CHEAP TEACHER RESOURCE BOOKS

It's Sunday.  That means it's time for sipping coffee in your pjs and reading the paper. 

That also means it is sales day at Littlest Learners.

This week I have marked down ALL (as in EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.) of the teacher resource books that I have in stock to UNDER $5.00.  That is well over 50% off the retail price on most of them.  I have three pages of books listed.  Just click on the next page button at the bottom of each page.

Did I mention that almost all of them are brand new?

And shiny?

And the pages will make that new book sound when you crack the book open?

Delightful.

Did you know that shipping on these books is fairly cheap?  Well, as cheap as the post office will let me make it be.

Did you know that I have books for all grade levels?  That's right, there is a little something for everyone.  I actually use some of them with my own son (Alphabet Puppet Pals rock!).

So stay in your PJs.  Keep sipping that coffee.  And swing on by Littlest Learners to stock up on teacher resource books (and anything else your heart desires while you're there).

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Dry Erase Board Ideas

Having a class set of dry erase boards for your classroom is a beautiful thing.

Funding a class set of dry erase boards is not.  

Don't get me wrong.  If you are going to make an investment into your room, this is a good one.  But, there are some alternatives that will save you some dough.

Shower Board: Home Depot and Lowe's both carry large pieces of shower board that work well with dry erase markers.  They will even cut them to size for free.  Home Depot is really good about making donations to classrooms so try asking the store manager.  Even if you do have to buy them it will still only run you about $10.00-$12.00 (bonus tip: The Post Office has change of address packets available with a 10% of your purchase at Lowe's coupon inside.  HD gladly honors Lowe's coupons too)

Target: The Dollar Spot currently has 2-sided dry erase boards that I've read good reviews on.

Dollar Store: You can find magnetic dry erase boards at Dollar Tree.  They are designed for lockers and dorm doors.  While the quality isn't great for this purpose, it does come with a small marker.

Page Protectors: Simply slide an 8.5 x 11" piece of cardboard and a piece of copy paper into a page protector and let the kids write on them with dry erase markers.  They clean off pretty well and are low cost to replace.

FRUGAL FRIDAY - FREE STORAGE CONTAINERS

I love me some Target any time of the year.

But, if I'm being honest, I must say that I get an extra rush of adrenaline when their seasonal display is transformed into a mecca of shiny notebooks, perfectly pointy crayons, and markers that are ready to perform in all of their rainbow glory.  

Serious endorphins people!

In addition to the perfection of back-to-schoolness and the bargains galore lies a real treat.

FREE BOXES!!!

Sure you can stroll into most stores 365 days a year and walk away with free boxes, but only now will you find an abundance of colorful, sturdy treasures that are designed to hold classroom items.  Most have minimal markings on them and are ideal for housing notebooks, folders or even your guided reading sets in your classroom.

Be respectful about it. I do my best to impersonate a Target / Walmart worker as I condense stray composition books into one box so that I may become the proud owner of the boxes they were scattered into.

So aside from the obvious, what do you use these little freebies for?  Leave some comment love to let us know your ideas.

In the mean time...I'm off to the beach to celebrate my favorite soon-to-be-Kindergartner turning FIVE!!!

Letters Gone Wild

Today's post is titled, "Letters Gone Wild."

But, yours don't have to have a wild theme.  In fact, that's the beauty of today's idea.  It's all about making something customized to your classroom.

You can buy manufactured letters in just about any color/theme, but you're stuck with standard sizes and fonts.

You could use a Cricut to make custom letters.  It's a good option if you have access to one.  But, if you don't (heck, I own a Cricut and still use this method) and you want to make letters that will make your room stand out as an original give this a shot.

I pinky promise it is super-easy.

Decide: where the letters will go, what they will say and how big you want them to be.

Select a font on your computer and print out your letters.  For what it's worth, my heart belongs to the fonts Marker Felt and Chalkboard.  To save ink, you can print them as outlines.

Pick some amazingly cool, funky or otherwise suitable paper and a solid color paper that coordinates well.  I'm a simple girl.  I always pick black.  I hear black is slimming.

