Dollar Tree Ideas {with freebies...}

Every teacher loves a good ol' shopping trip at the Dollar Tree! Last time I was there, I found a few goodies that would make awesome math and literacy centres! First up, I found these cute spinners! There are four in a pack and they have numbers from 1-8.

I made a cute recording sheet to use as a quick and easy math centre. Super Spinners! The student spins the spinner and writes the number in the first circle. Then they spin the spinner again and write that number in the second circle. Then they solve the addition sentence and write the sum in the last circle. Super easy to prep and lots of fun!

I had seen this idea from Teacher Tipster before {watch video here}. Love him! He took a puzzle with a back, then on the back of the puzzle pieces he wrote addition or subtraction sentences. On the back board of the puzzle he wrote the answers. So I picked up some super simple puzzles.

I made some super simple puzzles that would be good for the beginning of the year. One is matching ten frames and numbers. The other one is matching dice patterns and numbers. An important number concept we practice lots at the beginning of the year! This can be made with any concept though... addition, subtraction, base ten blocks, number words, shape names... The possibilities are endless!

Here's a quick sight word game I whipped up to use in my guided reading groups. This makes a fun and easy warm up activity. I bought a couple sets of a match game. 

I printed out some sight words on little mailing labels and stuck them to the tiles. Simple sight word match game ready to go. I make the students read each word as they flip them over. You can adapt this to any word list and any level. You could also do compound words or contractions.

Another fun find was this Fruits & Numbers domino game. One side of the domino has a number and the other side has some fruit. Thought these would be perfect for some addition practice.

I made a recording sheet so that students could choose a domino, write the number in one circle and count the fruit and write that number in the second circle. Then they add the numbers together and write the sum in the last centre. Not only does this practice addition, but also counting/subitizing the fruit.

Lastly, I found some monster gift boxes that I knew would be awesome for something!! I didn't know what exacly, until I got home and a fun literacy centre idea hit me!

And so the Monster Munchies were born! My original idea is to use it as an activity in m guided lesson groups to practice letter sounds. I would take a few sounds that we are working on, spread out some of the picture cards on the table, and ask students to feed the monster something that starts with "s". They would have to find a picture of something that starts with that sound and feed it to the monster.

I created a recording sheet to go with it as well so it could be used as a literacy centre. Students would write the letter on the monster's tummy, draw a picture of something that starts with that letter, and write the word below it.

I made a few different packs of cards to target different skills in each guided reading group. Some of my lower level groups still work on alphabet sounds. Some groups need to focus on vowels (different vowel sounds and difference between short/long vowels), and some are ready to go onto digraphs.

If you don't have any monster boxes, each pack has provided you with some different options: use a gift bag, a paper bag, or a plastic container. There are four different monster pictures you can print out and attach to a container or bag of your choice.

There are three different options for each pack:

{1.} The teacher/leader calls a letter and the student must feed the monster something that starts with that letter.
{2.} Students sort all the picture cards by the letter monsters. (3 pictures for every letter.)
{3.} Students write a letter on the monster's tummy, draw a picture of something that starts with that letter, and write the word below it.

Here are the packs available. Alphabet Sounds: includes a letter monster and three picture cards for each letter sound. This focuses on beginning sounds (except x is ending sound). $3.00 on TpT. Click the picture to check it out!

Vowel Sounds: includes a letter monster and three picture cards for each short vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u) and long vowel sound (a,e,i,o,u). $3.00 on TpT. Click the picture to check it out!

The last pack is a freebie! Digraphs: includes a digraph monster and three picture cards for each digraph (ch, ph, sh, th, wh). Free on TpT. Click the picture to check it out!

That's it for my dollar store find. Let me know if you've found anything good lately!! :)

Oh Dollar Store and Oh Canada!!

I love shopping at the Dollar Tree. I hadn't been in a while and they had so much new stuff! It was very exciting! Here are a few fun finds:

Window sticky borders (might try these on the white board!), frog cut outs, and gigantic tooth brush for Dental Healh unit.

Valentine's Day clings, garland, foam stickers, and headband.

And I can't resist new puzzles and large foam dice! Yipee! :)

Alright, here is a new unit for all my Canadian followers! This is a Social Studies unit for studying Canadian symbols! Click the picture to check it out at TpT:

Here's a peak at some of the activities included in this Canadian unit:

1. "What is a symbol?" poster and writing page.

2. Ten Canadian Symbol pages (hockey, beaver, goose, red & white, flag, map, national anthem, languages, maple tree, and money) to make into a cute Canadian flag book.

3. Provincial and Territorial Symbol pages (complete one for all of Canada or just your own province/territorry).

4. Canadian Money anchor chart and mini book.

5. RCMP Craft and Writing Pages (three options).

6. Beaver Craft and Writing Pages (three options).

This unit is perfect for February 15th - National Flag of Canada Day! Here is freebie from the unit that you can use, a writing and colouring page of the Canadian flag. Click the picture below to download a copy.