Monday, August 30, 2021

Teacher Giveaway! Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway August 30, 2021

                           Teacher Giveaway

Every week we give one lucky teacher a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!  Enter our weekly  giveaway for teachers for your chance to win!

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Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway


                     GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Teacher Giveaway! Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway August 30, 2021


Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card 


Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 9/6/21 and is open worldwide.  


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Enter this month's teacher giveaway rafflecopter below! 








Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Fall Addition Color by Number: A Fun and Easy Way to Practice Math Facts


Are you looking for a fun way to help your students practice their math skills? Look no further! These Fall Addition Color by Number worksheets are the perfect way to engage your students and provide them with the practice they need.





As a teacher, I know how important it is for students to have a strong foundation in math facts. That's why I created these Fall Color by Number Addition worksheets. Not only do they provide extra practice, but they also allow students to have fun while doing it!


Fall Addition Color by Number


Fall Addition Color by Number


Fall Addition Color by Number






These fall color by number worksheets are perfect for fall-themed lessons and activities. Your students will love coloring in the pictures as they practice their addition skills. And the best part? You can print and go! No prep needed!

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

Fall Addition Color by Number

In addition to the Fall Addition Color by Number worksheets, I also offer subtraction, multiplication, and division versions. If you have any requests for additional skills, just leave a comment below and I'll be happy to create them for you!




This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  







Fall Themed Multiplication Worksheets




Fall Color by Number Worksheets Division


Fall Division Color by Number


Each math facts set comes with (8) fall-themed color by number pages and answer keys.








Want even more value? You can save 50% by purchasing the four-season color-by-number sets, which include fall, winter, spring, and summer themes.

So what are you waiting for? Add these Fall Addition Color by Number worksheets to your teaching arsenal and watch your students' math skills improve while they have fun learning!





Four Seasons Color By Number Worksheets Multiplication






Pull out the crayons or markers and let your students have fun while learning their math facts with these fall math fact printables!

Helpful Tools We Love For Color by Number Activities


* Printer I absolutely LOVE my HP Printer that uses Instant Ink! I love it because I can use as much ink as I want for one low cost!  No more running to the store for printer cartridges! Try it out for free here!

Crayons While you can use any crayons with these worksheets, my favorites are the twistable crayons!  They color so vibrantly and they last a long time!





Tuesday, August 24, 2021

When to Use Color By Number Worksheets

Have you ever used color by number worksheets in the classroom?  If you have, I'm sure that you noticed that your students loved them!  you probably loved them to because they are super easy to prep, and your students get time to practice valuable skills!

Make sure you read to the end to grab a color by number freebie!

But, did you know that research suggests that coloring may lower stress, boost creativity, and even help to improve attention spans? There are many ways that using color by code worksheets can benefit your students!  Here are a few of the benefits and when you should use color by number worksheets in your classroom:

When to Use Color By Number Worksheets




1. Engaging Practice

When students are engaged in their work, they are more likely to transfer those academic skills to long-term memory.  Since students love color by number worksheets, they are more likely to be engaged!

2. Improves Fine Motor Skills 

Coloring uses fine motor muscles which not only helps students coloring skills, but can also rub off with their other fine motor skills such as handwriting.  Many of our students need that extra hand strength!

3. Allows Students to Work Independently

Color by number worksheets are self-checking so students are able to work on them independently which frees teachers up to work with small groups.


Dinosaur Multiplication Color By Number Worksheet Set



1. During small group instruction for independent seat work.

It is hard to work with small groups when other students are constantly interrupting with questions about their "independent work".  Color by number worksheets can be completed independently with very little instruction.

2. In math centers.

Because color by number worksheets can be completed with little instruction, they make perfect additions to your math centers!

3. During holiday parties.

It is nice to have a little quiet down-time activity during holiday parties, and holiday themed color by number worksheets are perfect for filling that need!

Halloween Color by Number Worksheets



4. For Fast Finishers.

Color by number worksheets make a perfect activity for fast finishers.  They are easy to complete and give students additional practice with skills.

