Hi friends! I hope you are all doing all right during this crazy time. My school was among many that shut down suddenly and unexpectedly on the 13th of March, for a minimum of three weeks, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, so, like many of you, I’m getting used to a new way of living.
Now, two days before the 13th, aka a million years ago, on Wednesday, March 11th, I was all super excited because my Teachers Pay Teachers store had reached 500 followers. I was planning a little celebration involving a new freebie, a sale, and maybe even a dance party, wahoo! That Wednesday, ideas bopped around happily in the little TpT section of my brain. But by Friday, the TpT part went into a temporary hibernation as I attempted to process the strange, new information that COVID-19 was so serious that my school closed. Oh, and not just mine, but basically all of them, and the entire world. Heh?
So I took a few days to adjust to this new lifestyle, and eventually decided I still want there to be a little celebration in the So Blessed to Be a Teacher world, because celebrations are happy and we all need happy right now. So, I modified my go-forward plan for how to celebrate my 500 followers. Here’s what I came up with.
1. I made the freebie that was bopping around my imagination on March 11. (It turned out cute, if I do say so myself! You can download it here). But it’s a poster to decorate your library, and, well, you probably aren’t there right now. So I decided that when you download it, you guys might feel the level of joy you’d get if you were receiving a free bucket of rock salt in July.
SO
2. I made two MORE little freebies that can be used on Google Classroom. It was my first attempt at designing resources with distance learning in mind. I would love if you could try them out and tell me what you think! (They are available for FREE here and here).
THEN
3. I set up a GIVEAWAY for my 500 Teachers Pay Teachers followers! (Because giveaways are fun no matter what!) One lucky follower of my store will win a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers. If you follow me on TpT, check your Teachers Pay Teachers inbox for the link to enter the giveaway. (Don’t follow me yet but want to start? Click here to start following me on TpT, and then send me an email or use the contact link above to tell me your follower number, and I’ll send you the link to enter! The winner will be chosen at 12 AM Eastern Time on March 27, 2020.) (**UPDATED 03/27/20: Congratulations to Julieann, the giveaway winner! Be sure to follow my Teachers Pay Teachers store so you will hear about sales, new products, and my next GIVEAWAY!)
AND
4. I set everything in my TpT store to go on sale from March 22, 2020 to March 25, 2020. Even though school is closed for now, sales are always fun, and some teachers actually have a little time browse around on TpT, so I figured, why not? In the spirit of my last blog post, I am going to donate 50% of profits during my sale to Save the Children, this time to help out with all the needs that are arising due to COVID-19, so it’s actually a great time to stock up on resources that you can use when we are past this wacky period of time! (**UPDATED 03/27/20: Thanks so much to those who made purchases during my sale! Your purchases made it possible for me to make a donation to Save the Children! Yeah!)
AND FINALLY
5. The dance party is on, but, COVID-19 distance learning style. Right now, wherever you are, bust a move!
May God bless you guys during this strange-but-true time we are living in. Stay well and keep taking it day by day!
Hey guys! Happy 2020! (Well, Happy First So Blessed to Be a Teacher Blog Post of 2020, anyway! I’m a little late on the Happy New Year wishes!)
I try to be realistic(ish) with my New Year’s resolutions, so I did NOT resolve to blog daily. (I know myself better than that!)
But I DID resolve to do something new with my blog this year. So here’s the scoop.
As you can tell by the name of this blog, I feel SO blessed to be a teacher. My work is challenging, fulfilling, and fun. And now, on top of the career I love, through TpT and my blog, I am able to design and share resources with teachers around the world…which is also challenging, fulfilling, and fun!
When I reflect on the abundance of blessings God has given me, I feel like it’s time to give back in a more intentional way this year. So here’s my new plan. Occasionally throughout 2020, I’m going to plan special days in which I donate a percentage of my TpT store proceeds to charity. I’ll let you all know beforehand by writing a blog post the day before and sharing where the money will be going!
I’m starting off this new plan TOMORROW, JANUARY 25, 2020, by donating 50% of my profits from sales that day to Save the Children’s emergency fund in support of the children who were affected by the bushfires in Australia. I’m super excited because, thanks to a #TpTGivesBack initiative, Teachers Pay Teachers is going to match my donation (and the donations of all teacher-authors who participate!) up to a total of $10,000.
So, if you’ve been thinking about checking out my store or have one of my products on your wish list, tomorrow is an awesome time to make a purchase!
