The beginning of the school year always brings so much emotion! Time to start thinking about all of the things. One of my favorite things to think about is what to give my kids for a back to school gift. A few years ago I started the year by giving them an eraser! They loved it and it started the year so every kid had a big eraser, which is a win for this teacher too!

You can grab a variety of different erasers to add to the tag. You can check out here for the ones in the picture!

What do you give your kids for a back to school present? Or do you?

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Cassandra

Back to school time!! How has this happened already?! Anyone else feel like the summer just started? I head back to work in just over one week!

I am so excited that I was able to team up with Oriental Trading to share these amazing resources for my classroom with you!  These manipulatives are linked for you to shop easily and are affiliate links. By you using my links to shop I will earn a small commission from your purchases.

After last year I was disappointed to be see that we didn't have very many hands on materials to help students with their math lessons.  My admin would buy me things I needed, but you know, sometimes you don't realize you need it until you teach the lesson.  Thankfully when I was looking through Oriental Trading I found some PERFECT manipulatives to use!

Check out these fraction circles! I LOVE how big they are and how durable they are. They are going to be great for small group lessons when students are just struggling with understanding the visuals. This will be a great way for students to manipulate the pieces and then physically see it.  I think that these will also be great for students to practice equivalent fractions, since it will be easier for them to see how they are the same size.

I was also able to grab a set of LARGE fraction circles that are magnetic! These will be great to use as visuals on the board in front of the room so students can see what they look like as a whole. I like that these are magnetic because then I don't have to worry about how to get them on my board, and I know that they will last. Also, these will be great for students to be able to come up and manipulate as well.

I am also really excited to use the fraction bingo game as a review game! This will be great to use on Fridays when we have time to practice what we have learned, and loop back and play throughout the school year.  The different visuals will help students find fractions that are similar, and it would be a great game where you can use equivalent fractions too!

I am excited that all three of these are going to be great to have students practice their fractions. It seems that understanding fractions, and then equivalent fractions, is such a hard task for third graders! What do you do to help them understand fractions better?! I would love to hear! Leave a comment, or send me an email so we can all learn how to better help our students!

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Cassandra

A baseball transformation is a great way to keep students engaged in learning, and tie in all areas of content for a great day of learning!

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Cassandra

Read Across America is a great day to celebrate READING in your classroom!  Here are FIVE fun and inexpensive ways to celebrate Read Across America Day in your classroom!

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Cassandra

I LOVE the beginning of the month because it allows me time with a blank calendar, flair pens, and Pinterest!  I always sit down at the beginning of the month, or near the very end of the month to plan out what we are going to eat for the next month.  I almost find it kind of relaxing, and it allows me time to think about what we are going to eat and plan out our month.

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Cassandra

Every year I like to set new goals for myself for the year! I don't always stick to all of them, but setting something up, writing it down and making it public helps me to keep focused on what is important to me!  I have thought about these 5 things that I really want to work on, and I'm excited to share my 5 BIG goals for the year, and you may be surprised by what they are!

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Cassandra

Halloween is over, and now you have PILES of candy! Your kids have candy! You have candy left over at home! You have candy that you don't want to eat, so what are you going to do with all of it?! If you're anything like me you want to get rid of it as quickly as possible so you don't eat it all, right?!

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Cassandra