Stack the two pages on top of each other and place your printed letters on top of those.  Carefully cut out along the outline of the letters.

Hang them up and then stand back ad marvel at your frugal craftiness.

Hey Staples...I've Got Your Number

The teacher message boards are all abuzz with gripes of the injustice that is Staples.

As in the office supply megastore.

Complaint numero uno is that not all Staples are honoring the expanded limit (25) for teachers. I suggest calling the store before you go and asking.  If they say yes, get the name of the person you are speaking to.  If they say no, call another Staples.  I'm pretty sure it's company policy so you could also argue.  Point is, let your fingers do the walking and do your arguing/sweet talking on the phone and save yourself the headache at the register.

Complaint numero dos is the new stipulations.

I recently posted about how they strapped on a $5.00 minimum purchase requirement in order to get the .01 cent goodies.  This made me question if it was worth making the trek for my penny folders because while there are plenty of things at Staples that I need in life (ink, envelopes, etc) there was nothing pressing that I MUST have in my possession this week.

People (and by people I mean angry teachers...a demographic nobody wants to mess with) are angered and annoyed by this policy.  They find it unfair that a business is enforcing the policy that is stated in their flyer and making them pay $5.50 for five dollars worth of merchandise along with 25 folders and 200 pencils.  

I'm on Team Teacher by default, but, I also see the business aspect of it so it makes sense to me.

Anyhow, being the crafty and peacemaking sole that I am, I've devised a plan that will help to make everyone happy.  I hope.

This brings me to one of my mostest favorite concepts in the retail world.

Price matching!

One stop shopping at it's finest.  I checked with Staples and their policy is that they will price match if you bring in a printed ad from a local store with the same product.

I was going to go to Walgreens anyhow to buy me some love in the form of a colorful Sharpie 12 pack at the bargain price of only $3.99 and who can't use a box of Crayola washable markers for only $1.00.  Sure they will probably be on sale for a mere .88 cents in a few weeks, but we need a little give and take here. 

Let's take a moment and talk about price matching because I love it.  I am all about ease and simplicity.  I can't be bothered schlepping all about town on a sunny summer day to hit all the major sales so whenever possible I eliminate some stops.

Target and Walmart both honor price matching.  Just bring the flyer to the register and they will manually adjust the price.

If you have an AC Moore nearby then you can really score because they carry Crayola.  When the markers and crayons go on sale (and they will) for a fraction of their usual cost, just bring the flyer to AC Moore.  They will not only honor the price, but they will take off an additional 10%.  Plus, if you have the teacher card you can save an extra 5%.

And since no post would be complete without a picture or two AND since I have not done any shameless self-promotion in at least 48 hours...

I bring you an update from our sponsor: ME!

I just released my latest product this morning.  It's a 17 page printable Genre Set.  It includes 10 signs that define the genres as well as several activities.  It will save you time and energy and will shower your students with academic excitement.  Plus, it's chock full of adorable Thistle Girl graphics and if those smiling little cartoon people don't make you happy then I don't know what will.

As usual, it is only $3.00.

And, unlike some big box corporations, I don't charge a $5.00 minimum :P

Click here to buy the GENRE KIT

Click the photos to enlarge them:

DIY Classroom Decorations

Today's Thrifty Thursday Tip is: Do It Yourself Classroom Decor

I love me some adorable Carson-Delossa kits as much as the next gal.  But, I also have a mortgage to pay and can’t be spending money all willy-nilly.  

Granted, time is money.  If you don’t have the time then you might want to spend the money.  But, if you do have the time then I’m here to tell you it takes surprisingly little talent to make cute things on your own.

This is especially handy if you are into classroom themes and are struggling to find items to complete your desired look.

Use the Overhead:

Find some clip art that you like.  Make a transparency of it (using a printer, copier or just tracing it with a Sharpie onto a transparent sheet).  Project it onto paper at a size that fits your needs.

You can paint it, but I prefer a paper pieced look.  The lion was traced onto different colored paper, cut out and glued together.  

