Bring some sunshine into your classroom with our Sunny Days Classroom printable kit!

Sunny days are here with the start of another great school year!  We are beaming with excitement over how this classroom kit came together.  The trendy chevron is the perfect compliment to the clean grey and yellow color combo.

You'll be a ray of sunshine on your hallway with these adorable tags, student name plates, and word wall letters.

We found these mini galvanized tubs with chalkboard paint (already on them!!) in the $1 section of Target.  Perfect for art centers, math manipulatives, and more!

The Sunny Days Classroom Kit includes:

Dismissal labels: 3x5 (after school, van riders, car riders, bus riders, walkers)
Afternoon dismissal chart
Binder covers (grade book, lesson plans, room mom, data notebook, progress monitoring, class newsletters, parent communication, substitute plans and blank)
Square letter cards (cursive) for a word wall A-Z
Lesson plan templates (2 pages)
Sub plans (2 pages)
Center signs (2 sizes) Math, Reading, Art, Science, Computer, Language and Writing
Round table signs (1 - 6)
Square supply signs (crayons, glue, highlighters, markers, pencils, paper, un-sharpened pencils, sharpened pencils, scissors, books and blank)
Class newsletter template and sample
Round Keep Calm and Teach On logo
Round Welcome Back to School sign (2 sizes)
Daily schedule cards (Morning meeting, morning work, math, reading, science, social studies, writing, language arts, independent work, Spanish, special area, music, P.E., art, media, guidance, lunch, computer lab, dismissal, reading center, teaching table, learning centers)
Class roster sign
Daily schedule sign
Parent communication log
Name tags for the desks
Blank tags for cubbies or supply shelves
Attendance/daily work/behavior chart
Welcome to school sign

 Use the letter cards for multiple purposes in your classroom.  Create a colorful word wall and organize your small groups.

We don't quite know who the new little students will be in our classroom seats, but we do know we need to get organized before the first bell rings.

These large circle table tags are great for labeling your student tables.

We re-purposed an old spaghetti jar to make this "sharp" pencil vase.  Clean out a used jar, hot glue unsharpened pencils (eraser side up) and fill with some beautiful flowers for the new teacher in your life.

The cute grey, black, and white organizational items were also found in the $1 section of Target.

Keep your day sunny with a set spot for your daily schedule.  Post on a bulletin board or laminate and back with magnetic strips for your white board. Perfect for keeping track of your daily assignments and your schedule.
Remember to think outside of the box when it comes to decorating your bulletin boards. We love using wrapping paper to cover our boards. The graphic colorful prints offer a variety of choices, try using some bold polka dotted ribbon as border trim, it stores well and is inexpensive. Definitely a great way to design your classroom on a budget.

 Having designated areas for supplies is a must for having a manageable classroom environment.  Children thrive when they know where items belong and are shown how to properly care for things they will share with their classmates.  These dainty, but inexpensive doilie inspired buckets are from IKEA and can serve many purposes in the classroom.  We labeled them for sharpened and un-sharpened pencils.  A great job for a class helper!

What a sunny disposition you'll have when your desk is neatly organized for the new year!

The kit includes valuable printables like this Parent Communication Log.  What an easy way of keeping up with all the ways that you might share information with the parents of your students.

The newsletter templates, lesson plan template, and substitute plans are also valuable pieces to this all around great kit for teachers.

 We know those Sunny Days can turn stressful at this time of year too.  So in the spirit of Winston Churchill we've taken the liberty to say, "Keep Calm and Teach On."  Without the spirit of great teachers our days would be cloudy for sure.

Because we are full of back to school spirit, make sure to check back tomorrow for a free printable from this collection!

For the complete Sunny Days Classroom kit please visit Simply Sprout's Teachers Notebook store.

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We are having a SALE!!!!! 20% off!!!!!

 

Just in time for Back to school....we are throwing a sale in our online stores!

Click the links below to find some awesome resources for your classroom. Be sure to sign up as a follower of our stores to be the first to know when new things are created!