Let’s work together to share our blessings and change the world in 2020!
(Disclosure: This blog post contains several affiliate links, and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive compensation at no additional cost to you.)
(Note: This blog post also contains NUMEROUS just-because-I-love-you links to MANY free products on Teachers Pay Teachers, and if you click through and download the free products, nothing particularly exciting happens for me, but you get the FREE TpT resources! Wahoo!)
So…I’m sorry it has been a really, really long time since I’ve published a post. I’ve been, you know, teaching and momming and stuff.
And then, when I didn’t write for awhile, I felt like I needed to prove that I was not a total blog delinquent by making sure my next post was worth the long wait…
…and…here it is! It’s time for another list of FREE PRODUCTS that you can find on TpT and use in your school library. I have over 50 goodies to show you today! (If you’ve missed my other lists of freebies, click here and here to cash in on over 80 other free TpT products available for librarians!)
Here’s a quick and easy and science-y activity that your students can try in your makerspace! Teaching Tidbits and More with Jamie designed this freebie that lets kids experiment with making 3-D shapes out of card stock and seeing which shape is best at holding up books. It’s a great challenge for the library, since you probably have a book or two kicking around! 🙂
And here’s a super fun STEM challenge for the media center – Build a Gingerbread Man Trap by Smart Chick. It would work well with so many gingerbread-themed read aloud books!
Looking for a way to keep track of what’s going on in your makerspace? That Library Media Teacher has created this free product that includes both printable and digital surveys that students can fill out to share what types of activities they explore when they visit the makerspace!
Get your little library learners’ minds ready for coding with this hot dog themed offline coding activity by iGameMom STEM Learning!
And here’s another free activity courtesy of Teaching with Jackie. This one is just spectacular for practicing coding skills without devices. I tried it with my first grade students last year and I could almost see the lightbulbs lighting up above their heads as they started to understand the basic idea of coding!
If you want to take screen-free coding to the next level, you’ve got to try this free resource by Tess the Krafty Teacher. This product will help you get started with using a Code & Go Mouse to teach your students about coding! She also has another awesome freebie that’ll get you going with Bee Bots.
When you’re ready for your students to begin with online coding activities, check out this freebie from Mrs. J in the Library, which will help you get your students started with Scratch and Lightbot!
Kids love the “David” books by David Shannon! This printable activity by Little Miss Librarian helps students to think about proper library procedures by inviting the students to imagine that David takes a trip to the library! Your beginning-of-the-year review of library rules can be so much fun as your kids can imagine good choices and bad choices that David might make at the library!
Using a Card Catalog
Practicing with an online card catalog is a must in the library today. Help your upper elementary students gain proficiency with a card catalog with this free product from That Library Media Teacher. (After all, the better they are at finding stuff in the library, the less you have to find for them!)
And here is another free resource that can help your students as they use the card catalog! That Library Girl has put together a free form that will assist your kiddos by giving them an easy way to record the information they find when they look up a book.
Dewey Decimal System
Here is a free printable by Pooley Productions that can be used when your students study the Dewey Decimal System!
For the Little Guys and Gals
This is a derivative of an image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Give your younger students a chance to practice with a basic table of contents with this freebie by Christine Reed!
This free activity by Katie Blair Young asks students to figure out whether books are fiction or nonfiction and why. It’s great for reviewing fiction and nonfiction with your littlest library students!
ABC Order
With this autumn-themed alphabetical order freebie by Differentiation Station Creations, your students can practice the essential library skill of using ABC order!
And Deanna Cappucci has designed a cute free product so that your students can practice ABC order by alphabetizing each other’s names! (In the library, I could see this working well with first AND last names so that kids can get the idea of alphabetizing books by authors’ last names!)
Students can practice alphabetizing to the 2nd letter with this Earth Day ABC order freebie, available in More than Math by Mo’s store.
And here is a fantastic set of ABC order task cards! Thanks for the freebie, Erin J Murray!
Research and Reference Books
This printable activity by Teaching with Tamara allows kids to practice their dictionary skills while looking up some homonyms. When I SAW this resource, I knew it would be JUST RIGHT for this CURRENT blog post! 🙂
3…2…1…blastoff! Give your kids a chance to practice their research skills and learn about the planets with this freebie by Imaginative Teacher! Students could use this activity to practice with encyclopedias, and the product also includes a list of suggested websites the kids can use to research this topic!
Or your students could use reference books, along with other library resources, to do some totally fun animal research with this free product from The Library Patch!