The benefits to creating your own decorative items include:

• cost-savings
  
• custom to match your room theme or decor
  
• exact size you want
  
• great project for classroom aides, parent volunteers or even the kids
  

I recommend looking through coloring books or googling "___ coloring page" (insert what you are looking for).  

Vista Print - Frugal Friday

I feel like I need a disclaimer before I write this post.

You will either love me or hate me for what I am about to enlighten you with.

You'll love me for the free/cheap goodies you will obtain.

You'll hate me for the time suckage it will bring to your summer vacation.

Trust me.

You will spend sunny days hunched over your computer, frantically processing orders before the deals end.  

Oh, and if you think "I'll just order a rubber stamp and some labels," you won't.  Because much like a chain smokers first cigarette, you won't stop there.  It ALWAYS starts with one rubber stamp and some labels.

You've been warned.

Vista Print is an online paradise for teachers who love free stuff.  You can ooh and ahh coworkers and parents and look like you've spent tons of money.  If you are creative and have some photoshop skills you can make cool custom things.  If you can barely check your email without cursing technology, they have tons of templates to make it look like you are a graphic designer.

I could go on and on.  Vista Print is an addiction and a science.  There is ALWAYS free stuff to be had.  The catch is the shipping.  Some deals are better than others.  Some deals are amazing.  Last weekend they had an amazing deal that offered $5.00 shipping.  I literally stayed up until 1:00 a.m. putting orders through.

I spent under $50.00 for 7 orders which included 70+ items.  There are colored postcards, banners, birthday party invitations, magnets, lawn signs and oh-so-much more.  I'm going to set up a page on the blog to share my creations and will keep you posted on any great deals when they arise.  

I was going to wait until there was another great sale to post about it, but decided it would be best to give you a "head's up."  Because what happens is that when the sales hit, you get "idea block."  So I suggest playing around with the site.  Design your items.  Look at other's work for inspiration.  Create your items and leave them in your portfolio so that when the next big sale comes...and it will...you can just click and order.

For now, here is a sample of some of the things I designed and ordered  last weekend.

magnets that we'll include in their orientation packets

a banner for my son's Toy Story birthday party

postcards to mail to my students

birthday party invitations - the party details are printed on the inside

magnets - I will add each students name and use them to label their lockers

How to Earn TONS of Scholastic Bonus Points

Back in the day (aka high school) we all had to take a test that tapped into our inner being and determined the career that would best suit us. I’m not sure exactly how many impressionable youths were led to their life’s work through this assessment, but clearly it was lacking.

According to the lengthy questionaire (which for the record I did complete truthfully), I was perfect for not one, but two job titles.

I could have been a beautician or a forest ranger.

Let me repeat that..

a beautician

or a forest ranger!

Considering that I went through most of high school with my hair in a pony tail and have made it my goal to avoid nature as much as possible, I opted to go with what I had known I would do since I was in 2nd grade and checked of “education” in the “desired major box” on my college applications.

I did have a runner-up career in my mind though: advertising

I thought it would be fun to write jingles and funny commercials. I also enjoy marketing and sales. I was the type of kid who set sales quotas on my Girl Scout cookie sales and attempted to open many a lemonade business.

So you can imagine how serious I take my monthly Scholastic orders. I get giddy when the colorful, new catalogs arrive. I flip through them over and over like a young kid with the Toys R Us catalog in December. I circle. I highlight. I add post-its to mark selections.

This photo represents one month of my Scholastic orders. I'm, like, salesman of the year or something.

Scholastic is great for building your class library for little or no money. When the students place orders, you earn bonus points which can be used to get books, CDs, and software. Many of you are already familiar with Scholastic so I’ll cut to the tips on how to increase your orders and thus earn more bonus points:

The key is getting the students to look at the catalog so that they don’t just get discarded. I have created several activities that allow them to practice language arts and math skills using the catalogs. This greatly increases the amount of books my class orders because it generates interest in the books. The activities are also excellent to use as time fillers when you have a sub or if you find yourself with a few minutes to spare. The pages make great homework assignments too. I just added the complete set to my online store. For only $3.00...the price of a cup of coffee...you could bring quality literature to the homes of deserving students and earn yourself a boatload of bonus points as a result.