For Primary resources and general classroom decor and organizational items visit:

For Intermediate resources and materials please visit:

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Lotsa Dots Classroom Printables

Lotsa Dots has us going crazy over here at Simply Sprout!
This is our newest classroom creation. We just love the burst of color and the whimsy of the polka dots.

This adorable colorful set is bright and cheery and is perfect for any classroom. This set has everything you need to get started for the beginning of the school year. This set includes printable pages you can print on your color printer, cut, laminate and watch your classroom come to life with fun!

The set includes:

A classroom newsletter template

How we get home transportation cards (bus rider, after school, van, walkers, car pickup)

How we get home sign

Blank labels for cubbies or supply cabinets (3x5)

Blank sign (perfect for class rosters, welcome signs etc.)

Nametags for student desks

ABC's for a word wall or ABC chart

Word Wall sign

Blank round signs (2 sizes)

8.5x11 learning center signs ( Math center, writing center, language center, reading center, art center)

Supply labels for classroom supplies (3x5)

Table signs ( Table 1, 2 ,3,4 & 5)

Large number signs ( 1 - 20)

Open house sign in sheet

Open house foldable signs ( please sign in, welcome to open house, please take one)

8.5x11 binder covers (data notebook, grade book, lesson plans, sub plans, progress monitoring)

Afternoon dismissal chart

2 page lesson plan template (colorful)

2 page lesson plan template (simple)

Blank circles ( 2 sizes) (These are perfect for adding colorful letters to, hole punching the sides and attaching with ribbon, make welcome banners, bulletin board letters and signs)

class roster

 Colorful pom poms are all the rage this school year. They are so inexpensive and fun to make and will definitely brighten up even the gloomiest of rooms.

This set compliments Dots on Turquoise made by creative teaching press 

This is one of my all time favorite classroom kits!

A tech tip for you!

If you are purchasing this item from our online store you will be receiving it as a pdf to preserve original content. However you most likely will want to make this kit your own by typing your newsletters etc on it. So you need to find an online converter to convert the pdf to a word document. (you can find free samples of this type of software) To write on it draw a text box right click on it to format go to colors and lines make sure none is selected for fill and for line. Now you have made an invisible text box which you can use to type wherever you please on the document.  The fonts used in this pack are learning curve and howser and can be found for free online at sites like dafont.com. and Kevin & Amanda's fonts You will also notice once you convert it that the images are individual jpgs. This is helpful if you would like to convert say your newsletter into its own file. You would copy and past the newsletter image into a new document and save as just your newsletter. You would insert the text boxes and such in the same way.

Happy Back to School 

We are so excited to bring you these materials we hope that you will love them as much as we do. We would love to see pictures of your classrooms using our products.

If your pictures are used in a blog post we will offer you a discount on your next purchase. You can email your photos to simplysprout@gmail.com.....we love before and after shots! Happy Decorating!


Feeling lucky????? Be sure to sign up for our 20,000 view giveaway

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W is for Watermelon

My four year old is preparing for VPK in the fall so we have been trying to practice basic skills like letter recognition, counting, addition....and the biggest one of all following directions and listening. All of which will help her to be successful in the primary classroom. So today we learned about the letter W. We started our day off by making some Watermelon waffles, which were the yummiest! Make your favorite waffle batter and divide into two bowls. Add red food coloring to one and green to another. Mix well, using a round waffle maker add your red batter slowly to the center not filling too full, then slowly add your green batter around the outer edge. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips into the center and close the waffle maker. While your little one is waiting have them practice their handwriting skills by writing their W's, Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store for some fun printables you can use. Another game you can try while waiting for those waffles is to ask your little one to name as many W words as they can...it's pretty fun to see how many they can come up with. If they give you a word that begins with a  different letter, ask them them to repeat the W sound to you and repeat to them a few of the words they have given previously, whale, wish, water, and then ask "does your word have the same beginning sound as those?" It's important to not squash their confidence but equally as important to direct them into the appropriate answer when they are incorrect.