5. Homework

Homework should be an activity that students can complete independently, and color by number worksheets fit the bill!

Unicorn Color By Number



6. Morning Work

It's nice to have something engaging for your students to work on while you are attending to those morning tasks such as taking attendance, collecting homework, etc.  Color By Number Worksheets are perfect for this!

7. To Provide Differentiated Practice

If you have students who are at varying levels (and honestly what teacher doesn't?), you might want to provide differentiated practice.  All of my color by number worksheets have a variety of levels to help every learner get the practice they need.

Pirate Multiplication Color by Number






Helpful Tools We Love For Color by Number Activities

  • Printer I absolutely LOVE my HP Printer that uses Instant Ink! I love it because I can use as much ink as I want for one low cost!  No more running to the store for printer cartridges! Try it out for free here!
  • Crayons While you can use any crayons with these worksheets, my favorites are the twistable crayons!  They color so vibrantly and they last a long time!

Back to School Color by Number Worksheets

Would you like to try out my color by number worksheets?  Grab a freebie below:


Back to School Addition Color by Number Freebie








Monday, August 23, 2021

Back to School Read Alouds

Are you looking for some new ideas for Back to School Read Alouds for the first week of school?  I love First Day Jitters just like most of us, but sometimes it gets old hearing your students say, "We read this last year!" It kind of ruins the whole surprise ending.  Hopefully, this list will give you a few new ideas to read to your students on those first few days of school!

Back to School Read Alouds


This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.



This book is my new favorite book for Back to School!  A Letter from Your Teacher on the First Day of School is written as a welcome note from a teacher to her students on the first day of school.  She tells them that she can't wait to get to know all of the things that make each of them who they are. She promises to greet them every morning with a smile (and high-fives, hugs, and fist bumps if that's their style).

There is also a letter at the end from the author to teachers where she talks about reading aloud as one of the most powerful love languages - and I can't agree more!

A Letter From Your Teacher Book Cover






Teaching Idea: 

A great follow-up activity to this book would be to ask your students to write you their own letter where they introduce themselves to you.  Ask them to include the things they love, the people in their family that are important to them, and what their goals are for the school year.





A great follow up to the first book is this book which is written in the form of a letter from a former student to a teacher who had a lasting impact on her life (including inspiring her to become a teacher herself)!

The narrator of A Letter to My Teacher says that she "was the one who marched to school that first day, splashing through every puddle I could find..." she says that for her "school meant sitting still and listening, two things I wasn't much good at."

So many students can see themselves in the narrator, and it is a great way to show them that as their teacher, you will help them to grow and love all those things that make them unique!


A Letter To My Teacher Cover


A Letter to my Teacher sample pages


Teaching Idea: 

In the book, the teacher reads to the children about the explorer, Mary Kingsley, and the student says that she is just like her when she causes havoc on a field trip.  Have your students research and learn about Mary Kingsley themselves.


Mrs. Spitzer is a wise teacher who knows many things.  She knows about gardens, and she knows about children.  She knows how similar they are, and how both will flourish if tended with love.

Mrs. Spitzer also knows that each plant (and each child) has their own shape.  Each grow differently, some "...grow quickly, pushing upward, eager, impatient. Some grow more slowly, unfolding themselves bit by bit."

You and your students will love the comparisons between students and flowers in Mrs. Spitzer's Garden!

Mrs. Spitzer's Garden Cover

Mrs. Spitzer's Garden Sample Pages

Teaching Idea: 

After reading the book, investigate how seeds grow.  What things are needed to help them to grow?  What differences do some seeds have? (i.e. some need more light, others need support as they grow).  Perhaps start a small garden with your students.


Miss Maple's Seeds is another story that compares students to flowers, but in a slightly more subtle way. The book never shows Miss Maple in a classroom, but the author leaves hints that it is a metaphor for being a teacher.