Book Review Activities
Asking your students to recommend books to classmates can get kids excited about checking out books from the school library. Here is a cute Halloween-themed book review template designed by Kim Miller that you can have your students fill out to share their favorite library books with their friends!
Looking for other book review options? Here is another great and free book review form by Amanda Rose Resources! Or try this book review freebie by Josie’s Place!
Many students love to color, so it’s wonderful to have reading-themed coloring pages on hand for your fast finishers. Here is a great coloring sheet for your library by EveryLittleThing!
I don’t know about you, but I have a few students who are constantly telling me, “I forgot it was library day! I didn’t bring my book!” The Swamped Teacher has developed a freebie that will help with this very situation. By printing out these reminders and making them into magnets to send home with your students, you’ll help students and families remember to return library books!
Do you want to get your library students curious about some of your favorite books? This free, printable sign by Library Learners will give you an excuse to start chatting it up about a favorite title!
Here are some simple, cute, FREE forms you can send home with your students who have done an excellent job in the library. This freebie by Andrea Walkup makes it so easy to acknowledge students for good choices in the media center.
This free product from The Librarian’s Literature Links gives you a super-easy way to give classroom teachers information about what went on in your library class each week. The form includes a spot to point out star students, students who struggled, and students with overdue library books, as well as some basic information about what you did with the whole class. I’m planning to try using these in my school library this year!
Bookmarks
For a FREE, cute, and library-ish birthday gift for your students, how about these free birthday bookmarks, courtesy of Library Learners?!
ElementaryVibes has designed these free bookmarks featuring the Good Egg, the Cool Bean, and their friends. (How adorbs!)
Next, from Librarian Vickie, we have some posters that you can use to teach your students about different genres!
Decorate the walls of your library with these great library freebies – a set of reading quotes posters by Alexandra Stewart and a set of library-themed posters by BlackCoffeeBlackNails!
Encourage your library students to read with this printable “READ” banner set by Josie’s Place! Or here’s a “READ” poster set by Erin E Townsend!
And for more all-year-long-decoration fun, you can download this free product from Primary Teacher Solutions by Mark Johnson. These posters show children reading during each of the twelve months of the year!
And…here’s a free product from my store that you can use to decorate your library! I call these “Strive Stars” because I’m hoping that they will inspire kids to strive to do great things. This set includes nine printable pages, each containing a large star with an encouraging message along with a smaller blank star (just to make your display more visually appealing). Designed to save ink but still make a colorful display, these understated black-and-white stars can be printed on bright printer paper before you cut them out. (I like me some Astrobrights, but any colorful paper will work!) The set includes some stars that have a Christian theme as well as some with messages that would work in any school setting.
Clip Art
Teacher-librarians always need book clip art for different projects, so download this free clip art by Allison Fors that includes opened and closed books!
And here is some gorgeous clip art of kids reading by SchoolBoxTreasures! Perfect for library newsletters, overdue slips, worksheets, or whateva!
Let’s Hear it for Teachers Pay Teachers!
TpT really is a beautiful place. I just highlighted over 50 FREE products for librarians, and there are so many more terrific resources available there that will help your school library to be the best it can be. Feel free to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store (or the stores of any of these great TpT teacher-authors!) so you can discover other nifty resources that will help you save time and increase the overall awesomeness of your library!
**Thank you so much to the Teachers Pay Teachers teacher-authors who gave me permission to include links to their free resources in this post! For more freebies, click here and here to check out my other posts about free resources for your school library. Don’t forget to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss my next post!**
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!
Since you all know I’m a book person, I guess it doesn’t come as a big surprise that I am also a catalog person. (Well, at least I was when I was a kid and didn’t notice all the clutter that goes along with being on mailing lists!)
I remember afternoons as a kid, sitting there and thumbing through the glossy pages of the JCPenney catalog, looking at all the pretty things set up on pretty pages. I don’t subscribe to many catalogs anymore to try to avoid unnecessary piles of paper in my house (as opposed to the necessary piles that already take up too much space!). But now that back to school is approaching, I do allow myself to flip through the occasional back-to-school circular…and I also spend some quality time with the digital (so, not glossy, but still pretty) Teacher-Librarian Stores Catalog by my TpT colleague Mrs. J in the Library!
TpT is awesome, but let’s face it – it can be overwhelming sometimes! If you go to the site without a specific resource in mind, but instead you just want to window shop to find inspiration and ideas, there is a ton of stuff to wade through. I just typed “library” into the search bar and got 42,236 results. What?!
