction call number!
Cover images by Krista Wallden and Kim’s Creations
And ATBOT the Book Bug has some really fun St. Patrick’s Day bookmarks!
The unCommon Library has created a fun, free, fall-themed game for your library students to play – The Dewey Dash!
Little Library Learners’ pack of Thanksgiving-themed library resources is so cute! I didn’t discover this product until after Thanksgiving, but I will definitely have it on hand for next year!
Fun Stuff
And here are some superhero-themed bookmarks by A Sunny Day in First Grade for your students to decorate!
This product by Lake Loon Learning Resources consists of little signs that say things like, “Pick me! Pick me!” and “Read me. I’m great!” You can print them out and stick them next to books on your library shelf to get kids interested in them! Such a creative and fun idea!
And here we have a library-themed song by Debbie Clement – complete with the audio file and the lyrics! So cute!
I hope your library bag o’ tricks is overflowing with new stuff! 🙂
And next time that bag needs a little more replenishing, don’t forget to visit my store, and the Teachers Pay Teachers stores of all the other teacher-authors featured today, to stock up!
**Thank you so much to the Teachers Pay Teachers teacher-authors who gave me permission to include their free resources in this post! For more freebies, check out my other post about Freebies for your School Library, and don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss the next one!**
Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you.
Hi there! As we approach Thanksgiving (what?! just two more weeks?!?!), my list of things to be thankful for is even longer this year because I am so grateful for everyone who has visited my TpT store or my blog.
That includes you! 🙂
Blogging and TpTing are still new for me, but so far so great. I really enjoy writing these posts, creating teaching resources, and meeting new people along the way. It’s so surreal to check the stats and find out that people around the world have clicked over to check out this very blog!
Here’s an itty bitty token of my appreciation – a free teaching resource! I’m working on parts of a book with one of my library classes, so I made a Thanksgiving-themed printable worksheet about using an index.
Go ahead and grab a copy by clicking here!
I’m also sharing the gratitude love over at my Teachers Pay Teachers store by having a 15% off sale from now until November 12th. Feel free to check it out!
May God bless you and your family this Thanksgiving (and always)! 🙂
Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you.
(UPDATE 07/13/24: I noticed that over the years since I originally wrote this post, some of the products I listed in this blog post have switched from FREE products to resources that cost money.😒 Well, I’ve finally gotten around to replacing those resources with newer resources THAT ARE ACTUALLY STILL FREE!😊 So, as of this update, everything linked in this post is really, truly, a free resource! If you first saw this post years ago, there might be some new goodies for you…so check it out!)
My last post was about my #1 suggestion for the new school year, which is to join Teachers Pay Teachers. I talked about my decision to become a buyer (and soon afterward, a seller!) during the last year, and how thrilled I am to be able to get awesome resources for my students for cheap – or often, free!
No matter what you teach, there are most likely a ton of freebies available on Teachers Pay Teachers that will be useful to you. But I’m a library girl, so today I am going to bring you on a little shopping spree to get some cool FREE products that you can use if you are a school librarian (or a library/media specialist, library teacher, teacher-librarian, library superhero rock star diva, or whatever you call yourself these days.) 🙂
YOU DON’T NEED ANY MONEY FOR THIS SHOPPING SPREE! If you want to download any of this fabulous free-ness, you just need an account on Teachers Pay Teachers (and joining, is, of course, also free). I have organized this freebie-for-all into different library-related subjects to make your shopping trip free AND easy!
Let’s grab our imaginary reusable shopping bags and go! (Get ready for a LOT of exclamation points! But really, who isn’t excited about a freebie shopping spree?!?!?!)
Parts of a Book/Text Features
Let’s start with a free Bingo activity by The LibraryFox to review text features!
Why not turn identifying text features into a scavenger hunt? Download iHeartLiteracy’s free product to get it started!
Here is a printable poster by Create-Abilities you can display or distribute to remind your kids about everything they have learned about text features!
Library Behavior & Etiquette
You can display these free signs by Leah the Librarian to remind your kids about how to behave in the library!