In the book Miss Maple "... learns each seed by heart, all similar yet none the same." She takes them on field trips where they learn about being a seed and how they must "..take care to stay clear of weedy characters."

In May, it is time for Miss Maple to send her seeds off to find roots of their own.  She reminds them that "...even the grandest of trees once had to grow up from the smallest of seeds."


Miss Maple's Seeds Cover


Miss Maple's Seeds


Teaching Idea: 

Since this book is a metaphor for students and teaching, comparing them to seeds and Miss Maple, have your students compare the two and show how they are similar.

Miss Maple's Seeds Reading Activity Anchor Chart

Miss Maple's Seeds Reading Activity Student Response 1

Miss Maple's Seeds Reading Activity Student Response 2


#5 Ish

Ramon is a little boy who loves to draw. But one day, his older brother makes fun of his picture because it doesn't look "right". He finally gives up drawing until he sees his sister's room.  She has created a gallery of all of his drawings.  She points to one of the pictures and says that it is her favorite.  Ramon says that it was supposed to be a vase of flowers, but it doesn't look like one.

His sister replies that it looks "vase-ISH!" He realizes that all of his drawings are "ish" and that is ok. This is a great way to introduce your students to the fact that it is ok to make mistakes as we are learning, and that not everything needs to be picture perfect.

Ish Cover

Ish Sample Pages


Teaching Idea: 

In the book, Ramon's brother breaks down his confidence by laughing at his picture.  In order for students to feel comfortable living "ishly", the classroom needs to be a comfortable and safe place.  Ask students to describe a classroom where all students feel safe living ishly.  Remind them to include:

  • How students should treat each other.
  • How they can support one another.
  • How they can react when other students make a mistake.



Wallace Bleff has an overactive imagination and his parents tell him that his imagination is "getting to wild" as whey send him out West to visit his Aunt Fern.  That's how his essay about how he spends his summer vacation begins.

But,  he becomes captured by cowboys who carry him off to their Cow Camp. His story becomes wilder and wilder until he tells his teacher that he can't wait for show and tell (as a bull appears in the illustration). Your students will love How I Spent My Summer Vacation!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Cover

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Sample Picture

Teaching Idea: 

Have your students write their own versions of "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" by using their imaginations to come up with crazy ways that they could have spent their summer vacation.

This is a great way to help students write about their summer vacation without anyone feeling bad if they didn't get to do anything exciting over the break. 





Calvin Can't Fly is the story of a bookworm birdie who LOVES to read!  While all of his sterling brothers, sisters, and cousins are learning to fly, Calvin is in the library learning to read. In the end, it is Calvin's love of learning that helps him and the other starlings to survive a hurricane. He also finally learns to fly!

This book is a great starting point for a conversation about respecting and appreciating individual differences.

Calvin Can't Fly Cover


Calvin Can't Fly Sample page



Teaching Idea: 

Have your students write about the things that make them unique.




Dear Teacher is written in the form of letters from a little boy named Michael who has his own first day Jitters and is explaining why he can't go to school.

Dear Teacher Cover


Dear Teacher Sample Page


Teaching Idea: 

Have your students write about the wildest reasons why they can't go to school.

Bonus Teaching Idea: 

First Day Jitters Cover



I know that I said at the beginning of this blog post that these books were different than First Day Jitters, but if you are anything like me, you still LOVE this book and want to share it with your students anyway!  Here is an idea for that inevitable moment when your students blurt out, "We've already read this!"

Before I read the book, I tell students "I know you may have read this book before, and if you have, I don't want you to spoil the ending!  But, I have a big job for you. I want you to pay attention to how the author and the illustrator worked to make it a surprise ending."

The students then look for clues such as the character saying, "I'm not going! or "I hate my new school!"  They might also notice how the illustrator doesn't show the whole character, so you can't tell that she's not a kid.

I hope you found this list helpful with new ideas for Back to School Read Alouds!  What is your favorite Back to School Read Aloud?  Let me know in the comments!

Are you looking for more ideas for Back to School?