Back-to-Schhol E-Book: 40 FREE Ideas and Resources

Back-to-School season is upon us!

To help you get started or add to your planned classroom resources, 40 different TpT sellers have created a “A Back to School eBook for Grades 5 and 6 from TpT Authors.” Each page is packed with tips to help you as you adjust to back to school in your classrooms. 

Click here for your FREE download:

Fifth Grade Freebies shout-outs

Several of the collaborators from "Fifth Grade Freebies" contributed to this e-book

Brian from Wise Guys compiled all of these awesome pages!

They also shared a free guided reading strategies packet.

Jessica from Joy in the Journey has a missing homework management freebie that will help keep your students accountable for their missing work.

Missy from "Wild About Fifth" has a Reading Challenge freebie that will get your students excited about reading and exploring different genres!

If you download the freebies, please leave feedback!

Head Back to School with some Freebies!

Hey y’all! It’s Kristen from Chalk & Apples, here with my very first post on Fifth Grade Freebies. I’m so excited to be joining this group of 5th grade teachers to share some great free resources with you!

Today, I wanted to share a couple of freebies that get me through the Back to School season.


You’d think on my 8th year of teaching, with 7 in 5th grade, it would be easy to get ready for the beginning of another school year. You’d think I would have the routine down, and would just be able to hop right into Back to School mode the week before school starts. But I can’t. Every year, when it’s time to get back to it, I’m so far in summer mode that I need some reminders of what it is that I’m supposed to be doing in preparation for a new year.

That’s why I created this set of free Back to School Checklists! It took way longer than I’d like to admit to figure out what I actually needed to include in my checklists, but now that they’re done, I can just reprint them every year, and be sure I’m doing everything I need to get ready. You can click the image to download it free from my TPT store!


On the first day of school, or at open house the day before school starts, there are always lots of forms to be filled out. Personally, I want parents to take these forms home and do a thorough job of completing them… but there is some information I really need on that VERY FIRST day. I really just want to have one good contact number in case of emergency, to know if there are any major allergies or medical concerns, and I want to know how each child is getting home that day.

I created this free First Day Form, which I print 2 to a page on bright colored paper. This is the one and only thing I ask parents to complete at “Meet the Teacher” night or on the morning of the first day of school. I find that this is quick and easy for parents to fill out, and it gives me just enough info to get through until they return the entire back to school packet. Click the image to grab it as a freebie in my TPT store!

FREE Back-to-School Graphic Organizer: A Good Classmate

The first week of school is crucial for setting the tone in your classroom. I always spend considerable time setting my expectations for not only the quality of their schoolwork and the effort I need to see, but also their behavior. 

I am looking for role models and they know it!
For kids (especially the youngsters) sometimes the word role model can be a little ambiguous. Each year I take the time to discuss what a role model is. 

I'm not looking for 2-dimensional stock characters; I want living, breathing, good-decision-making classmates. But that doesn't always happen naturally. Sometimes students need to be taught.

This FREE graphic organizer is meant to spur discussion of what makes a good classmate. Take time to brainstorm as a class (or have your students work together in groups) to fill out the graphic organizer. It can be displayed in the classroom and/or referred to periodically throughout the year.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew that I wanted
to try it with my students:

As a class we brainstormed what it looked like to be a good classmate. We filled out this anchor chart and the students filled in one at their seats as a reminder to keep in their binders. We also had a great discussion about how these qualities don't only apply to being a good student - they make us good friends, good sons/daughters, good siblings, etc.

I have created this *FREE* template if you would like to use one of them with your students/children:

For those using this at home, I've included some additional templates for you to use:

          

If you download this product, please leave feedback!

Also, if you use this product with your class, please take some pictures and e-mail me at joyinthejourneyteaching@yahoo.com - I'd love to feature you on my blog! :) 

What are your best activities for setting the tone in your classroom? Share them in the comments below - we'd love to hear them! :)

First Day Student Questionnaire

On the first day of school, the students walk in, quiet and ready to work.  I take advantage of this and have them complete this questionnaire for me.  Not only does it give the students something to do immediately, SILENTLY, when they walk into class, but it answers some burning questions that *I* have about the students as well.

Click here to access the questionnaire

Once I read over the questionnaire, I have a better idea of who they are, what life is like for them at home, how long they have been at my school, who their friends are, etc...I also get to see their work habits right off the bat.  This simple little questionnaire (which takes them about 20 minutes to complete) gives me a wealth of knowledge about the students.

What is something that you do on the first day of school to get to know the kids a bit better?

Building Character

Have you seen this video?




One of my 5th grade classes adopted this as a theme song a couple years ago.  Honestly, I was a little shocked.  I thought they'd be anti- Sesame Street, but maybe Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas brought in the cool factor.

I love the message of empowerment.

I created a worksheet for my students to fill out and choose some positive adjectives that describes them.  This was a great beginning of the year activity because I learned quickly which students struggled seeing themselves in a positive way and it helped me develop a positive relationship with them early on.

Then, we turned their main adjective into a classroom art project.  Click on the picture to be taken to my TPT store and download the freebie with directions.

When it came time for writing adjectives, I played this version of the video so the kids could see the words.


Thanks,

from

Back to School Freebie: Sharpening Pencils Procedures

It's that time of the year again! Students will be entering your classroom ready to go. We are offering up a great FREE resource for back to school. 

We all know that we have to establish procedures for sharpening pencils. So included with this procedure is a teacher page with purpose, teaching ideas, modeling and role playing that you can do with your class.

Also included is a kid friendly poster that you can review with your students and even post in the room! You can download this free resource by clicking here. 

Back to School Freebie: The Great Writer's Race

Welcome to The Great Writer's Race! Your students will be challenging themselves to complete creative writing activities as the school year progresses. There are over 40 creative writing ideas included!

Your students will have a blast "racing" to complete the activities. This is a great addition to Daily 5, writing stations, and for a creative writing unit. You can download it by clicking here. Enjoy!