See, I told you I was meant for sales and marketing ;P

Click here to order all 13 pages for less than .25 cents each.

Place orders for other classrooms. Some teachers don’t want to deal with the process of handling book orders. I’m not going to lie, there is work involved. Since I’m processing orders already, it isn’t a big deal to handle other classroom orders as well. I asked around at school and handle the book orders for 3 other classes in addition to my own.

Team up with another class. A couple of years ago, they were offering 6000 bonus points if you submitted 200.00 in orders. I teamed up with another teacher, combined our student orders and split the bonus points.

Sign up for the online ordering option for parents. They can use their credit card to order and since people are so comfortable with online shopping these days it is a welcome option to many.

“Market” the books. If there is a book available that I really enjoy, I will read it to the class prior to sending out the catalogs. This works well for series also. Reading one book in a series will encourage students to be interested in other books. Ditto for authors.

Send out reminders and request that parents let you know if they are planning to place an order or not. This helps organizationally because a child will always say, “I’m bringing it in tomorrow.” Knowing if there is an intent to order is helpful. It also heightens the awareness of the fact that the catalog exists. I print labels and stick them into the communication folder.

Create a list of recommended titles and send it home with the catalog. Only list quality literature that you do truly support or feel will be useful to the class.

Offer to play the role of “Santa.” I send home a note with the November and December order that reminds the parents that books make great gifts. I let them know that I will glady hold onto the items when they come in and let them secretly pick them up so that they may give them as gifts to their child. I don’t typically send home the software catalogs, but in November I send home a packet of the Click catalogs from Sept through December for this purpose.

Let the class pick out books to add to the class library. I give the children time to look through the catalog and encourage them to write a persuasive letter to the class about why they think a certain book should be added. The class then votes on the books and I purchase the top choices for the library. This typically creates added interest and increased orders on those titles.

Choice Board

Today's Thrifty Thursday Tip is: Recycling Crystal Lite Containers to Make a Choice Board

All those who love to micromanage, please raise your hand!

Oh, look at me waving both hands high into the air.

I’m really excited to put this into effect in the fall.  I do assign kids to groups and centers during our literacy block, but there are times when there is opportunity for “choice” on their part.  In my class there are two such opportunities that come to mind: Fun Friday and Indoor Recess.

To keep some sanity in the classroom, maintain peace and to be efficient, I limit the number of students in one activity/area and also limit the options. 

First, I’ll explain how this works and then I’ll explain how I made it.

How it Works:

• Each child has a popsicle stick with his name on it.
  
• Each container will display a small card under the paperclip.  The card will state the activity and the number of students who may participate.
  
• I will also have a slightly larger, colored card that I can slide underneath the original one to signal that the choice is at capacity and can no longer be selected.
  

How it is Made:

For months I’ve been looking at the new Crystal Lite containers and trying to determine a use for them.  I finally had my lightbulb moment, sent an email to the parents of my students requesting them and had more than enough to do this project the next day.  If you don't have the opportunity to ask for donations of these because it is summer then drink up.  It is cool and refreshing after all. :)

Put a push pin through the plastic container.

Select paper to match your classroom color scheme or theme.  Scrapbook paper is awesome for this.  Cut the paper to fit around the container.

Slide a paperclip over the top of the paper.

Apply a stripe of hot glue to the back of the paper and attach it to the container.

Label sticks (details on the lil' cuties above coming soon).

Display on a board and add a cute sign..or click here to buy the one pictured

I love how the push pin allows you to simply flip the container over to remove the sticks.

I bought the rafia at the Dollar Tree (it was a grass skirt) and the scrapbook paper was less than $1.00.  Grand total for this project was under $3.00.

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Turn Trash into Cash - YARD SALES!

Thrifty Thursday is all about saving money.  Today, I'm going to go one better.  I'm going to make you some money.  Surely, you've heard of a yard sale so I won't claim to have invented the idea, but I will share a couple of tips to help if you plan to have one.

And you should plan to have one.