Mrs. J in the Library has been compiling this catalog for several years now to help offer school librarians a simplified, streamlined process for shopping for Teachers Pay Teachers materials for their school libraries. This year, it features ten teacher-authors who specialize in resources for the library/media center, and each page is full of clickable links to fabulous products that will work well in the school library. The catalog also includes back-to-school tips and ideas so you can do a little PD while you are browsing.
I am excited that my store is part of the catalog this year! Feel free to download it and look at the beautiful displays of libraryliciousness…without cluttering your desk.
Whoa, baby! Vacation is really almost here! Actually, it probably IS here for some of you lucky teachers!
But for those of you who have to put in a few more weeks like me, I thought I’d direct you to a freebie in my TpT store that might be helpful for a couple of those last library classes! I made this free product around this time last year, and I just updated it today with one new printable worksheet. So now, it includes three no-prep, print-and-go worksheets that work like a charm during those last few totally crazy weeks of school.
That’s it for today! I’m sure you have an awards ceremony, spring concert, faculty meeting, banquet, field trip, field day, exam, classroom cleanup, or library inventory to get to…so I’ll see you next time! 🙂
The more time I spend searching TpT, the more I wonder how I got by without it for so long! There are just so many talented teachers who contribute to Teachers Pay Teachers, and it is so awesome to be able to improve my instruction with their creativity and ideas.
As someone who both buys and sells on Teachers Pay Teachers, I thought I’d share some tips I’ve noticed along the way that will help you get the most for your money!
Shop the Freebies…
Every single seller on TpT is required to have at least one freebie. That means you can legally and ethically get something for free from EVERYONE on TpT, including some of the best educators in the WORLD. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I shop the freebies quite often.
Sellers upload freebies to get their names out there, earn positive feedback, give something back to all the hardworking teachers out there, and get kids around the world using their resources. They WANT you to download their freebies. Go wild! Here are mine – shop away! (By the way, if you happen to be a school librarian and need some freebies that will work well in a school library, check out my previous posts, “Freebies for Your School Library on Teachers Pay Teachers” and “MORE Freebies for Your School Library on Teachers Pay Teachers” to see some of the awesome free products I have found!)
Be sure you have signed up for the weekly TpT newsletter, which highlights 10 freebies every week, to keep up with new and fantastic freebies.
…And Shop Them NOW!
Here’s the thing about freebies on Teachers Pay Teachers – they don’t always have to remain freebies. Sellers can and do change their products from free to paid whenever they want. So if you see something you like, and it’s free, then download it right away – don’t let it sit on your wish list! If you have already downloaded it, you’ll still have access to the file if you need to download it again later, even if the seller decides to increase the price. Some sellers offer occasional “flash freebies” that are free only for a short amount of time, so if you see a flash freebie, you always want to click quick and get it right away.
Speaking of Wish Lists…
While it does not make sense to add freebies to your wish lists (just get them right away!), DO add resources to your wish list that you like but can’t buy at the moment. There’s always a chance that the seller will change the price, or bundle that resource with others, and then you can save money wholesale club style. Having a wish list helps you keep track of products so you can periodically check prices and watch for potential bundle savings. Having an active wish list also sets you up to get the resources you want at seriously fabulous prices when they go on sale.
And…Speaking of Sales…
Teachers Pay Teachers has occasional sitewide sales in which you can receive discounts of up to 25%. Teachers Pay Teachers and the individual teacher-authors partner together to provide the discount, so you can save a lot of money in many TpT stores. Typically, there is a unique discount code for each sale, so keep a look out for emails about when these sales are happening.
Individual sellers, and small groups of sellers, also throw sales sometimes, so be sure to follow the sellers you love so that you’ll know about their sales.
Leaving Feedback = A Coupon
Okay, so you know how at some fast food places, the receipt says that if you call a number and do a survey on your experience, and then you get a free coffee or burger? Well, TpT does that too, except it is MUCH less of a hassle. No receipt to clutter up your purse, no phone number to call – just a couple of clicks to provide your feedback and get credits toward future purchases.
Let’s say you purchase a resource that costs $10. If you leave feedback for the seller, you will receive 10 “credits” that you can use toward a future purchase. Each credit ends up being worth 5 cents, but they add up quickly – that one $10 purchase got you 50 cents worth of credits, so imagine what a back-to-school shop-til-you-drop could do. TpT rounds up for you, also, so if the resource was $9.50, you’d still get 10 credits.