 W is for Watermelon

When our waffles were done I cut out a large W out of construction paper. We reviewed the W words that she came up with and talked about the sound a W makes. 

I had her practice her cutting skills by using her scissors to cut squares from strips of tissue paper. Cutting can some times be very scary for mamas of girls...we are so afraid for them to cut their clothes or even worse their hair! But it is a necessary skill that kids need to be comfortable with before heading off to Kindergarten, I can't tell you how many first graders I have had year after year that have no idea how to cut and use a glue stick because they never used those skills at home. Those skills are important both in and out of the classroom. With this activity we talked about using a glue stick appropriately and keeping within boundaries. I showed Kaitlyn where the green tissue paper should stop and let her go from there. I helped her towards the end to fill up the empty spots but for the most part she was able to do this one on her own. At the very end she crumpled up some black tissue paper and made seeds to add to her watermelon W.

 We have had a lot of fun with playdough at our house recently, it is so easy to whip up a batch and is a lot of fun for little hands.
To make watermelon playdough simply mix together over a medium heat on the stove:

 1 Cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 Cup Water

1TBS Vegetable oil

2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

Food Coloring

 

Make one batch red and one batch green, let cool on a floured cutting board. After its cooled add a little more flour as you blend the playdough together. Keep adding flour till its no longer sticky and is moldable. We used black long grain wild rice for seeds for our playdough, just sprinkle a few on top of the red playdough and have your little one blend them in and make a long roll of the red playdough. ave your little one use a rolling pin to roll out the green playdough. Place the red log in the center of the green and wrap it around by rolling it up.

Once you have it rolled up it is ready to cut. Give your little one a plastic knife and have them start slicing their watermelon. Once you have a few watermelon slices you can start talking with them about some math concepts like fractions. Introducing the concept of fractions is easy with little ones because they like for everything to be fair and equal. Have them divide their watermelon down the middle using their knife so they have two equal pieces. I tell my daughter that fractions like to always play fair so their feelings don't get hurt. If you divide the watermelon among 4 people you are dividing it into fourths or 4 equal pieces, the same with 2 people you would be dividing it in half or 2 equal pieces. Playing games like these that introduce math terms are a great way to get the building blocks started for a great foundation when it comes to mastering math

Another great way to use these cute little watermelon slices is for counting, practice that 1 to 1 correspondence by having your little one touch each piece as they count them. We also took it a step further and started talking about addition.

If I have 2 pieces of watermelon and you have 3 . 

How many do we have all together? 

You will be surprised what your little ones can do when asked the right questions.

Another great activity is to take two slices of the watermelon and compare the number of seeds.

Which one has more? 

Which one has less? 

Can you count them?

                                                                                                       

                                       

Grab the freebie to the left to introduce 
fractions to your little ones. 
For your older kids grab the freebie on the right.

Kids can count their way to some watermelon math fun with these delicious watermelon books. One Cool Watermelon is an introduction to math through familiar fruits and vegetables. This book has a vibrant, interactive layout that allows little ones to open flaps and view the inside of each fruit or vegetable. What a fun way to introduce fractions to young learners and compare parts to the whole.

 

One Watermelon seed offers colorful pages and follows a seed as its planted. It exposes little ones to counting by tens, and learning about larger numbers.

Primary Watermelon Activity Pack

If you are looking for some watermelon activities for your little ones to keep them learning check out my watermelon resource pack for Primary learners. ( Pre-K - First grade) There are a lot of activities included, handwriting skills, grammar, letter sounds, beginning writing concepts, flash cards and basic math skills just to name a few. Stop by my Teachers Pay Teachers store to check it out!

 

Intermediate Watermelon Activity Pack

For our older friends Amanda has designed an activity pack that incorporates hands on math, science and writing skills. Check out her Intermediate (grades 3 - 6) activity pack at her Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

For our local friends be sure to checkout the Watermelon Festival in Monticello this weekend June 16, 2012. What a great way to tie learning into your local community. Have your little one count how many W's they see on signs and buildings while they are there.

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