Because you know you've got clutter hanging around and since I've created a website titled, The Clutter-Free Classrom, I certainly can not endorse anything other than getting rid of the clutter in your classroom.

And basement.

And attic.

And any other nook or cranny where your clutter may be hiding.

Check out my site if you want some motivation and ideas for cleaning out your classroom.  Assuming you already have boxes of crap to unload, um....I mean treasures to pass on to others...the following contributed to the success of our yard sale last weekend.

PRICING:

I went in to the yard sale with the primary goal of getting rid of anything we don't use, want or need.  I was ruthless in the process.  I lead a pretty simple life and we don't appear to have a lot of excess belongings, but as you start opening cupboards and drawers you find there is quite a bit hidden away.  I was ruthless.  I converted my CDs to MP3s.  I pulled out any article of clothing that I hadn't worn in awhile.  I grabbed toys and games that were not being used.  

EVERYTHING had to go.

My secondary goal was to make a little cash.

Time is money and I didn't have the time to individually price everything.

Plus, I despise haggling with people in my driveway.  

So I devised a plan.  Well, it was more of a theory.  Actually, it was a bit of a social experiment.  

I created my very own "dollar store."  It's as simple as it sounds.  Everything was a dollar.

I know when I go to the dollar store I walk up and down the aisles tossing randomness into my cart because it "is only a dollar."  My hypothesis was that people wouldn't hesitate to buy my VHS copy of Cocktail if it was only $1.00.

It worked.

And as a bonus, only two people tried to negotiate prices.  Everyone else just came up and said, "I have __ items" and handed me the equivalent number in singles.

ORGANIZATION:

Go to walmart.com, made a list of departments, and quickly printed signs using those departments (i.e. electronics, toys, health and beauty, etc).  

Staple each to a copy paper box and sort your items accordingly.  People buy more when they don't need to sort through randomness.

ADVERTISING / SIGNAGE:

Craigslist is a great way to get the message out with little effort and zero cost.

Make signs that are bold and simple.  I used large, black, die-cut letters on yellow background.

I stacked the word YARD on top of the word SALE and placed them on the left side of the sign rather than horizontally across the sign.  This was so that it stood out on the left side of the pole when hung and made it easier for drivers to see.  I added the other details in a black Sharpie.  I didn't want there to be too much text and be distracting.  The info was there if people needed it, but the words "yard sale" and the arrow were really all that was needed to direct people to us.

If you are selling classroom items, hold your yard sale at the start of a new school year.  Hang signs in teacher's rooms or at a local college with an education department.

HAVE A PLAN FOR WHAT'S LEFT:

The extra money is great, but the real goal is to get rid of the clutter.  

I was dedicated to not bringing anything back into my house.  After the yard sale ended at 2:00, I put a post on Craigslist that read, "free yardsale leftovers."  We used sidewalk chalk and write, "FREE" in the driveway.  My 4 year old son had become a shrewd businessman over the course of the morning.  He crossed out the word free and wrote, "money" next to it.

Despite his attempts to rake in some extra dough, we did have several people arrive soon after I posted to Craigslist and clear out a bit more out.  I put everything else into Rubbermaid totes and scheduled a pick-up from a local charity.

Clutter gone.

Extra fun money earned.

My trash became other people's treasures.

Items donated to charity.

All good.

Free Storage Containers - Thrifty Thursday

Today's Thrifty Thursday Tip is:

Free Storage Containers

Places like Ikea make me giddy.  The Container Store brings me happiness that words can not describe.  Yet, there are many fantastic items available that will serve the same purpose for FREE!  Below is a list of some of my favorite containers for sorting, storing and organizing: 

Pringles Cans

Crystal Lite Canisters 

Baby Wipes Container

Formula Cans

Baby Food Containers (these are great for small items...I avoid the glass ones for safety reasons)

Smart Ones dishes (handy for passing out small supplies or manipulatives)

Parmesan Cheese containers (I like these because they are clear)

Microwavable Soup Cans (these usually open in a way so that there are no sharp edges)

Copy Paper Boxes (I love the sturdiness and uniformity, but I always cover them in contact paper)

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