It actually works out well for everyone, because sellers love to receive feedback on their work, and buyers love discounts.
Love a Resource? Buy With a Buddy!
If you and a colleague are both interested in the same resource on Teachers Pay Teachers, you can save money if one of you purchases the resource plus an additional license, which will be at a discounted price – usually 10% off. (Just as an FYI, TpT sellers price each resource based on the idea that it will be used by one teacher only, so to make sure you are abiding by copyright law and the seller’s terms of use, you’ve gotta get those additional licenses if you and a friend both want to use a resource!)
Become a Groupie
When you find a great resource and know you’ll be back for more products from that seller, it makes sense to follow that seller, both on TpT AND on his or her blog and/or social media. TpT sellers use blogs and social media to keep you informed of flash freebies, sales, new products, and sometimes even gift card giveaways, so it makes a lot of sense to follow them every which way you can so you don’t miss any news.
(You can follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here, and on Pinterest by clicking here and then clicking “Follow.” Oh, and you can subscribe to my blog by typing in your email address up at the top of this post!). (Update 05/17/18: I am now on Instagram too…click here and click “Follow”!) 🙂
Now, when you follow sellers on TpT, you will be the first to know about their new products, which is awesome because sellers often list their products at a reduced price for the first 24 or 48 hours. I do this somewhat haphazardly at my store, I’ll admit, but I have seen some stores that do it for EVERY new product, and I have even seen some that list ALL their products as FREE for 24 hours or so. The thing is, you aren’t necessarily going to know what is going on with the sellers you follow unless you log into TpT regularly, so make sure that Teachers Pay Teachers makes the list of sites / apps you check often – not just when you need a specific resource.
And feel free to take a step beyond following and actually connect with TpT sellers. They are, after all, just teachers like you and me who probably love meeting new people, learning, networking, and sharing ideas. True story: one time, I emailed a TpT seller with a question about a resource, and after a few emails back and forth, this generous seller offered to make some changes to the product AND give me a free resource, all for checking in with her. If you love a seller, comment on his/her blog posts or social media, leave a positive feedback or Q & A comment in TpT, or send an email to say hi or ask a question. You may end up with a free product, a free TpT gift card, some new teaching tips, or even a new pal!
Bundles, Bundles, and More Bundles!
As I mentioned when I was talking about wish lists, buying resources as part of a bundle is a great way to save money. (A bundle is just a group of resources sold together for less money than they would be if you bought them individually.)
In some TpT stores, growing bundles are also an option, which means that when you purchase the product, it is incomplete (but a lot cheaper) and more resources will be added to the product over time. Be sure to read product descriptions carefully so you know what you are buying, but this can seriously be an awesome way to get the resources you need without spending too much money.
For example, I recently purchased a clip art growing bundle that cost me $5. The price went up as more and more resources were added, and now, at the time this is being posted, the same resource costs $36.50, but I can access all of the clip art, even the clip art that was just added. Oh, yeah!
Maybe Somebody Else Wants to Pay for That?
If your school gives you a budget to spend on classroom supplies, don’t forget that TpT products can fall into that category. Teachers Pay Teachers even accepts purchase orders for purchases over $20, making it even easier to make purchases with the school district’s money.
Better yet, share info about Teachers Pay Teachers’ newest program, TpT for Schools, with your principal. TpT for Schools allows teachers to request educational products on TpT and send those requests to their administration, who can then purchase resources for each teacher. I’m thinking this could be a perfect way to get funds for those big ticket items you might not otherwise be able to afford. It’s definitely worth checking out – if your principal likes the idea, you may end up with fabulous TpT resources that you can use in your classroom without having to pay for them yourself!
Also, don’t forget about all those unbelievable PTO parents out there who go above and beyond to help their children get the best education possible. You could consider contacting the school/parent organization at your school about the possibility of purchasing resources or TpT gift cards.
Track Your Spending for Tax Savings
(Disclosure/Disclaimer: I am not an accountant, nor do I play one on TV! The following information is not intended to be considered tax advice. Please consult a qualified tax professional before making any tax-related decisions.)
If you do have to foot the bill for Teachers Pay Teachers resources yourself, here’s another tip! This isn’t exactly a way to save money on your purchases, but it could save you some money overall. The money you spend on TpT may be tax deductible, even with the new tax plan rolling out for your 2018 filing. (There was some debate on whether that deduction was going to stick around, but it did! Yay!) The TpT site does keep track of your purchases, so it will be easy to figure out how much you spent when you are doing your taxes.
