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You've heard of an apple for the teacher, well this is an apple from the teacher.  They are a quick, easy and healthy alternative to a back to school treat bag.  If you'll be studying apples in the fall, this snack fits right in.

1-2-3 Come Make A 1st Day Of School Treat With Me

I know some of you have already started back to school (The Charter across the street from me went back the 5th!!!) but here in Michigan and Wisconsin our public school kiddo's (gratefully!) don't start til the Tuesday after Labor Day!  Wa Hoo for that decision. 

So my brain is still "full-speed-ahead" designing some quick, easy and inexpensive treats for the 1st day of school.  My Y5's LOVED glow bracelets.  I gave them one during our Camp Read-Away activities, when they read in the dark with flashlights, while sitting comfy in tents.  If their tent was quiet, they received a "glowing report" and bracelet. (Click on the link to read all about it.)

I've seen all sorts of wonderful "bright" ideas on Pinterest (My current drug of choice...who needs caffeine when you have Pinterest!) So I thought I'd throw in a few of my own, to add to the collection.  The best place to go for glow bracelets is The Dollar Tree.  They sell 15 in a pack, so for 2 bucks you're good to go, unless of course you have more than 30 punkins in your class, in which case, stop off and buy yourself a sympathy card from me, or better yet a bottle of wine!

Click on the link to view/download "Come Glow and Grow With Us!"  freebie.

I have a Bright Ideas Behavior Modification packet using light bulbs.

I designed that because I wanted my students to have brilliant ideas, shine, as well as have all those light bulbs turning on, when they finally grasped a concept.  I thought I'd continue that theme and made a BTS bulletin board, with a matching bookmark. Click on the "Wishing a bright student a glowing year" packet to view/download it.

Finally, to "Wel-gum" my Y5's to school, I gave all my kiddo's a piece of bubble gum after we went over our rules.  "We CHEWS to follow the rules and regs of our room." They could chomp and chew 'til the flavor was gone, while they finished up work, and then I passed a brown bag around to deposit the gum, lest we lose it later.

When I went to check out gum at the grocery store, I came upon Extra. Of course that got my wheels turning to wish students an "Extra special school year."  You don't need to give them an entire pack, just tape on a stick of gum. Click on the link for the "Wel-gum packet."  Click on this link for the Extra gum tag freebie.

If you've missed the latest back to school goodies and want to see more, click on the link and pop on over to that section and scroll away.  I'm wishing all of my visitors the best year yet.

Thanks for stopping by.  As always, feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.  My "Pin it" button is at the top.  If you'd like to see all the awesome educational ideas I PIN away my day doing, (so you don't have to) simply click on the "Follow me" heart to the right.

"The next best thing to knowing something, is knowing where to find it." -Samuel Johnson  (Hopefully you did, at TeachWithMe!!!!)

A popular saying with students is, “That rocks.” Not sure where it came from, but if you tell a child that they rock, it will definitely build their self-esteem, and letting them know that the new grade that they are now entering rocks too, will hopefully get them excited to be there.

I went a bit slap happy downloading a bunch of fonts one day, thinking of all the “way cool” things I could do with them.  “JF Rock” was one of them I just  “had to have!”

I designed a “rockin’’” trace and write alphabet as well as a counting numbers 0-10 booklet, with praise certificates, to reward your students with.

As a fun back to school treat, run off the  “You Rock” bookmarks, include your students’ name at the end and lay them atop a package of Pop Rocks.

They sell them 3 packs for a buck at The Dollar Store, in 3 yummy flavors.  You could also dump them in a basket and offer students a choice, as an incentive when they complete their first day of morning activities.

I’ve also made _________________ grade rocks, bookmarks as well.  These can be colored with neon markers or crayons, for a quick and quiet activity, while you’re involved with whatever, on that busy first day.

Make these a bit more special and wrap them around a pencil with a fat eraser.  All of the Office Supply Stores offer a kajillion super deals on packages of pencils and erasers in August.

Anyway….I hope your new bunch of kids really rocks your world, in a positive way, and that this is your best year yet!

Have fun with these things and thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything from my sight you feel others might find worthwhile.

Click on the link to view/download the School Rocks Packet

"Education sows not seeds in you, but makes your seeds grow!"- Kahlil Gibran

• Willie has upper and lowercase letters on his back.
• Run my master off on green construction paper and laminate the sheets.
• There are 6 on a page.

• Cut them out and add colored paperclips.
• By moving the paperclip up and down, students can practice spelling their names. (One of my report card standards is being able to recognize your name.)
• You can also review and teach letters in a fun way!
• Moving a large paperclip helps strengthen finger muscles and enhances fine motor skills and coordination too!
  

• You can make two, one to keep at school and one to send home if you want to.
• I’ve included a letter of explanation to send home to parents so that they will work with their child and practice the alphabet with them!

• I have a saying: “Together Everyone Achieves MoreI” It’s an acronym for TEAM!
• I let parents know that I’m depending on them to be part of my educational team that will help their star player shine their brightest!
• Click on the link to zoom to Willie and view/or print a template and letter.
  

 I hope Willie helps your students as much as he’s helped mine wiggle their way to knowing their ABC’s!

Be sure to check back tomorrow when I'll have another fun back-to-school tip!

 Do you have a fun tip you’d like to share?  I’d enjoy hearing from you! diane@teachwithme.com