Ooh ooh! This one’s mine! 🙂 Print out these free worksheets (by me!) to reinforce your lessons on library behavior and etiquette at the beginning of the school year (or any time the kiddos need a refresher!).
Reference Materials
When your students are learning about reference materials, try this ABC Research resource by The Library Patch!
And Sunny Side of Reading’s Hunting for Information is another cute resource that your kids can use to practice using books from the reference section!
Taking Care of Books
This resource by Phyllis Haley has several great ideas and printables that you can use when you teach your students about how to care for their library books!
Here is a simple printable by Night Owl Librarian that you can use with your primary students during back-to-school in your library!
And Staying Cool in the Library’s adorable book care product includes a coloring page and bookmarks to reinforce your lessons on book care! (I literally just used this product with my new kindergarteners earlier this week!) 🙂
Dewey Decimal System
These cute bookmarks by Staying Cool in the Library can help your students learn the categories of the Dewey Decimal System!
Using Call Numbers
This free resource by Summer Pittman gets students up and moving around the library by asking them to locate books with different call numbers!
Photo by Molly Coulter
Book Fair
Download, print, and display this free banner, designed by ATBOT the Book Bug, OR this free banner, designed by Bright Steps, to advertise your Book Fair!
This is a cute little freebie by the Artsy Techy to help book fair shoppers identify teacher requests at your Book Fair!
Support your colleagues who teach math by making your Book Fair into a math lesson! Try the Trapped Librarian’s Book Fair Math product!
Genres
Please try my Genre Easter Egg Hunt as a fun activity to reinforce the characteristics of several genres!
Coding
Need some suggestions on how to introduce coding to your library students? Download this free resource by the Trapped Librarian that includes ideas for Hour of Code!
Bookmarks
Here are some beautiful fall-themed bookmarks by Social Studies Spotlight that you can print for your students!
And some bookmarks especially for the 100th day of school by Library Learners!
This winter, you can make your kids laugh as they decorate these joke bookmarks created by LittleRed!
When it’s springtime, how about some Peeps bookmarks? Here are Elementary Library Mama’s Peeps bookmarks to color!
And…for any time of the year…some cute animal bookmarks by Mrs. Molly’s Menagerie!
End of the School Year
Do you remember that process-and-a-half of getting all the books back to the library at the end of the school year? Here are some free award certificates by Elementary Library Mama that will be great incentives for your kids!
When book checkout is over for the year, but you need a few activities to get your littlest library students through the last class or two, try these activities (in this resource by…me!).
And if you are looking for a fun way to encourage your library students to keep reading over the summer, just download Summer Reading Bingo by Primary Playground!
Library Decor
Now, here we have a set of reading-themed posters by My First Grade Gems!
And here is a resource by Loquacious Learning that includes gorgeous pictures of famous children’s book characters that you can use to decorate your library space!
Clip Art
More of a DIY-er, are ya? If you want to make your own educational resources for your school library, TpT has you covered there too.
Here is some book clip art by Elementary Lesson Plans!
And here is a set of free clip art from DarraKadisha that includes books and other school supplies!
The next freebie is from Optimistic Kids and Families Art, and as the artist says in her description of the resource, they are, in fact, “free bees.” (Bee clip art, of course! And one of them is reading – perfect for library resources! A cute product and a cute pun.) 🙂
Here is some free clip art by Kari Bolt Clip Art that would be perfect for your library newsletters, signs, and other creations!
And let’s end with some adorable reading owl clip art by Clipartino!
And There is So Much More!
We could seriously chow down on this all-you-can-eat buffet of free stuff all day. My list is just a little sample of all the great resources that are available on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I hope our free spree today got you set up with a bunch of printables and other freebies that will help you throughout this new school year!
(UPDATE 07/13/24: If you loved these freebies, check out four more recent posts with lists to MORE free products for your school library: here, here, here, and here!)
*A huge “thank you!” to the Teachers Pay Teachers teacher-authors who gave me permission to include their resources in this list!*
Disclosure: The banner below is an affiliate link. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support of my blog!
Jimmy has 5 cans. Joey has 5 cans. How many cans do they have altogether?