If you are buying resources to use in your classroom, the deduction is for up to $250 of expenses that were not reimbursed, and educators who work at least 900 hours a year in a K-12 school may be eligible.
If you are TpT seller, the purchases you make on TpT to use for the resources you sell (e.g. clipart, borders) can offset your earnings, resulting in less taxable income, so sellers should keep track of those expenses as well.
(Again, please check with your tax professional to discuss your unique tax situation. For more information, you can read these articles on the IRS website about the educator expense deduction and small-business expenses.)
Ready to Save on TpT?
I hope these ideas will make your shopping trips on TpT even more fun because you’ll know you are providing your kids with the best resources and saving money at the same time!
(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!*
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I think most teachers would agree that the real “New Year” begins in August or September when the school year starts. New students and new policies and new schedules are bigger changes than what we see when the ball drops between December and January.
From planning to cleaning to decorating to organizing to copying, there is a ton of work to do as the school year starts, and I’m going to suggest that you add one more itty bitty thing to your list. But it’s a thing that will ultimately make some of the other things easier. AND make the rest of the school year easier.
JOIN TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS!
Really. Do it. Yesterday.
What It Is…and What Else It Is
Okay. So I had heard about Teachers Pay Teachers long before I actually tried it, and waiting so long to give it a go was a MISTAKE. Basically, before I registered for TpT, I used to spend a lot of time on Google trying to search for “free” lesson ideas and worksheets and coloring pages for my students. Sometimes, a search result would pop up that said it was on Teachers Pay Teachers and I’d be like, “Oh, that sounds great!” but then I’d be like, “Oh, it’s on Teachers Pay Teachers. And I don’t want to pay for anything right now. So, no thanks.” To be honest, something about the name Teachers PAY Teachers irked me a little at first and made me feel like everything was going to be really expensive.
As time went on, those Teachers Pay Teachers items showed up more and more. Meanwhile, I also found that more often than not, randomly searching the rest of internet brought me to a bunch of weird spammy sites. I eventually concluded that I WAS going to end up paying SOMEONE, and it was beginning to look like the money would be going to a tech-y dude who gets spyware off your computer. I figured I was better off giving money to some fellow teachers than having my computer infected with internet gunk.
So I joined the site and accepted that I would, in fact, be a teacher that was paying other teachers.
But in my first few minutes looking around the site, I found out something very important about Teachers Pay Teachers. Yes, it is a site where you can purchase fantastic resources created by other teachers. But IT IS ALSO a place where teachers GIVE AWAY FABULOUS FREE PRODUCTS.
Yay TpT! SO MUCH is Free!
There are FREE lesson plans, FREE coloring pages, FREE classroom posters, FREE fonts, FREE videos, FREE printable worksheets, and much more. Get this- every single person who sells on Teachers Pay Teachers MUST have at least one freebie (really – it is a requirement in order to be a seller!). So we are talking about THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of FREE products.
So I went on a free downloading spree. It was basically what I had been TRYING to do many times before during my Googling sprees, but SO much easier and more successful. I can’t even believe how many free worksheets and other resources I have found for free from the talented sellers on TpT.
And If It’s Not Free, It’s Probably Worth It!
If I have a very specific need and I can’t find something free, I can usually find something inexpensive and worth every penny. I really would rather not pay for resources, of course, but then I stopped and realized that I never hesitate to spend $5 here or there for office supplies, stickers, or prizes for school. So, why not pay a couple of bucks for something that is actually designed to help my students learn something? And it is fun to know that a purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers will help support a teacher.
So…Who’s Paying Whom?
Ultimately, I’m less than a year into using TpT, yet I have downloaded a ton of resources and spent a pretty tiny amount of money. For all these years, I stayed away from Teachers Pay Teachers, when all along I didn’t realize it was like a dollar store / FREE store for teaching resources. Almost every time I visit the site, I get paid in freebies, which leads me to wonder – are the sellers or buyers really winning out here? Or is it just a fantastic partnership for everybody involved?
Check It Out Today!
If you haven’t joined yet, go for it! Joining is free and as I mentioned, there is a ton of great stuff that is just waiting for you, no matter what subject you teach! I am so happy that I joined, and I loved TpT so much that I opened my own store there a few months after making my first purchase.
So…all that free stuff we were talking about? As soon as you sign up, feel free to start your own personal free download spree with some of my free products!
